Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

Do not go by oral tradition, by lineage of teaching, by hearsay, by a collection of texts, by logic, by inferential reasoning, by reasoned cogitation, by the acceptance of a view after pondering it, by the seeming competence of a speaker, or because you think, ‘The ascetic is our teacher.’ But when you know for yourselves, ‘These things are unwholesome; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; these things, if undertaken and practiced, lead to harm and suffering,' then you should abandon them.

Dharma practice is founded on resolve. This is not an emotional conversion, a devastating realization of the error of our ways, a desperate urge to be good, but an ongoing, heartfelt reflection on priorities, values, and purpose. We need to keep taking stock of our life in an unsentimental, uncompromising way.

Develop a mind that is vast like space, where experiences both pleasant and unpleasant can appear and disappear without conflict, struggle, or harm.

Daowu asked, “What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?”
Shitou said, “Not attaining. Not knowing.” 
Daowu asked, “Is there anything beyond this?”
Shitou said, “The sky does not obstruct the white cloud’s flight.”

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.