One of the most difficult things about practice is to keep our monkey minds from getting in the way. Millions upon millions of words have been written trying to explain Buddhist philosophy, when in fact it cannot be explained in words.

Buddhism is the pursuit of reality, and when I wrap reality in words and descriptions it becomes tainted; it is of itself, but mostly of me. It is not of my neighbor. Hers is different, as a result (among other reasons) of having read about mine.

Forget the wise men. Learn the Four Noble Truths. Learn them well. Meditate on them until you don’t need to any more. Don’t worry about when that will be. It will simply happen. Make them a part of your life; don’t try to understand. Believe that they are as simple as they seem. That is practice.

Hard practice.

If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.