Two kinds of faults

There are small faults that vanish the moment we see them. For example, some people like playing cards, not out of a gambler's addiction to winning money, but just for fun, enjoying the thrill of slowly revealing each card, waiting to see whether they win or lose, to see how lucky or unlucky they are. Only after coming to the Dharma do they discover that waiting on luck is itself a fault, because everything in life comes from conditions and karma of former lives, and we should receive it calmly, rather than fearing misfortune when we learn of it and rejoicing when we learn of good fortune. Besides, winning brings joy and losing brings sorrow. That kind of entertainment is truly pointless, a restless disturbance that wastes so much time that could go to practice. The moment they understand this, the thrill of waiting on luck dissolves. The next time they are dealt a card, they turn it over with indifference, and then give it up altogether, saving the time for practice and for doing good and meritorious things.

There are small faults that we can eliminate right away when we see them, but there are also faults that we see clearly yet that take a hundred lifetimes to uproot completely, because they belong to instinct. Take the karma of sensual desire. For beings in this desire realm, sensual desire is instinct, and to rise above this instinct one must attain the First Absorption or the third fruit, that of the non-returner.

Some people take three years, some thirty years, some thirty lifetimes or even more to attain the First Absorption and conquer the instinct of sensual desire, after which, at the end of life, they leave this Desire realm and are reborn in a heaven of the Form realm. And that is only the First Absorption, not to speak of the Second, Third and Fourth Absorptions, yet it is already extremely hard. As for the fetter of pride, it is only completely ended at the level of an arahant.

So there are faults that vanish the moment we see them, but there are also faults that take many lifetimes to end. Still, in any case, knowing a fault is already the starting point on the path of practice; whereas if we do not see our own faults, we will drift forever in the endless cycle of rebirth.