Beauty Parlor For the Soul - Patience

Patience is something you either make an effort to inculcate or learn the hard way. Life is the best teacher of this virtue. Everything in its own time. Nature does'nt hurry and neither should we.

A master lived with his disciples, in a forest. The dwelling was humble and daily lessons were learnt from nature. No text books or stationery was required. 'Simple Living' was the thought for the day, every day. Master and disciples would wake up each morning. No one was in charge of anything. The duties were spelt out and the timing for each was set. So, disciples and master silently took on the tasks as soon as they were identified. If the master swept the courtyard today, he would be filling water around the same time tomorrow. Thus, all the work was done without anyone having to issue commands. Master and disciples worked in silence. Once the chores were done, there was story-time and the great outdoors that they explored together.

This went on every day. Master would decide when the student was ready to leave the hermitage, to pass on the lessons learned, to the people of the outside world. One day, a new pupil arrived. He was a prince. His father ruled over a vast territory and he was expecting the master to be very excited at his arrival. The master simply indicated where the prince was to sit and dismissed the rest of the party with a simple wave.

The prince sat down and waited for the silence to end. The master called him to his side and asked him to introduce himself to the other five. Introductions over, the master told the boys to take a walk in the woods and bring back 'experience', like they did every day. The prince joined the boys. They simply strolled without any interaction. No communication. The prince tried to initiate one by showing them his pearl necklace, but they just were'nt interested. So, he toed the line. The boys returned and there was a simple meal of boiled rice and vegetable awaiting them. This they ate with great relish and after resting a while, they got down to simple calculations and the observation of the late evening sky thereafter.

This routine went on for days. The prince was in no mood to go on like this. What did the master think of himself? These boys... they were so ordinary and behaved like his equals! How dare they! Were they taking advantage of the fact that he was alone now, with them, in the jungle?

The prince walked up to the master and demanded the lessons he was told the master would impart, to make him a great king. The master asked him to wait till day-break. The next morning, the prince once again met the master. The master pointed out to a clearing in the thicket and gave him some seeds. The prince quickly raked the soil and sowed the seeds. Thus every time after that, whenever he went to the master, the master would point out to the patch. This was really getting to him. He could take no more. He could'nt even run away. He did'nt know his way around. Father did'nt care and only God knows what he had told the master when they met before he was brought to the hermitage.

Days passed into weeks and weeks into months. Months rolled on to years. Ten, when he first came to the hermitage, the prince was now twenty. In time, he had given up. He simply did what the others did. The patch of land, the master had said, was his priority. Everytime he asked the master about leaving, the master told him that the saplings were yet to grow and the condition was that once they reached his height, he could leave. He kept growing taller and they just did'nt seem to be able to cope. Realizing the futility of the exercise, he simply gave up. In time, he saw three of the boys leave and seven more join the hermitage. From pupil, he became a leader. He learned arithmetic and science from nature and plenty of stories from the master, which the master always related to a virtue that the boys were expected to inculcate.

Now, the passage of time did'nt seem to bother him so much. He performed his duties well and served the master day and night. When the king arrived on the master's behest, the prince did'nt even react. He bowed before the king after he sought the master's blessings. The king could'nt believe his eyes. Was this his prince? How could it be? A boy who could'nt sit still for a moment, so restless and rude. Whatever had happened was good for the people of his kingdom. He was going to retire now and the crown prince was to take over. He seemed so humble and obedient. The king inquired about the lessons learned. The prince showed him the young trees and told the king of the master's condition. He told the king that he could'nt leave, as he pointed out to the eight inch difference between him and the trees that needed to be covered. This time, the master intervened. He told the boy that to him, the prince's height was as much as his understanding. He said that the prince was ready to take over the responsibility of the kingdom. He had learned well and could apply his every day experiences at the hermitage to rule well.

The master had used the clearing in the forest to teach the prince the value of patience. As a boy of ten, the prince was restless and needed activity to curb impatience. The sowing of the seeds, watering the plants, generating mulch and compost out of the fallen leaves and measuring himself against the saplings daily, exhausted his restlessness. The prince realized what had happened. He fell at the master's feet and stepped into the chariot a wiser person. All in good time. The master's final words were etched in his heart. "Give your subjects direction, and be patient. The results of great administration will pay rich dividend, in good time".

Well, we are definitely not going to any hermitage or meeting any physical master. But, stories such as this one are around because the message is so relevant to our day and time. Impatience waits at every corner. We have stopped introspecting. With a little patience we can see the fruit of our labor weigh heavy on the tree of a well-lived life. But no. What we commonly do is sow the seeds of action and keep raking them up to check if they are showing signs of growth. How can they grow this way? It takes a considerable amount of assimilation for a bank balance to grow. It has taken years of dedicated application before the established businessmen made a mark in any industry. If you point out to the rich, young ones; well, care to observe whether they have earned what they are spending. Then why can't we have a chunk of life like that? They are reaping the fruits of the labor of their forefathers. However, without careful tending even the mighty oak gets diseased and falls. Isn't it much better to sow the seeds of action, and continue in patient and detatched spirit, till the fruits and flowers attract the birds and the bees?

For those of us fortunate enough to get everything ready made, it is important to treat the treasure with respect and continue to nurture growth. The 'destiny' we speak of is nature's 'clearing in the forest' for us to tend. What we do with it is our look out. The next time you envy someone who has more than you to splurge, think about the situation this way – With patience you could be taking the seed from sapling to tree and with indiscriminate spending, the other person could be neglecting an infested cypress and allowing it to become hollow. Not that it is always the case. What matters most is being aware of your actions and using discrimination every step of the way, to identify right from wrong. Be patient and act in wisdom. It is not long before the laden branches will cradle you in cool shade.

"Give your subjects direction, and be patient. The results of great administration will pay rich dividend, in good time".

Identify a goal and strive towards it, with a passion and lust for life. When you have direction, all your actions are focused and that equals to quality meditation. Being impatient only causes you to direct your actions from haste and stress. And the result of that is no secret. We all bear the brunt of it at some time or the other. Patience bears good fruit. There is nothing but a renewal of spirit when you know and act from that knowledge and indulge in a regular intake of the magic portion called patience.