Patience Ripens the Fruit of a Tree

Patience Ripens the Fruit of a Tree

The more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core, and I think the same is true of human beings. — Henry David Thoreau

When learning something new, one of the first stages to acquiring mastery over a subject is to read and assemble enough knowledge before launching into action. The psychology of the Fourth Way breaks down why and how patience and intentionality are essential building blocks for a meaningful lifetime of self-observation and mastery over oneself. Embarking on anything for a prolonged period of time takes patience and a willingness to witness strengths and weaknesses without identification and judgment. Patience is most closely related to the idea of detachment or nonattachment, which is a virtue found in many Eastern Religions.

The Intellectual Center is useful in this regard because it is the slowest of the four lower centers. In the beginning of this Work, time and space is needed between an initial observation and the ability to see and respond to it with objectivity – as though witnessing characteristics in another person – a form of divided attention. Observations are simply knowledge: “know thyself.” The response to this self-knowledge requires self-remembering to act patiently and intentionally on new information.

I experience the different speeds of the Intellectual and Emotional Centers when I overreact to a weakness that I notice in myself or one that someone else points out to me. The Emotional Center often rushes in with identification to the observation and distorts reality, predictably resulting in the expression of negative emotions.

For example, when I was given a written test in school, I frequently became anxious and emotionally overwhelmed before I could engage the slower speed of the Intellectual Center to accomplish the task at hand. After observing this mechanical pattern time and again, I eventually learned to allow the Emotional Center time to settle down and waited for its commotion of ‘I’s to pass. With separation or detachment, I was more able to approach the test with right work of centers, in this case, using the Intellectual Center for an intellectual task.

Establish yourself. Abide in endurance. — The Nag Hammadi Text

Many of us have experienced impatience while our bodies recover from an illness or surgery. Perhaps we have even slowed down the recovery process because we have returned to work before the body was healed or strong enough for normal functioning. Through observations of this type of impatience or irritation, I have developed an attitude of acceptance and detachment to play the role of a sick patient to the best of my ability during illness. This requires divided attention and not allowing the Instinctive Center’s illness to seep into the Emotional Center and infect it with negativity.

How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees? — William Shakespeare

Another example of impatience which most of us have experienced is when we have purchased an electronic device, perhaps a TV, cell phone, sound system, computer, etc., and rather than patiently reading the instruction manual, we try to figure out how the device works on our own. An outcome of choosing to bypass the “knowledge” in the manual – more often than not – ends up in negativity and frustration. The story of the tortoise and the hare come to mind which illustrates the illusion of winning the race with speed rather than slow and steady perseverance.

A man watches his pear tree day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him patiently wait, and the ripe fruit at length falls into his lap. — Abraham Lincoln

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Pruners, from A Manuscript of Medieval Works of Art Related to Orchards