Hui-neng:

Realize that understanding is always so much more than the words themselves. So much of what we read or hear requires engaging ourselves deeper with the material than a cursory reading to understand. Too often we read or hear something profound, nod our heads, and file it away for later. There is an expression "A hundred times make clear the reading." How often do we reread anything stretching to understand? The next stage is finding a way to apply the material so we can feel it in our bodies, not merely in our heads. The challenge for all of us is to find a way to move the knowledge from head only "understanding" to real life experiential, in our bodies understanding. While there are many paths, the only ones that count are the ones we truly engage ourselves in. Long ago Confucious said, "Only one who bursts with enthusiasm do I instruct; only one who bubbles with excitement do I enlighten. If I hold up one corner and you do not come back with the other three, I do not continue the lesson." Straightforward mind is the place of practice; straightforward mind is the pure land.