Buddhism Patience Quotes

You cannot control the results, only your actions.

Why should we place Christ at the top and summit of the human race? Was he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than Buddha? Was he wiser, did he meet death with more perfect calmness, than Socrates? Was he more patient, more charitable, than Epictetus? Was he a greater philosopher, a deeper thinker, than Epicurus? In what respect was he the superior of Zoroaster? Was he gentler than Lao-tsze, more universal than Confucius? Were his ideas of human rights and duties superior to those of Zeno? Did he express grander truths than Cicero? Was his mind subtler than Spinoza’s? Was his brain equal to Kepler’s or Newton’s? Was he grander in death – a sublimer martyr than Bruno? Was he in intelligence, in the force and beauty of expression, in breadth and scope of thought, in wealth of illustration, in aptness of comparison, in knowledge of the human brain and heart, of all passions, hopes and fears, the equal of Shakespeare, the greatest of the human race?

You actions are your only true belongings.

True patience is grounded in wisdom & compassion.

Patience has all the time it needs.

There is no illness that is not exacerbated by stress.

Patience is the training in abiding with the restlessness of our energy and letting things evolve at their own speed.

Compassion is not complete if it does not include oneself.

The meditative mind sees disagreeable or agreeable things with equanimity, patience, and good-will. Transcendent knowledge is seeing reality in utter simplicity. (146)

That's why it's called a practice. We have to practice a practice if it is to be of value.

Inner Peace can be seen as the ultimate benefit of practicing patience.

Devote the mind to confusion and we know only too well, if we´re honest, that it will become a dark master of confusion, adept in its addictions, subtle and perversely supple in its slaveries. Devote it in meditation to the task of freeing itself from illusion, and we will find that, with time, patience, discipline, and the right training, our mind will begin to unknot itself and know its essential bliss and clarity.

There's a limit to my patience with anything that smacks of metaphysics. I squirm at the mention of "mind expansion" or "warm healing energy." I don't like drum circles, public nudity or strangers touching my feet.

One who is patient glows with an inner radiance.

No one looks or feels attractive when angry.

Understanding the true nature of things, or seeing things as they really are, is the ground of wisdom.

Remind yourself that your mental & emotional health are important.

The most important step in developing skillful speech is to think before speaking.

So what is a good meditator? A good meditator meditates.

The experience of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral is the consequences of perception.

Directing the mind to stay in the present can be a formidable task.

Our work is not to become a better person, but to become present to the perfection we already are.

Technology offers us a unique opportunity, though rarely welcome, to practice patience.

Observe & accept what ever arises & know that everything is as it needs to be.

One of the best ways to support the development of patience is to cultivate happiness with yourself.

One evening Milarepa returned to his cave after gathering firewood, only to find it filled with demons. They were cooking his food, reading his books, sleeping in his bed. They had taken over the joint. He knew about nonduality of self and other, but he still didn’t quite know how to get these guys out of his cave. Even though he had the sense that they were just a projection of his own mind—all the unwanted parts of himself—he didn’t know how to get rid of them. So first he taught them the dharma. He sat on this seat that was higher than they were and said things to them about how we are all one. He talked about compassion and shunyata and how poison is medicine. Nothing happened. The demons were still there. Then he lost his patience and got angry and ran at them. They just laughed at him. Finally, he gave up and just sat down on the floor, saying, “I’m not going away and it looks like you’re not either, so let’s just live here together.” At that point, all of them left except one. Milarepa said, “Oh, this one is particularly vicious.” (We all know that one. Sometimes we have lots of them like that. Sometimes we feel that’s all we’ve got.) He didn’t know what to do, so he surrendered himself even further. He walked over and put himself right into the mouth of the demon and said, “Just eat me up if you want to.” Then that demon left too.

Patience is both the tool for and the result of, our efforts.

Our actions speak for us & they speak loudly.

The art of peaceful living comes down to living compassionately & wisely.

An open beginner's mind is a powerful tool for developing patience.

Peace can be found within, no matter the external circumstances.

The virtues of free enterprise can become distorted by greed & delusion.

To be mindful entails examining the path we are traveling & making choices that alleviate suffering & bring happiness to ourselves & those around us.

We all have issues & we have usually come by them honestly.

We must accept the reality that the causes of impatience travel a two-way street.

