Patience Grows Patience

Patience Grows Patience

I recall when I first began doing the Work after joining the School, a part of me knew the Work was going to be a lifetime journey. This would not be a four-year degree program. The Work is a long-term struggle to escape my complex mechanical trap, the Lower self. And yet, my progress is intuitively simple and iterative because it involves becoming increasingly real, shifting my sense of identity from my lower self to my Higher Self.

Patience, therefore, is necessary because, as it turns out, my being or my ability to do the Work is far less than what I perceived at the outset. My original hunch about the length of the journey was correct, but I was naive about the challenges. The Work, like being an angler, takes patience as well as skill to catch a fish. Over-reliance on skill, however, creates an illusion that I can just master a few tricks and then succeed in catching fish. Experienced anglers know that elements of luck and timing, and being prepared for the right situation, are all necessary to successfully fish.

Furthermore, fishing contains a qualitative experience. It is not just about catching fish. The Work is similarly a qualitative experience, one that minimizes the imaginary elements and reverses my comprehension of the world in many ways, reducing it to small things. Yes, life’s goals and ambitions and large-scale events can be useful constructs and milestones, but when it comes down to daily living, it is living in the moment that makes a difference. The weight of my identifications and imagination requires much effort to overcome. I must learn to focus on the eternal Now.

Without true patience, I run right past the target. Moving beyond the fishing spot holding the most fish, I mistakenly think progress is elsewhere. My entire life can be thought of as a dynamic understanding of the little things - the small things containing new details and perceptions that provide meaning and richness to living. Consciousness is the prize. Being in the moment, remembering myself, and reconciling internal differences are worthwhile pursuits that take time. Each teaspoonful of understanding and experiences of Higher States accumulates until it is a pitcher full of Truth.

Fellow journeyman – please understand that life doesn’t provide us the answers all at once, it requires patience, perseverance, good choice-making, and a few psychological skills to achieve the inner treasures that are the bounty and catch of life in the Work. Be patient while fishing.

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Detail from a Fishing Scene (20th Century; original New Kingdom, ca. 1400 B.C.), Hugh Hopgood