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On Patience

By Soshimsa


Patience (In-yeok인욕(忍辱) - Patience is not only enduring but also forgiveness without resentment. To cut off anger at an entry point, at one’s own mind. To cut down anger itself, not the person or the thing outside oneself.

But we are to be patient not only towards anger. We must be patient towards gain, growth, collapse, loss, honor, glory, praise, mockery, ridicule, slander, blame, hardship, difficulty, joy, pleasure, pain, discomfort…. To be patient is to deal with suffering, physical and mental, and to overcome it well and with grace.

Of patience, there are 2 main kinds: Beop-In (법인) is Patience towards Nature, and Seng-In (생인) is Patience towards People.

Patience towards Nature (Beop-In법인)-This means being patient towards and enduring climate, weather changes, and natural disasters. Do you grow angry when your beach day is ruined by a storm? When your walk is cut short by rain? Who do you blame when a blow-down branch falls on your car?

Patience towards People (Seng-In생인)-This means being patient with self and others.

Patience towards one’s own anger (Bok-In복인) - This means to control one’s mind and body. If you do not control your anger, you will suffer anguish, and if you do not manage your praise and joyful and comfortable life, you will suffer from greed, and it becomes easy to lose your mind and body in the face of temptation.

Patience towards others (Yu-Sun-In유순인) - This means that even in the face of suffering caused by insults, slander, blame, disgrace, etc., the mind is reconciled and unshakable, and so the body and mind are at peace.

We have a tendency to think of patience as a response mainly to the emotion of anger or frustration. Let’s consider the following:

- Patience in the face of Hunger and Thirst
- Patience in the face of “Cold” (“cold” weather, attitude, personality..)
- Patience in the face of “Heat” (“heat”= weather, anger, frustration…)
- Patience is the face of Suffering caused by the 3 Poisons
- Patience in the face of Delight (joy, likes, pleasures…(think a burning couch as a celebration of your college’s football team winning a big game)
- Patience with the Precepts and Regulations
- Patience with Teachings
- Patience with Wisdom (keeping the faith/belief…until it becomes knowledge)
- Patience with Time (Things take time. Time to flourish, time to end, etc. Things in life have their own seasons. You can’t pull on your hair to make it grow faster, you can’t pull up on a seedling to make it grow faster, and you can’t grow angry if a summer crop planted in the winter dies. I mean you can, but isn’t that silly? Isn’t that childish?

Just because a person grows older doesn't necessarily mean they’ve grown wiser. We can say that just because a person gets older doesn't mean they're an adult. When you're sick, you have to know how to deal with and overcome pain and discomfort well.
You have to know how to control your anger when you're angry. How not to get angry or resentful. Anger is poison. It is the root of a disease. When you manage anger, your mind and body are comfortable and happy. When you manage anger, your worries disappear and you are free.
To know to hold your tongue when it is appropriate. To know how to hold your tongue, to swallow and digest your words without hurting your heart. This is patience in the face of slander, blame, insult…
When one screams that they are sick, swears that they are angry, and say anything that one wants to say, one is no different from a child.

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