Patience from a Buddhist perspective is not a "wait and see" attitude, but rather one of "just be there"... Patience can also be based on not expecting anything.Think of patience as an act of being open to whatever comes your way. When you begin to solidify expectations, you get frustrated because they are not met in the way you had hoped... With no set idea of how something is supposed to be, it is hard to get stuck on things not happening in the time frame you desired. Instead, you are just being there, open to the possibilities of your life.

When people used to complain to the Buddha that they were upset, telling him, "Our children upset us; our partner agitates us," his simple reply would be, "You are not upset because of your children or your partner; you are upset because you are upsettable.

While meditating we are simply seeing what the mind has been doing all along.

To forgive does not mean to condone.

When we teach a child patience we offer them the gift of a dignified life.

Patience is a natural consequence of the cultivation of compassion & love, for ourselves and all beings.

Any methodology for developing patience requires a multi-tiered approach.

Patience requires a slowing down, a spaciousness, a sense of ease.

To get godly powers, you must have godly qualities. For human mind, the easiest godly quality to acquire is 'Infinite Patience'. That means, you should be able to wait infinitely for the results. In other words, you should not expect results, Those who can wait infinitely get it instantly.

To forgive does not mean to forget.

Without the ability to be present we are missing much of what the adventure has to offer.

Patience is the specific antidote to anger and hatred. It is an attitude of accepting both the harm caused by others and the pains and discomforts found in life instead of angrily retaliating against them. Only in the calm afforded by patient acceptance is one able to clearly discern the nature of the situation and proceed to deal with it realistically. Once the mind becomes distorted and disturbed with anger, any possibility of objectivity is lost. One consequently embarks upon a course of action grounded in misconception that inevitably leads to a heightening of the initial conflict rather than its resolution.

It takes patience to nurture patience.

When we dig a well, we get muddy water before clean water. A thirsty person would swallow the muddy water and become sick. Only those who are detached from the thirst can be patient at the finishing line where nectar is often hidden behind poison.

We cannot force the development of mindfulness.

People in the midst of losing their patience are certainly experiencing as aspect of dukkha.

Patience is the river that finds its way to the sea, by flowing through many confluences.

If a person shows anger to you, and you show anger in return, the result is disaster. If you nurse hatred, you will never be happy, even in the lap of luxury. By contrast, if you control your anger and show its opposite - love, compassion, tolerance, and patience - then not only do you remain in peace, but gradually the anger of others also will diminish.

We cannot learn real patience and tolerance from a guru or a friend. They can be practiced only when we come in contact with someone who creates unpleasant experiences.

Some people are a degree of impatience away from wishing a year were only a few weeks long.

Whenever you suffer misfortune or illness, think "This repays my karmic debts from former lifetimes and purifies my negative karma!" No matter what happiness you have, regard it as the kindness of the Three Jewels and arouse the strong yearning of devoted gratitude! When you meet with enmity and hatred, think "This is a good friend helping me to cultivate patience!" Think, "This helper for patience is a messenger sent by the victorious ones!" (p. 105)

Gaman was a word rooted in Buddhism that meant "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity." Ruth had heard her father use it often after they moved to California. And now, after they had endured so much already, here they were, once more forced to gaman.

essence of Buddhism: The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. The greatest precept is continual awareness. The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything. The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways. The greatest magic is transmuting the passions. The greatest generosity is non-attachment. The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind. The greatest patience is humility. The greatest effort is not concerned with results. The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go. The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

Despite fiery disagreements about who or what God is and how to make contact, all these religions agree that patience is the essence of spirituality and thus grants great strength. Judaism says, “A patient man is better than a warrior.” In Buddhism, bodhisattvas train in this practice to become enlightened. Christianity and Islam deem it a sacred virtue. Patience endows you with faith in yourself and your destiny, an illuminated capacity to deal with frustration and disappointments.

The root of virtue is a mind free from the three poisons of aversion, attachment, and ignorance. The root of merit is the practice of the six perfections (in Sanskrit they are known as the paramitas). They constitute engaged bodhichitta. The first five—generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, and meditation—are the source of merit. When they are embraced by the sixth—transcendent wisdom (prajnaparamita)—they become true paramitas, or perfections. A virtuous mind that practices the paramitas is suffused with supreme joy; and this is the mind of a bodhisattva.

