Dear Friends,
Continuing with the talk by Kamala Masters titled, “The Power of Patience.”
Kamala tells a story of a time she was having a “rolling up the mat” period of practice. She told the teacher, “I can’t do this!” The teacher and translator discussed for a bit, and the translator said, “Sayadaw-ji says that when you’re feeling like this, you must stand up. Then you must pull up your socks. You must begin again.”
Kamala said this gave her a moment to pause and to be patient with herself a bit. She explains,
When we reach our limit with ourselves, can you just pause for a moment – maybe listen to a birdsong – you don’t have to pull up your socks but do something that gives you a moment to know that moment of impatience, and just let it pass by. And then the next moment, you’ll see that impatience is gone. Whatever’s there – patience, equanimity, or something you brought in because you gave yourself that pause of patience. Then you can begin again.
This little pause of patience is helpful in daily life too. Kamala says, “Just being patient enough that you don’t have to let that stuff come out of your mouth. Just give it some time.”
Guided instruction: Gregory Kramer teaches Insight Dialogue, which is one way we can bring patience in daily life interactions. The first step in that process is Pause. The following is a 17 minute instruction from Gregory, to pause while contemplating the body:
https://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/77/talk/44537/
Feel free to share your reflections or comments below, or by email.
With warm wishes,
Andrea