Direct experience.

It is easy to sound wise when quoting the scriptures and famous teachers, but it is only through our own direct experience of life that we will truly acquire wisdom. One huge argument with my father when I was an adolescent was when he forbade me to do something. I demanded to know why, and he replied that it (whatever it was) wouldn’t work, and that I should learn from his experience. Even as a young man I knew this was not the way.
Knowing about Dhamma is not knowing Dhamma, and the difference between the two is enormous. Many western students of Japanese Zen practice are captivated by the romantic stories of great Masters who drank sake, had relationships with women and lived a ‘crazy’ life. What they forget is that these masters had trained earnestly for many years before arriving in this place. Again, there is a great difference between simply following the mind and being one with the mind!
Here I speak about ‘letting go,’ such a simple phrase, but the Dhammic power of this phrase is phenomenal. It is by holding on that we suffer, it is by letting go that we are free. However, before we can instruct others to let go we have to know how to do this ourselves. So, the Dhamma is always simple. Make your practice with humility. Don’t pretend to be something that you are not, you will always show yourself, and live with love and be aware.

May all beings be happy.