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injustice is the end product 
of a longer train of contributing 
factors which 
are better dealt with cooly and 
calmly by such 
means as new legislation — thus if 
you find yourself 
the victim of the end products of 
injustice rather 
than letting it spoil your day, you 
can cultivate patience 
as follows: 
I. Never fight back. For example 
if they insult you, 
don't insult them in return. If there 
is a fight there 
is always a winner and a loser. In 
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our case that is 
never enough because we will 
settle for nothing 
less than outright victory. If they 
put an article 
of lies about you in the paper, 
don't go giving an 
interview to the newspapers 
instantly. Maybe 
you should just have a private talk 
with your 
boss to let him know the real 
situation. Don't 
engage in mud-slinging. Even if 
you publicize 
your response in the papers, they 
may twist your 
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words to their own advantage. 
2. Never run away. By running 
away it is like admitting 
your guilt. 
3. Do good deeds continuously. 
This is the 
transformative part of our patience. 
Don't give 
up but maintain your quality of 
mind. Don't 
leave weak spots for your 
opponents to attack 
further. The initial accusation is 
only like the first 
punch of a boxing match 
to see 
how the opponent 
will open himself up to further 
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attacks. 
`Good' in the worldly sense means 
carrying on 
308 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
with `business as usual'. Do 
everything according 
to the book, in case someone looks 
for fault 
with your practice. In spiritual 
ways, don't go 
relying on others but rely on the 
merit you have 
done. Merit is really the thing that 
helps people 
win or lose. Thus any morning 
when you haven't 
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given done something generous, 
don't dare to 
take breakfast. Any day when you 
don't intend 
to keep the Precepts, don't dare to 
leave the 
house. Any evening when you 
haven't done your 
meditation and chanting, don't 
dare to go to bed. 
In that way your goodness will 
accumulate making 
you less vulnerable to injustice. 
If you can manage to follow this 
advice, before long 
you will win a victory without 
bloodshed. It will 
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be outright victory and the public 
sympathy will 
fall on your side. 
D. ILLUSTRATIVE 
EXAMPLES 
D.1 Metaphor: Grass is Patient 
Despite its small size, the tenacity 
of grass has allowed 
it to spread to every corner of the 
world. In 
the same way, despite a person's 
lack of wealth, 
knowledge or ability, their 
patience will allow them 
to train themselves towards 
happiness and success 
in life. 
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D.2 Ex. KhantivAdE JAtaka 
(J.313) 
At a time when the Lord Buddha 
was still pursuing 
Perfections as the Bodhisattva, he 
was born as 
a hermit. He was meditating in a 
royal park. That 
day the king was drunk and came 
through the forest 
with his retinue of court ladies. 
The king fell 
asleep in the forest, so all the 
courtiers became bored 
and instead of attending the king, 
they went to listen 
to the teachings of the hermit 
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nearby. When the 
king woke and found himself alone 
he lost his temper. 
When he found the courtiers, 
instead of being 
angry with his courtiers for leaving 
him, he became 
jealous of the hermit for having 
become the centre 
of the courtiers' attention. 
He shouted at the hermit saying, 
"What's so good 
about you? — Speak up for 
yourself if you have 
any particular virtues to speak of!" 
The hermit said, "I have the habit 
of not being 
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driven to anger. I train myself in 
patience." 
The king said, "That's all I wanted 
to hear. We'll 
soon find out where your patience 
lies!"— and had 
his attendants whip the hermit a 
thousand of times. 
The hermit remained indifferent. 
He said, "Your 
majesty, patience is not to be 
found my skin but in 
my mind. Even if you were to strip 
all my skin off 
you would not find it." 
The king said, "That's all I wanted 
to hear. We 
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need waste no further time with 
whipping," and 
proceeded to cut off the ears, nose, 
arms and legs 
of the hermit. 
The hermit remained indifferent. 
