An important point to remember is that whatever information we gather, we also filter, so what we’re left with is a very particular kind of understanding unique to ourselves. This understanding is not realization. It’s not even an experience. It is like a patch that will eventually fall off. It’s fine to be covered in patches of understanding because sooner or later they are bound to fall off so that experience can be revealed. However, we should also be aware that living with all these patches will prolong the time we spend on the path to enlightenment. How much time do we really have left in this lifetime? Twenty years? Thirty, if we’re lucky? Given that everything we have understood so far is nothing more than a patch that’s holding together our version of samsara, are any of us really willing to spend another ten years believing in that reality? We must, therefore, be prepared to peel off those patches.
But be aware that once the inner skin has been exposed, it’s possible to mistake it for the fruit, which is why we must always be ready to accept that it is just another skin. This is not a principle we apply only to hearing, contemplation, or reading; it’s even more relevant when we meditate. This is what is meant by the Tibetan saying “Experience is like a mist in the morning. It will evaporate.”

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?
Read a random quote or see all quotes by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Further quotes from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?:
- Examining the Guru
- Controlled by circumstances
- The guru is like the horizon
- Celebrity Gurus
- Vajra hell
- Famous unintentionally
- Dharma without devotion
- Guru
- Look beyond titles and hats
- Samsara
- The path is practical
- You and only you will decide
- Pure perception
- The whole purpose of the outer guru
- Merging with the guru’s mind
- A different interpretation of austerity
- Dismantling the puzzle of dualism
- The Worst Forms of Abuse Award
- No one can please everyone
- Beginning to subdue and outshine appearance and existence