Patience is never wasted; patience
is a process through which a soul passes and
becomes precious. Souls who have risen above the world's limitations and sorrows,
the world's falseness and deception, they are the souls who have passed through patience.
becomes precious. Souls who have risen above the world's limitations and sorrows,
the world's falseness and deception, they are the souls who have passed through patience.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
* * * * *
Today's Meditation:
I would love to be a patient person. It's not that I'm an
impatient person at all--I'm less impatient than almost anyone I know in most
things. But when I see truly patient people at work, I know that I have
an awfully long way to go if I'm ever to consider myself to be truly patient.
In my experience, I may be going about trying to develop patience in the wrong way. I've always considered it an issue of personality, but if Hazrat Inayat Khan is right, then it's much more of a spiritual matter, and I've been trying to develop it in the wrong area of my life. To me, it's been a question of intellect and logic, trying to tell myself when to be patient, how to react to people and their actions and words, but he puts it firmly in the realm of spirit. And now that I think about it, most of the truly patient people I know have been very spiritual people as well--not necessarily religious, but deeply spiritual.
Perhaps what I need to do is to let my spirit take over in matters that demand patience. Perhaps I can ask myself, "what would I do in this situation if my eternal spirit were fully in charge instead of my intellect?" I have a feeling that the answers I'll get will be somewhat different than those I can come up with just using my limited ability to reason.
We tend not to let our spiritual sides make decisions for us. We tend to think that if we're actually hearing what our spirits are telling us to do, there's something wrong with us. But many traditions have greatly valued that "still, strong voice within" that can help us to make decisions in ways that will be good for everyone, and that can help us to be in touch with the eternal spiritual element of our being that is actually the very core of who we are. A life spent as a spiritual being can actually be a life that contributes greatly to the world in ways much different than those that result from reason and logic.
* * * * *
Questions to consider:
In my experience, I may be going about trying to develop patience in the wrong way. I've always considered it an issue of personality, but if Hazrat Inayat Khan is right, then it's much more of a spiritual matter, and I've been trying to develop it in the wrong area of my life. To me, it's been a question of intellect and logic, trying to tell myself when to be patient, how to react to people and their actions and words, but he puts it firmly in the realm of spirit. And now that I think about it, most of the truly patient people I know have been very spiritual people as well--not necessarily religious, but deeply spiritual.
Perhaps what I need to do is to let my spirit take over in matters that demand patience. Perhaps I can ask myself, "what would I do in this situation if my eternal spirit were fully in charge instead of my intellect?" I have a feeling that the answers I'll get will be somewhat different than those I can come up with just using my limited ability to reason.
We tend not to let our spiritual sides make decisions for us. We tend to think that if we're actually hearing what our spirits are telling us to do, there's something wrong with us. But many traditions have greatly valued that "still, strong voice within" that can help us to make decisions in ways that will be good for everyone, and that can help us to be in touch with the eternal spiritual element of our being that is actually the very core of who we are. A life spent as a spiritual being can actually be a life that contributes greatly to the world in ways much different than those that result from reason and logic.
* * * * *
Questions to consider:
Why do most of us trust our logic and reason over our spirits?
How might we start to allow our spirits to play a greater role in all that we do in our lives?
How might you recognize when your spirit is leading you to a certain action versus your reason leading you there?
* * * * *
For further thought:
How might we start to allow our spirits to play a greater role in all that we do in our lives?
How might you recognize when your spirit is leading you to a certain action versus your reason leading you there?
* * * * *
For further thought:
Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of
action; rather, it is "timing"; it waits on the right time
to act, for the right principles and in the right way.
action; rather, it is "timing"; it waits on the right time
to act, for the right principles and in the right way.
Fulton J. Sheen
morethoughts and ideas on patience
morethoughts and ideas on patience
No comments:
Post a Comment