Once you’ve learned the principle of accepting the way things are, then you can explore the way things happen to use it to your advantage, to find whether it’s possible to find a happiness that lies beyond just acceptance.

"I remember listening one time to a tape of a number of people who had been over staying with one of the ajaans in Thailand. It seemed like all of them had learned those lessons: that it was important to develop patience, it was important to develop equanimity and acceptance, the first steps in the Buddha’s teachings to Rahula. But unfortunately the ajaan got so sick that he had to stop teaching, and that was all they got. As far as they were concerned, that seemed to be everything. But you talk to the Thai monks who studied with that ajaan and no, they would tell you that there was a lot more about learning how to question things. Once you’ve learned the principle of accepting the way things are, the way things happen, then you can explore the way things happen to use it to your advantage, to find whether it’s possible to find a happiness that lies beyond just acceptance. Is it possible to find a happiness that has no problems at all? Because acceptance and equanimity often involve having to put up with things that are unpleasant. But equanimity is not nibbana."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Questioning & Acceptance"

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