Patient Presence

Nothing short of patience can give us entry into the nature of healing and wholeness yet we all seem to have difficulty in waiting, being patient and resting in the moment between here and there. Could some of this impatience be because the mystery of Life is, well, so mysterious that we’re afraid of it and want to distract ourselves with a quick fix and deflection? Is this part of the reason for wanting to get onto the next project, adventure, challenge, relationship or whatever compels us to keep moving, driving and striving? Might it be culturally conditioned?

When facing the incomprehensible we have to slow way down, for what can be known and understood often speaks in a language that requires depth and time to penetrate it’s message. Our fast paced way of life doesn’t honor the patience it takes to engage this. The next app, event, drama, news cycle, appointment or innovation grabs our attention keeping us on Life’s surface rather than directing us into Its’ depths. Patience becomes a distraction on our way to being distracted. Power is greatest however when it’s accompanied by calmness and patience.

Pablo Neruda, the great Chilean poet discovered patience to be one of the great gifts that waits beneath our individual and collective agitation. He saw that Life continually reveals its’ innate creative powers to us when we make the effort to wait, watch and listen. Only by allowing and out-waiting the difficulties of Life rather than resisting and scurrying from them will the experiences reveal themselves as part of a larger opening and transformation. Write on……..

How often, in your agitation and impatience have you hurried off with annoyance in search of  a better situation? How often has the inner turmoil followed you until you finally stopped, or at least slowed down enough to sit deeply with your pain and disappointment? How often did you discover the light that was here all along? When we realize that ‘Presence’ is being patient with our circumstances, ourselves and those around us, we begin to live in the awakened paradox of being in movement while also being in repose. This is all apart of the Art of Life.

This waiting, patience, and presencing is crucial for any spiritual journey to be true. It has to do with the relationship between You and you, Source and self, Substance and form, Essence and personality, God and god, Depth and surface, Being and being. It’s about a willingness to give acknowledgement to what is beyond names, beyond the visible, beyond the known. It’s an opportunity to experience the Benevolent Something within us and all creation peacefully connected and detached, serene and tranquil, personal and impersonal, known and unknown.

It points to quieting the turbulence on the surface of our hearts, minds, and daily lives. It asks that we patiently see into Life’s depths, become aware of what lives beneath the surface and consciously align with the Essence of Who We Truly Are. It’s not so much that we are unable to be patient, it’s that we are unaware of the abundant gifts that patience brings. When we awaken to this energy we become receptive to it and experientially feel its’ great value. We then flow with this living stream of invisible vibrations to become more present, alive and whole.

• Become conscious of your impatience today. As you do, become patient with your impatience.
• Allow small breaks today to practice Presence. Simply calm, center and breathe consciously.
• Go outside today and find a place to sit for awhile. Observe the trees, plants and clouds.
• Allow your self to be cradled by your Self today. Feel the gift of Patience with no conditions.