It is important to take a long-range view. No great achievement is accomplished overnight or without difficulty. Should benefit be obtained easily without making any efforts in Buddhist practice, we’d probably just as easily abandon our faith and end up miserable as a consequence. Because it isn’t easy to get into a highly ranked school, students study with all their might, gaining an abundance of knowledge and ability. Faith follows basically the same formula: Practice is essential to attaining Buddhahood.
from sgi.org