In my Buddhist study group, we are discussing the chapter on Patience in Shantideva's teachings. Patience is an old fashioned word, and a virtue that I don't hear being talked about these days. It has connotations of passivity and self-denial. Not attributes valued in our society. Yet, when I focus on patience, expectation falls, the pressure is off, I can let time do some of the work. I've learned, over the decades, that most of what I think must be acted upon immediately can wait, and when I wait, I decide not to act at all. Instead of pushing, I let the rest of the world in to help determine what will be. I am not acting alone, or hastily, and mostly, in my experience, that is a good thing.
And patience is not passive, it takes active energy, and has active consequences. It allows the shaft to fall from the wheat. What remains is what I rightfully draw my attention to, and every minute held off from my action gives me time to observe others actions and incorporate a wider world, upon which I am dependent, to inform me.
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