Meditation and Patience

  The more I practice meditation, the more I appreciate that change doesn't happen just because a person wants it to happen or 'thinks' it into existence. During the group practice today, we were sharing about the analogy in Buddhism about catching a feather with a fan: meditative practice needs to respect the goal but also do so with a relaxed perspective and attitude. In commenting on this analogy in Faith in Mind, Master Sheng Yen remarks:


Practicing with a goal in mind is like trying to catch a feather with a fan. The more you go after it, the more it eludes you. But if you sneak up on it slowly, you can grab it. The aim of practice is to develop patience and forbearance, to train your mind to become calm and stable. (p.19)


I think there are many interesting points to Master Sheng Yen's commentary. One that I find interesting is how setting a goal and working toward it does not necessarily require that the mind and body be tense and 'concentrated' all the time. Rather, it's possible to have a goal and not try to wear oneself out trying to attain it. The second point seems more subtle. Could it be that all goal setting in general is not about attaining something, but might be a kind of mental training?


I might consider a different analogy, namely working life. Many, if not most people, are under the impression that work is designed with the final goal of a profit, or the expansion of a company. While this is true, there is somehow a deeper purpose and meaning to work, which relates to how character develops and unfolds. If I see a challenge, do I really only focus on the final goal? Maybe there is no final goal. Many projects in the workplace fail, in spite of the money and time invested in it. But does this mean that the endeavor was a waste of time? Actually, a lot of money is invested in learning alone. If millions of dollars are invested in a project that ends up failing, we could say that the learning experience itself wasn't lost as a result.


Perhaps a meditative approach to work is about realizing that the whole process is to train the mind to be calm, open and patient in all situations. This in itself is already a good thing even if it doesn't lead to specific results.


Sheng Yen (1987) Faith in Mind. Elmhurst NY: Dharma Drum Publications