We try so hard to hang on to the teachings and "get it," but actually the truth sinks in like rain into very hard earth. The rain is very gentle, and we soften up slowly at our own speed. But when that happens, something has fundamentally changed in us. That hard earth has softened. It doesn't seem to happen by trying to get it or capture it. It happens by letting go; it happens by relaxing your mind, and it happens by the aspiration and the longing to want to communicate with yourself and others. Each of us finds our own way.
--Pema Chodron, Start Where You Are
[T]he Buddha compares
his teaching to the rainfall that descends without discrimination on the
earth. That this rain causes some seeds to grow into flowers and some
into great trees implies no differentiation in the rain but rather is
due to the capacities of the seeds that it nurtures. Thus, the teaching
of the Buddha is of a single flavor but benefits beings in a variety of
ways according to their capacity.
--Donald S. Lopez, Jr.,
Buddhism in Practice
