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when confronted 
by anger, discontent and denial 
that 
comes from hearing insulting 
words, unpleasant 
treatment or manners, being put 
under pressure 
by one's boss or by one's 
subordinates and 
various sorts of injustice in society. 
People in 
our society are very diverse in their 
dispositions 
— thus don't expect everyone to 
be as you 
would want in every respect —
thus once you 
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start to develop the social 
dimension of your 
life, if you want to get along with 
other people, 
you need to prepare plenty of this 
sort of patience 
for yourself. Everybody in the 
world 
loves to do exactly whatever they 
want without 
taking any notice of any 
regulations 
but 
in fact it just shows that you are 
lacking this 
third form of patience. The more 
people live in 
a community together, the more 
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occasions there 
will be for conflict. People have 
different habits, 
needs and backgrounds and if they 
don't 
have the capacity to be tolerant of 
others' differences 
then conflicts will soon break out. 
Even 
if you possess all the forms of 
patience already 
discussed, but you lack patience in 
the face of 
conflict, you cannot make a 
success of life —
supposing you resign from a place 
of work 
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every time you get a little bit of 
criticism? 
306 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
4. Patience in the face of 
temptation: This means 
patience to avoid succumbing to 
attractive or 
distractive things which maybe 
you would like 
to do but which are inappropriate 
e.g. the patience 
not to succumb to the temptation 
of touring 
night clubs, gambling, addictive 
drugs, bribery, 
corruption, promiscuity, 
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drunkenness concerning 
rank or power or boasting etc. This 
is 
resistance towards the things that 
distract us 
from our real work or purpose 
for example, 
to resist the attraction of going on 
outings, gambling, 
smoking, drinking or taking drugs. 
Before 
you had experience of any of these 
things, you 
would have found it easy to resist 
any of them 
because you regarded all of them 
in a negative 
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light 
but whenever you have 
had your first 
taste, your capacity to refuse is 
significantly 
weakened. Before you knew the 
rules of poker 
the whole game seemed very 
tedious but as soon 
as you knew how to play, it began 
to feel more 
like a way of strengthening 
friendship, or an aid 
to mental calculation. Before 
trying heroin, like 
the rest of the world you would 
condemn it, but 
once you become more familiar 
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with it, it suddenly 
seems more acceptable as a way of 
enhancing 
your strength. It might take 
patience not to 
accept a bribe. If someone offers 
you a bribe of a 
1,000 or 10,000, you might find it 
easy to refuse, 
saying, "What do you think I am 
a 
mercenary?" But what if they of 
fer you 100,000 
to keep your mouth shut? You 
might say, "Personally, 
I don't have the need of your 
money, but 
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sometimes, I have to help out my 
employees and 
their families . . . but both my 
self-respect and 
those of my employees are worth 
more than your 
money!" When offered a million, 
there is only 
one response left — "I'll take it!" 
As soon as you 
are put in a position of 
responsibility, there will 
be things to tempt you. The sort of 
patience that 
you need to overcome this sort of 
temptation is 
even more difficult to master than 
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patience 
against conflict. Most people who 
are already 
temple-goers already feel 
indifferent if anyone 
comes up and insults them — it is 
not much different 
than listening to a dog barking. We 
often 
congratulate ourselves for being so 
patient — not 
getting angry when insulted. 
However, are you 
patient enough not to smile when 
someone 
praises you? Flattery is specially 
dangerous for 
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young ladies who run away with 
the first spotty 
youth to chat them up. This final 
type of patience 
is the hardest of all to develop —
as in the words 
of the ancient saying: 
"Not to be angry when insulted is 
hard 
enough — but not to be elated by 
flattery is 
harder still" 
Thus obstacles on all four levels 
can be overcome 
by patience. 
