Thanks for taking the time to write this article, Open. When I saw Master Tozan's name, I just have to search him up. And I found a quote from him that really stood out to me:

Students as numerous as sands in the Ganges but none are awakened.
They err by searching for the path in another person's mouth.
If you wish to forget form and not leave any traces,
Wholeheartedly strive to walk in emptiness.

"They err by searching for the path in another person's mouth."

This is what I've been doing most of the time! I've always been searching for "someone wiser" or someone "more experienced" than me so I can learn from them to ascend. This included my binge-reading your articles here ever since I found Openhand, lol, because I thought I could really learn a lot from you. (Hence I erred by searching for the path in your mouth.) Unsurprisingly, I wasn't really getting anywhere by reading all of the articles here that I could find, however helpful they may be. Because what I really needed to do is to live my life and learn from my own experience.

I really need to work on transcending my tendency of putting people I perceive as wiser than me on the pedestal, and start trusting myself more. Still, I want to thank you for always being your best possible self so I can see a reflection of what I can be, Open. :)

Much love