Philosophies

What the Elders Meant by Patience

Patience in old teaching rarely meant waiting quietly. It usually meant something more active.

OriginTeachingPracticeIntegration
By Kabir Sen6 min readmetered
What the Elders Meant by Patience

Contemporary use of the word patience usually describes a kind of passive endurance: waiting without complaint.

In many of the older texts that use the term we now translate as patience, the meaning is closer to a disciplined steadiness under provocation, not the absence of feeling but the refusal to let feeling dictate the next action. It is closer to composure than to waiting.

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