C. CULTIVATING PATIENCE 
C.1 Training oneself in patience 
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Training oneself in patience when 
one is put in situations 
of hardship can be easier if one 
bears the following 
tips in mind: 
I. Reflect regularly on one's sense 
of conscience: 
When we are fully ashamed of evil 
[hiri] and fear 
the consequences of evil [ottappa], 
patience will 
automatically arise; 
2. Transform negative emotions 
into positive ones: 
In the case we are maltreated, by 
relativizing, and 
reminding ourselves that things 
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could be worse, 
we can elevate our level of 
patience in the face 
of hardship. If they insult you, 
remind yourself 
it is better than being beaten by 
them. If you are 
beaten by them, remind yourself 
that it is better 
than dying at their hands. Some 
people only like 
to meditate when they feel it is 
easy for them to 
do so. On days when it doesn't 
seem to be going 
very well, often they make no 
attempt to carry 
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on with the practice. Such people 
will be unlikely 
to make progress, because they 
refuse to meditate 
at exactly the time when they need 
to sit for 
meditation the most. If you sit for 
meditation and 
find it is not going as well as you 
expected, don't 
give up. Think instead, "Today all 
I can see in 
meditation is pitch darkness 
well at least that 
is better than feeling dizzy." And if 
some days 
you sit for meditation and you feel 
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dizzy, think 
instead, "today I feel dizzy in 
meditation — well 
at least that is better than feeling 
stiff." And if 
Blessing Twenty-Seven: Patience 
307 
some days you sit for meditation 
and feel stiff, 
think instead, "Today I feel stiff in 
meditation —
well at least that is better than 
having a headache." 
And if some days you sit for 
meditation 
and have a headache, think instead, 
"Today I 
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have a headache when meditating 
— well at least 
that is better than having a fever." 
Such an attitude 
is equivalent to the attitude of a 
boxer who 
dodges punches to avoid the 
painful blows they 
are intended to cause. 
3. Practice meditation regularly: 
Meditation is the 
foundation of all sorts of patience. 
Patience allows 
our meditation to deepen. As our 
meditation 
deepens, our ability to be patient is 
improved. This 
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is why no matter what part of 
Buddhism you want 
to study you have to meditate first 
to prepare the 
mind. Train yourself in meditation 
continuously. 
Patience and meditation are 
complementary virtues 
— for patience to be good, there 
must be a 
good quality of meditation as its 
foundation. For 
meditation to progress, it needs 
patience as its 
springboard. Patience is like the 
left hand and 
meditation like the right. If the left 
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hand gets dirty, 
it can be washed with the right. If 
the right hand 
is dirty it can be washed with the 
left — and if 
both are dirty, one can be rubbed 
against the other 
to get them both clean. 
C.2 Turning a blind eye to 
provocation 
The Great Abbot of Wat Paknam 
taught how patience 
is invaluable for the cultivation of 
meditation. 
He taught that you need to: 
"do as if your eyes are blind like 
bamboo; 
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do as if your ears are as deaf as 
frying pans; do 
as if your body is as humble as a 
doormat-rag; 
do as if your mind was as steadfast 
as the earth" 
The conclusion of his advice is in 
the order of the 
above verses: 
1. don't go looking at the 
inappropriate things —
for example, don't go looking at 
the other people 
who go to the same temple who 
might annoy 
you 
2. don't go listening to the things 
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that are inappropriate 
— for example, don't go listening 
to 
gossip 
3. don't look down on even the 
humblest of work 
4. don't allow your mind to be 
upset by elation or 
disgust: your mind needs to be like 
the earth 
which doesn't recoil no matter 
whether unpleasant 
refuse or the most exotic perfume 
is poured 
onto it and a mountain remains 
unshaken in the 
face of the winds from the four 
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directions. 
If you can follow these four 
practices, you will soon 
be able to cultivate patience and 
other virtues will 
follow. 
C.3 Practising patience in the face 
of injustice 
Similarly the Great Abbot of Wat 
Paknam gave a 
path of practice to victims of 
injustice. Sometimes 
you know that you are being 
maligned — but to 
lose your temper about it would do 
nothing to help 
the situation. Usually such 
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