Of course it 
would have been agony, but the 
hermit maintained 
the quality of his mind, and in spite 
of the pain he 
was not angry. Normally, if 
something hurts our 
body, it hurts us to our mind, but 
not in the case of 
this hermit. Instead of the hermit 
being angry, it 
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was the king who got angry 
because he couldn't 
manage to upset the hermit. He 
stamped on the 
ground in anger and turned his 
back on the hermit 
to leave the park. As he turned, the 
earth opened 
up beneath his feet and swallowed 
him directly into 
Aveci Hell. The hermit remained 
alive, but covered 
in his own blood. The courtiers 
attended to the hermit's 
wounds and redressed him. They 
were afraid 
the hermit would be angry with 
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them — they all 
said that they only did what they 
did because the 
king had ordered them to do so. 
The hermit replied, 
"Long live the king and anyone 
else who decides 
to cut off my arms, legs, ears and 
nose. People of 
the likes of me have no anger left 
for anyone."
D.3 Ex. PuAAovAda Sutta 
M.iii.267 
In the time of the Buddha there 
was a man called 
PuAAa who lived in the town of 
SunAparanta in 
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the south of India. At that time the 
south of India 
was less developed than the rest of 
the country. 
There were even cannibals living 
in the forests and 
all the inhabitants had a reputation 
for their cruelty. 
Murder was a daily occurrence. 
PuAAa had 
been a merchant travelling with his 
brother to trade 
in the town of SAvatthE. He had 
the chance to hear 
the teaching of the Buddha and 
was so inspired that 
he asked to ordain. He tried his 
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best in meditation 
but the foreign climate and the 
environment was 
not amenable to his meditation —
and he could 
Blessing Twenty-Seven: Patience 
309 
make no progress. One day he 
came to take his leave 
of the Buddha in order to return to 
his home country 
and to try meditating there instead. 
The Buddha 
disagreed with his idea reminding 
him, "Have 
you forgotten the cruelty of the 
people in your 
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homeland? Will you be able to 
tolerate the people 
there?" 
PuAAa replied, "I can." 
The Buddha asked, "What will you 
do if they insult 
you?" 
"I will consider that being insulted 
is better than 
their beating me with their hands." 
"And what if they beat you?" 
"I will consider that being beaten 
is better than 
their throwing clods of earth, sticks 
and stones at 
me." 
"And what if they stone you?" 
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"I will consider that being stoned 
is better than 
their stabbing me with spears and 
knives." 
"And what if they stab you with 
knives and 
spears?" 
"I will thank them because some 
people who 
want to die have to waste 
considerable time looking 
for effective means to take their 
own lives." 
The Buddha thus allowed PuAAa 
to make the 
journey. Meditating in favourable 
surroundings, he 
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was able to attain arahantship 
before long, and 
made an important contribution to 
spreading Buddhism 
in that province of cannibals. 
D.4 Ex. Temiya the Mute Ivi.lff. 
When the Buddha was still 
pursuing perfection as 
the Bodhisattva, he was born as a 
prince called Temi. 
Because the king wanted Prince 
Temi to grow up 
into a king who was able to take 
decisions in his 
place, from the age of six or seven, 
he would be 
taken to sit on the king's lap when 
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the king had to 
make serious decisions in court. 
One day when the 
prince was eight or nine, he was 
present in court 
when the king sentenced a 
murderer to death by 
live burning at the stake. Because 
of the Perfections 
which the Bodhisattva had 
cultivated over the 
course of many lifetimes, the 
power of his patience 
and meditation was very well 
developed. He knew 
that in his past he had been a king 
who had ordered 
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the death of robbers in exactly the 
same way 
and as the result he had spent 
many lifetimes in 
hell. He considered that if he grew 
up to be king 
again in this lifetime then he would 
have to order 
the death of people again in the 
same way and he 
would risk going to hell again. 
Therefore he decided 
to train himself further in patience. 
He decided that 
he would not fall for the 
temptation of the power 
of kingship and that he would 
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pretend to be mute 
from that day forth so that he 
would not be made 
king by his father and the people 
of the kingdom. 
He pretended to have no strength 
whenever he was 
in public. He would show no 
interest either in toys 
or in sweets that people used to 
tempt him to cooperate. 
When he grew up a little more, the 
king 
brought young princesses to tempt 
him. He felt 
tempted, but relied on the power of 
meditation he 
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