Patience

Today, early in the morning darkness prevails with virtually no moonlight. The temperature is 43 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Wednesday.

Meditate on an ox. The child waits for a chance to learn something of the oxherding pictures and in the meantime, learns patience. The ox is such a being - slow, deliberate, determined, and patient. The one who decides to ride the ox, has discovered something but has not gotten to true understanding, yet. They are on the way.

Patience is not something this culture teaches. The demands of fitting all that needs to be done in a cycle called "today" often requires that one move at a fairly quick pace. That pace is sometimes sychronus with the conditions of the day; and other times, completely contradictory to the plan - so traffic lights are not changing in one's favor, lines are longer than normal, things get lost and time gets wasted looking for the item one must have before leaving for the next appointment. It helps to notice when such a day arrives, before one leaves home. Sometimes, it's better just to stay put - avoid that accident that could happen.

If there is a way to cultivate patience - then one should really take it up. Why? Because it is the secret ingredient that enriches life and actually eases a lot of internal and external conflict. See and hear, with much more than the eyes and ears. This secret ingredient is essential to peace. It is essential to good health. It is essential to developing into a human being that is at once intelligent and dumb – and quite naturally so.

Being intelligent has little to do with informational, acquisitional talents. It has nothing to do with knowledge based on facts gathered on the internet. That kind of thing is just knowing stuff. That state of being is just heavy and mostly not useful, except if one wants to be in constant debate mode in life.

Being intelligent requires observing what is - without interfering with the tendency to judge, interpret, or mold into something that is not. It is closer to what we might call "insight.". Insight into oneself, into relationships, into conditions that exist without one's desires to change what is. The world may see a dumb person - which is perfect cover for developing that quality that is the secret sauce of life: patience.

By the way, patience is also the secret sauce of dying well, especially if one must undergo many iterations of treatments, surgeries, or just long, lingering conditions that slowly deteriorate the body. Patience in all aspects of what is left of living is a must to avoid depression, anxiety, or fear. In developing the capacity to go with the slow, steady rhythm that the ox represents, pay attention to the many opportunities to develop this quality for living and dying.

We don't realize, even sitting behind a car that doesn't move once the light changes at stop light, is an invitation to developing patience.