As soon as we go off and start thinking about something, awareness will bring us back. According to a famous Zen saying, bringing Buddhism to a new culture is like taking a flower and holding it next to a rock. Hopefully the flower will take root, but it takes a long time. Our minds are like the rock, and the dharma is a beautiful flower. The more you learn about the so-called high level teachings, the more you understand the importance of patience.
Patience means dealing very literally with every kind of situation in our lives.
As each thought and situation arises, we can slow down and begin to train ourselves, little by little. Ironically, the quickest way to understand the great nature of mind is to have this mundane patience. We are not content with our neurosis, but we are content that we will go at our own pace. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is holder of the Buddhist and Shambhala lineages of Ch gyam Trungpa Rinpoche. He received training from many of the great Buddhist teachers of this century, including Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche and his father Trungpa Rinpoche.