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. The greatest precept is continual awareness. The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything. The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways. The greatest magic is transmuting the passions. The greatest generosity is non-attachment. The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind. The greatest patience is humility. The greatest effort is not concerned with results. The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go. The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

The value of sensuality is that it provides you with pleasure from the pain of itself. Sensuality touches you with pain, but at the same time, it offers you a solution for that same pain. It’s just like racketeering: “Okay, if you pay me, I’ll make your problems go away, problems that I put on you so that you will pay me”. So you get extorted by your own sensuality, your own desires. Sensual desires hurt, and giving in to them will remove that hurt and reward you with more pleasure. It’s a win-win. Or so it seems, until you realize that the true win is to not be pressured by the desires in the first place. The win is not having to pay the racketeering thugs for your safety; the win is to not have the thugs pressure you at all. The more you give in to the pressure of sensuality, the more you will have to give in since its nature can never be changed. The Nature of sensuality is that it hurts, burns, and pressures you.

These questions are closely related to one of the Buddha’s main interests: how to lead a virtuous life. Every spiritual tradition is concerned with virtue, but what does virtue mean? Is it the same as following a list of dos and don’ts? Does a virtuous person have to be a goody-goody? Is it necessary to be dogmatic, rigid, and smug? Or is there room to be playful, spontaneous, and relaxed? Is it possible to enjoy life while at the same time being virtuous? Like many spiritual traditions, the Dharma has lists of positive and negative actions. Buddhists are encouraged to commit to some basic precepts, such as not to kill, steal, or lie. Members of the monastic community, such as myself, have much longer lists of rules to follow. But the Buddha didn’t establish these rules merely for people to conform to outer codes of behavior. The Buddha’s main concern was always to help people become free of suffering. With the understanding that our suffering originates from confusion in our mind, his objective was to help us wake up out of that confused state. He therefore encouraged or discouraged certain forms of behavior based on whether they promoted or hindered that process of awakening. When we ask ourselves, “Does it matter?” we can first look at the outer, more obvious results of our actions. But then we can go deeper by examining how we are affecting our own mind: Am I making an old habit more habitual? Am I strengthening propensities I’d like to weaken? When I’m on the verge of lying to save face, or manipulating a situation to go my way, where will that lead? Am I going in the direction of becoming a more deceitful person or a more guilty, self-denigrating person? How about when I experiment with practicing patience or generosity? How are my actions affecting my process of awakening? Where will they lead? By questioning ourselves in these ways, we start to see “virtue” in a new light. Virtuous behavior is not about doing “good” because we feel we’re “bad” and need to shape up. Instead of guilt or dogma, how we choose to act can be guided by wisdom and kindness. Seen in this light, our question then boils down to “What awakens my heart, and what blocks that process from happening?” In the language of Buddhism, we use the word “karma.” This is a way of talking about the workings of cause and effect, action and reaction.

The depth and complexity of the questions we’ve recently been engaging tend to ignite associated questions very quickly. The family members of these subjects—purpose, responsibility, devotion, commitment, trust, yearning—and their neighbors—frustration, jealousy, ambition, sloth, etc.—get all excited and have things to say to each other. Because of the pressure and tension between them, one has to negotiate the dialogue carefully and use a lot of patience, tolerance and other unsexy qualities. Otherwise, we’ve got another war on our hands.

Shad Darshan And finally, Buddhism. Buddha says everything is going to end. Do not worry about disease, because disease is going to end. H ave patience. Buddhist philosophy says there is suffering and a simple way to go beyond suffering is to have patience, to give time for samprapti to eradicate itself. That is what Buddhism has given to Ayurveda.

The love of a mother for her child is neither Buddhist nor Christian: it is mother love. Human qualities and emotions like love, charity, compassion, tolerance, patience, friendship, desire, hatred, ill-will, ignorance, conceit, etc., need no sectarian labels; they belong to no particular religions. To the seeker after Truth it is immaterial from where an idea comes. The source and development of an idea is a matter for the academic. In fact, in order to understand Truth, it is not necessary even to know whether the teaching comes from the Buddha, or from anyone else. What is essential is seeing the thing, understanding it.

One of the most radical shifts we can make is from understanding waking up as an event to seeing awakened life as the expression of beneficial qualities - generosity, patience, virtue, honesty, wisdom, lovingkindness, enthusiasm, equanimity - cultivated in our relationships with other. Here, awakening is measured not by the depth of our insight but based on our behavior: how we act and interact with each other and the world.

One of the most radical shifts we can make is from understanding waking up as an event to seeing awakened life as the expression of beneficial qualities - generosity, patience, virtue, honesty, wisdom, lovingkindness, enthusiasm, equanimity - cultivated in our relationships with other. Here, awakening is measured not by the depth of our insight but based on our behavior: how we act and interact with each other and the world.

