September 5, 2018
Venerable Wuling in Patience

Learn to be patient 

by observing those who are

demanding. 

Demanding people are, sadly, rarely satisfied. Situations seldom meet their expectations, relationships are often unfulfilling, completed projects fail to meet their standards, everything takes too long. Even the things they have control over often end in frustration.

Demanding perfection of themselves and everything around them, they often find they’re too hot, too cold, too hungry, too full, too early, too late. Basically, little meets their exacting standards. So they’re usually disappointed, distressed, or disgruntled.

Not a mindset we want to adopt! By practicing the paramita of patience, we’ll stop struggling with our conditions. Instead, we’ll accept that life doesn’t often go as we wish. And that’s alright.

So if we’re too warm, that’s okay. A little hungry? Stuck in a slow line? Working with those with a different work ethic? That’s life! And it’ll be much more pleasant when we are patient.

Article originally appeared on a buddhist perspective (http://www.abuddhistperspective.org/).
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