So you should accept knowledge as if you were hearing something you already knew. But this does not mean to receive various pieces of information mer… - Shunryu Suzuki

If you receive things just as an echo of yourself, you do not really see them, you do not fully accept them as they are.

You should not be surprised at whatever you see or hear...If you are ready to accept things as they are, you will receive them as old friends.

Which is more important… to make a million dollars, or to enjoy your life in your effort, little by little, even thought it is impossible to make that million; to be successful, or to find some meaning in your effort to be successful?

In the zazen posture, your mind and body have, great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.
In our scriptures (Samyuktagama Sutra, volume 33), it is said that there are four kinds of horses: excellent ones, good ones, poor ones, and bad ones. The best horse will run slow and fast, right and left, at the driver's will, before it sees the shadow of the whip; the second best will run as well as the first one does, just before the whip reaches its skin; the third one will run when it feels pain on its body; the fourth will run after the pain penetrates to the marrow of its bones. You can imagine how difficult it is for the fourth one to learn how to run!

You must force yourself to be patient, but in constancy there is no particular effort involved — there is only the unchanging ability to accept things as they are. For people who have no idea of emptiness, this ability may appear to be patience, but patience can actually be non-acceptance.