The Power of Forbearance

….I have explained a little bit about forbearance now. If I were to explain it fully, there would be no end. Forbearance gives beneﬁts now and for the rest of saṃsāra. If you want to be happy in the present, you must work on your patience. If you want to be happy in the future, you must work on your patience. If you want to do something, to accomplish something in your present life, then develop forbearance and patience.”

…”When I was still a young monk, the Burmese in this country were not very civil, but the Indians were. When I went on my alms round, there was an old Indian man who came running to offer a gift as soon as he saw me. In spite of his old age, this old Indian staggered through the streets selling things, and when he saw me, he came running, even from afar, to give dāna.

Now, how is it that our Burmese people were not civil? The parents gave money to the children and they bought sweets and snacks with it. This old Indian was selling what they could afford to buy. Now, how did they call him over? They shouted, “Hey, Indian dog!” They called him that! Did you hear?

So, the children were calling him from every side, and what did he do? He went to them, smiling. He continued to smile, and whoever called to him like that ﬁrst, he would go to them ﬁrst. He came to them and they kept calling him “Indian dog.” He did not think, “Now, can these boys call me like this to buy something worth a penny — me, an old man who is their senior?” No, he just made the effort to go to those boys.

What would you do if young children called you what they called this old man?

D: We would be angry, of course, sir.

S: Would you just be angry and remain silent?

D: I would not remain silent, sir. Maybe I would even hit those children.

S: Would you get their penny, then? And aside from that, what would happen?

D: The Burmese would hit me, sir.

S: Yes, you see, this didn’t happen to him. He didn’t create any unskilful state of mind, either. He didn’t get angry. This is what I encountered when I went on my alms round as a young monk. Even though they called to him names like that, he didn’t get angry.

If he had been angry, would that have been wholesome (kusala) or unwholesome (akusala) as an action?

D: Unwholesome, sir.

S: Now, you all want to be forbearing, according to the Teachings of the Buddha, don’t you?

D: Even though we wish to practise the Teachings to some degree, we aren’t forbearing to that extent, sir.

S: Don’t be distracted by other things. Do just one thing: be forbearing. Do you understand? No matter how much the people living with you upset you, just practise this fully for yourself. What if other people always did the right thing?

D: Then I would be very pleased. But even if they should be chaotic, I should remain calm and pleasant, knowing that if greed arises it will be unwholesome for me, sir.

S: But what will you do if it gets to be too much?

D: I’ll be forbearing.

S: Yes. Remember just this. Don’t worry about anything else. If you look into this book or that book to see what they say, then your own practice will suffer. Just practise forbearance. If you exert yourself in just this one thing, you can achieve anything.”

Webu Sayadaw

Extract 1 - The Power of Forbearance — International Meditation Centre