Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD. Published on www.acadun.com The Netherlands 20th September 2014
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Essence and Patience
Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious. But is man patient? Man or woman is usually impatient rather than patient; he or she is easily annoyed and becomes anxious. Why is this?
Since eons of time man has been advised to be patient and he has tried to be patient as well. And though he appears to be patient to a delay, a problem or suffering, he is impatient even in any issue of his everyday life, be it at work, at home, with friends, in social life and with children as well. Why is this?
As man is unable to be patient in every issue of daily life as yet, is there any guarantee that he will be patient in the future? What more does man need to understand that would make him patient in every issue of daily life? What is it that the enlightened have understood that makes them patient every moment of life? As man evolved and the notion of future happened to his mind, he became impatient. But why?
The enlightened realised that man is not the doer and that the past, present and future is not under man’s control. They also understood that what is meant to happen to man will only happen, including the corresponding thoughts and feelings, and no force on earth can prevent them from happening to him. They also understood that the thoughts and feelings are in duality and will change as the essence of life makes life flow by. But man and woman believe they can shape their future and their feelings too. This belief makes man and woman impatient. This is a natural phenomenon. Man is therefore, by nature, impatient and not patient.
Until the essence in evolution evolves the understanding that man is not the doer and what is meant to happen will only happen, including the corresponding thought and feeling, man will be impatient in every issue of daily life, be it at work, at home, with friends, in social life and with children, and not only by delay, a problem or suffering. Man becomes patient not by choice, effort or practice. He becomes patient when he understands that life will happen in only one way, including the corresponding thought and feeling, and not in the way his mind expects life to happen.
Copyright V. S. Shankar 2014
Editor’s note:
German Translator’s Note: Plants are not impatient no matter how they grow. Only humans and animals are impatient. This is because the range of the belief, that there is a doer in nature, is in minimal intensity in plants, little intensity in wildlife, moderate intensity in pets, and the intensity increases in children and adults of our own species. Therefore man is the most impatient with his fellow human beings, especially with children. How fascinating it could be to observe our own mind and how life has conditioned it to be impatient in various degrees. Not only plants and animals grow precisely – in terms of speed and form – manifested by the essence of life, but man and his children also grow precisely as they are meant to grow. Thank you, Dr. Shankar for this insightful article! Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.
Dutch translator’s note: As soon as we start to undertake something, the mind is busy thinking about the expected future result. The mind, however, is not sure if the result will be achieved. Thinking about the eventual result, impatience slips into our acts. Delay or problems obviously are a source of irritation, as the uncertainty of achieving the final goal lasts therefore even longer. Convinced of being the doer, we do not watch what happens, but we think we know what happens. By which life passes by without us noticing it. Dr. Shankar has shown us, in many ways, that it is essential to understand that we are not the doer. Only when we understand this fully, we will receive the patience to enjoy life as it comes. Paula Smit, the Netherlands
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