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LEAD ARTICLE | EASTERN HORIZON 7

our enemies in so helping us to practice patience have And soften my revulsion with samsara:
accumulated positive actions. But this is not the case. I begin to covet others’ qualities and
Although we were the cause for their negative actions, Every excellence is thereby spoiled.
by our practicing patience we actually accumulate merit
and will not take rebirth in the lower realms. As it is we Praise, if you think about it, is actually a distraction.
who have been patient, that does not help our enemies. For example, in the beginning one may be a simple,
On the other hand, if we cannot stay patient when we humble monk, content with little. Later on people
are harmed, then the harm done by our enemies will may start to praise one, saying, “He’s a lama,” and one
not help anyone at all. Moreover, by losing patience begins to feel a bit more proud and to be more self-
and getting angry we transgress our vow to follow the conscious in how one feels and behaves. Then the eight
discipline of a bodhisattva. worldly considerations become stronger, do they not,
and the praise we receive distracts us, destroying our
If, for example, a person condemned to death were to renunciation.
have his life spared in exchange for having his hands
cut off, he would feel very happy. Similarly, when we Again, at first when we have little to compare ourselves
have the chance to purify a great suffering by enduring with, we do not feel jealous of others. But later we begin
a slight injury, we should accept it. If, unable to bear to “grow some hair,” and as our status increases so does
insults, we get angry, we are only creating worse our rivalry with others in important positions. We feel
suffering for the future. Difficult though it may be, jealous of anyone with good qualities, and in the end
we should try instead to think openly, on a vaster this destroys our own good qualities. Being praised is
perspective, and not retaliate. not really a good thing—it can be the source of negative
actions.
For the sake of my desired aims,
A thousand times I have endured the fires Those who stay close by me, then,
And other pains of hell, To ruin my good name and cut me down to size,
Achieving nothing for myself and others. Are they not my guardians saving me
The present pains are nothing to compare with those, From falling into realms of sorrow?
And yet great benefits accrue from them.
These afflictions which dispel the troubles of all As our real goal is enlightenment, we should not be
wandering beings: angry with our enemies, who in fact dispel all the
I should only delight in them. obstacles to our attaining enlightenment.

So far we have been, and are still, going through endless They, like Buddha’s very blessing,
suffering, without this suffering doing us any good Bar my way, determined as I am
whatsoever. Now that we have promised to be good- To plunge myself in suffering:
hearted, we should try not to get angry when others How could I be angry with them?
insult us. Being patient may not be easy. It requires We should not be angry, saying,
considerable concentration. But the result we achieve ‘They are an obstacle to virtue,’
by enduring these difficulties will be sublime. That is Patience is the peerless austerity,
something to be happy about! And is this not my chosen path?

The rigmarole of praise and reputation It is no use saying that our enemies are preventing
Serves not to increase merit nor the span of life, us from practicing, and that is why we get angry. For
Bestowing neither health nor strength of body, if we truly want to practice, there is no practice more
It contributes nothing to the body’s ease. important than patience. We cannot pretend to practice

Praise and compliments disturb me, without patience.