Whenever someone tells you what the Truth is, walk away because they’re idiots.
Whenever someone tells you about their personal experiences and the intuitive feelings and insights that arose from them, listen closely because they are earnest students and what they are sharing may be a precious lesson for you as well.
Our intuitive feelings are our only guide. They don’t know which way to go, but they know when we are lost — and when we are not.
Whenever someone tells you about their personal experiences and the doubts and incomprehension that arose in their wake, treat them with loving kindness because they are suffering.
Doubts arise because tightly held ideas hold us in place, restricting our ability to learn something new, and so we reject any conflicting experiences. Incomprehension and bewilderment are the result when someone’s understanding conflicts with the reality of personal experience and they cannot let go of their ideas.
Conceptual understandings are a practical tool — any allegiance to them when they conflict with reality is always a bad idea and will always bring suffering.
Whenever someone tells you about their personal experiences and what they think about them, be compassionate for their confusion.
Our thoughts can be a maze within a trap and they cannot bring us a truly new understanding, nor break us out of our confusion. They are limited by the current structure of our understanding (the maze) and are impotent to overcome their own limitations (the trap).
Our personal experiences are our only true guide. Listen carefully and attentively to their lessons in every precious moment of your life, and always remain intellectually agile.
