Patience is the sixth Parami, or, emanation of the awakened being.  Patience comes when we appreciate how it is to rest and wait, allowing that which arises to pass in its natural rhythm.  From the TaoTeChing: “The wise … those who understand, have no mind to fight the Tao … but instead, rest in the rhythm of life and nature.”

Dancing the rhythms — what’s the hurry?  Life is not like a piece of music to play faster so you can play more.  It’s to be unfolded at its inherent and wonderful rhythm.

When there’s something that’s difficult to face, to be with, to rest with, such as pain, boredom, aging, hurt, we don’t want to stay with the difficulty, we want it to hurry and change, even as we understand the salutary effects of presence.  We can choose to sit, breathe, listen and see, here and now, within the movement of life in and around us.  Resting our muscles, our ideas and our hearts, the spirit of wonder, our capacity to rest in and trust the mystery, naturally reveals itself and wisdom appropriately moves our words, thoughts and actions. We put our bags down and not hurry elsewhere, all the while trusting that in the natural unfolding we are carried to our destination.

Buddha sat without argument, without rejection, studying the rhythms, the possibilities of  mind and heart, how the world arises and passes away, until he opened to the great mystery, holding it all in the great heart of compassion.  Who could benefit from such patience now?

With metta,
Gina Sharpe,
Guiding Teacher