This morning, after waking up when I looked out of the window, the weather seemed inviting - clear blue sky, sparrows and mynas chirping on the mango tree, the air filled with fragrance of flowers from the garden in front of my residence. I decided to chant my rounds outdoors. While I was on my way back, I saw on a bench in the garden, sat a young lady somewhere in her late twenties carrying her newborn in her arms, eyes filled with love, expectations, hope, aspirations and a future for her baby. This set me on a chain of cogitation - Bringing life into this world requires a very important jewel called 'Patience'- 9 months of perseverance and patience. Thus, the Lord teaches us this divine quality through His amazing mechanisms and creations.
In China there is a specific type of bamboo tree. When you plant the seed of this tree, nothing comes out of the ground, there is absolutely no visible growth for the whole first year. The second year, no growth; the third year, no movement; the fourth year, nothing.
One may think - why waste water, time and energy anymore on this lazy tree? But the people have faith, they keep watering the tree. And in the fifth year, within six weeks it grows to 90 feet. We can understand life very much through nature.
It’s not that we always get immediate results for what we do. We should have faith, and one of the symptoms of faith is patience. In his book Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, Srila Rupa Goswami, a renowned saint of the 16th century, describes that we need both enthusiasm and patience for success in Bhakti. How to combine these two qualities is a great art; if you don't have enthusiasm nothing will ever happen, but if you don't have faith, you will give up when you do not see immediate results.
Real success is our attitude, an attitude of faith that if we are doing the right thing, we know we are doing something wonderful for God & for the world. And the results will come, but how they come is beyond our control. In the Epic Mahabharata we find the example of the Pandava brothers. They remained faithful to Lord Krishna although they were banished to the forest for 12 years; they lost everything, but they persevered. When the proper time arrived, they fought the battle of Kurukshetra, and ultimately they were the kings. That's enthusiasm and patience.
These stories are given to us in the scriptures to help us cultivate the proper consciousness within our lives. We can achieve self-confidence and master the art of patience by having faith in the power, the glory and the grace of the supreme.
Comments