“So as long as you continue your practice, you are quite safe, but as it is very difficult to continue, you must find some way to encourage yourself. As it is hard to encourage yourself without becoming involved in some poor kind of practice, to continue our pure practice by yourself may be rather difficult.
This is why we have a teacher. With your teacher you will correct your practice. Of course you will have a very hard time with him, but even so, you will always be safe from wrong practice.
Most Musicians have had a difficult time with their teachers. When they talk about the difficulties, you may think that without this kind of hardship you cannot practice music. But this is not true. Whether you have difficulties in your practice or not, as long as you continue it, you have pure practice in its true sense. Even when you are not aware of it, you have it. So do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own development. Whether or not you are aware of it, you have your own true development within your practice.” – Shunryu Suzuki