Patience leads to Nibbana,” as the saying goes. This saying is most relevant in meditational effort. One must be patient in meditation. If one shifts or changes one’s posture too often because one cannot be patient with the sensation of stiffness or heat that arises, samadhi (good concentration) cannot develop. If samadhi cannot develop, insight cannot result and there can be no attainment of magga (the path that leads to Nibbana), phala (the fruit of that path) and Nibbana. That is why patience is needed in meditation. It is patience mostly with unpleasant sensations in the body like stiffness, sensations of heat and pain, and other sensations that are hard to bear. One should not immediately give up one’s meditation on the appearance of such sensations and change one’s meditational posture. One should go on patiently, just noting as “stiffness, stiffness” or “hot, hot.” Moderate sensations of these kinds will disappear if one goes on noting them patiently. [...] One then reverts to noting the rising and falling of the abdomen.

Patience is essential on the spiritual path, but delay is not. Patience invites the timeless back in, and practicing becomes a waking game, not a waiting game, because patience is the state of full wakefulness. (Rodney Smith)

Writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better.

One of the principal evils in life, according to Buddhism, is ‘repugnance’ or hatred. Repugnance (pratigha) is explained as ‘ill-will with regard to living beings, with regard to suffering and with regard to things pertaining to suffering. Its function is to produce a basis for unhappy states and bad conduct.’1 Thus it is wrong to be impatient at suffering. Being impatient or angry at suffering does not remove it. On the contrary, it adds a little more to one’s troubles, and aggravates and exacerbates a situation already disagreeable. What is necessary is not anger or impatience, but the understanding of the question of suffering, how it comes about, and how to get rid of it, and then to work accordingly with patience, intelligence, determination and energy.

One of the most commonly used mantras in Buddhism focuses on controlling negative emotions: “Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ,” in which oṃ is the generosity that purifies the ego, ma is the ethics that purifies jealousy, ṇi is the patience that purifies passion and desire, pad is the precision that purifies bias, me is the surrender that purifies greed, and hūṃ is the wisdom that purifies hatred.

One of the best ways to start being impatient is to stop meditating.

If 'the Buddha' is taken to signify the Ultimate, that which theistic mystics call the Godhead, it will be seen that these tremendous words ['I am the Buddha'] embody the very essence of mystical perception. One who understands them perceives himself to be both worshipper and worshipped, the individual and the universal, a being seeming insignificant but in truth divine! From this perception stem three obligations: to treat all beings, however outwardly repugnant, as embodiments of the sacred essence; to recognize all sounds, no matter how they offend the ear, as components of sacred sound; and to recollect that nowhere throughout the universe is other than Nirvana, however dense the dark clouds of illusion. Therefore, whatever befalls, the adept is clothed in divinity; with his eye of wisdom, he perceives the holiness of all beings, all sounds, all objects; and his heart of wisdom generates measureless compassion. From the moment an aspirant begins seeking deliverance from within, abandons the dualism of worshipper and worshipped and recognizes the identity of 'self-power' and 'other-power' as sources of spiritual inspiration, the shakles of ego-consciousness are loosened; and as the power of the illusory ego wanes, the qualities of patience, forebearance and compassion blossom. Even so, a great danger inheres in the liberating concept 'I am the Buddha'; improperly understood, it leads to grossly irresponsible behaviour and to overweaning pride which, by inflating the ego instead of diminishing it, enmeshes the aspirant ever more tightly in delusion's bonds. Therefore this knowledge was formerly hidden from the profane and therefore the lamas teach skillful means for counteracting that grave hazard. Never must one reflect 'I am the Buddha' without recalling that, at the level of absolute truth, there is no such entity as 'I'!

Slowly and steadily, as the rush to “gain the benefits” of meditation fades away and the depth of the experience itself becomes apparent, your patience will strengthen and your need to be “moving on to the next moment” will begin to recede.

It is impossible to trip and fall while walking slowly.

According to Buddhist understanding, being born human results from virtuous actions in our past lives. Take a moment to think about how rare it is in today’s world to work for the welfare of others, or to practice patience in the face of aggression, or to give money or food during tough economic times. When compared with all the actions motivated by self-interest and aggression, those that arise from altruism and sacrifice are few and far between. This relates to karma, which is the third thought that turns the mind toward dharma. We will discuss this in detail later. For the moment, just appreciate that you were born in this rare form and that this did not happen by chance. Appreciate that much, and don’t worry about anything else.