... the fools of this world prefer to look for sages far away.
They don't believe that the wisdom of their own mind is the sage...
the sutras say, "Mind is the teaching."
But people of no understanding don't believe in their own mind or that by understanding this teaching they can become a sage.
They prefer to look for distant knowledge and long for things in space, buddha-images, light, incense, and colors.
They fall prey to falsehood and lose their minds to insanity.
(p. 75)
To find a buddha all you have to do is see your nature. Your nature is the buddha. And the buddha is the person who's free: free of plans, free of cares. If you don't see your nature and run around all day looking somewhere else, you'll never find a buddha. The truth is, there's nothing to find. But to reach such an understanding you need a teacher and you need to struggle to make yourself understand...
If you don't find a teacher soon, you'll live this life in vain. It's true, you have the buddha-nature. But without the help of a teacher you'll never know it. Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help.
If, though, by the conjunction of conditions, someone understands what the Buddha meant, that person doesn't need a teacher.
Such a person has a natural awareness superior to anything taught.
But unless you're so blessed, study hard, and by means of instruction you'll understand.
(pp. 13-15)
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