There are many ways to the truth. You may not even recognize your way for what it is. Even if you think of yourself as being on a particular path, chances are that later on you'll look back and have a different understanding of how you got there. Be ready to be surprised. This process will take you by the hand— or more likely, by the scruff of the neck. You won't be directing it, and to the extent you try to, you'll be putting yourself into a stall. Let your path be the particulars of your existence, the things that naturally arise in the course of daily life. They carry enough teachings to fill a library full of books, a life's worth of retreats. In the end, ordinary life will be the only indispensable teacher—the one whose lessons you cannot bypass.
Jan Frazier Jan. When Fear Falls Away: The Story of a Sudden Awakening (pp. 191-192).
This book by Jan Frazier is a real gift - one of the best memoirs describing what it’s like to wake up. You might find it a little too idealized at points — at times she makes it seem like post-awakening there are no challenges. However, few other books of this kind capture the sheer exhilaration, the rejoicing and embracing of every aspect of life that follows. I also love the way she details how her marriage is transformed, and what kind of intimacy is possible even though her husband isn’t a practitioner. The above passage is a beautiful illustration of the way the process unfolds, out of your control, inexorable and deeply tied to the particular wisdom of mundane experience. Reminds me of another lovely Pirkei Avot quote: “Ben Zoma said: Who is wise? He who learns from every one.”
Great quote from the Pirkei Avot. Reminds me of the Sufi view, that one can learn from anything, a book, or even a grasshopper, anything. They preface it with the "rightly guided" caveat, since Sufism depends heavily on the spiritual teacher/guru, but it's the same truth.