... All the Time in the World

As we sit here during this retreat, we have to pay attention to things that are not at all interesting. They may even be unpleasant and painful. To endure things patiently rather than run off to find something interesting is a good discipline – to be able just to endure the boredom, the pain, the anger, the greed; all these things, instead of always running away from them.

Patience is such an important virtue. If we have no patience, there is absolutely no possibility of becoming enlightened. Be extremely patient.

I liked the kind of meditation where I could sit and grow very calm, and when pain would arise in the body, I’d want to get rid of it so that I could stay in that state of calm. Then I began to see that wanting to get rid of pain was a miserable state of mind.

Sometimes we sit for several hours, sometimes all night long. You can run away from physical pain, but after a while you begin to come to terms with it. I’ve used practices like having all the time in the world to be with pain, rather than trying my best to get rid of it in order to come back to my ‘real’ meditation.

I take time to be with the pains in my body if they come up in consciousness, rather than thinking, ‘How can I get rid of them to get some bliss?’ Somehow, saying, ‘I have all the time in the world, the rest of my life to be with this pain’ would stop the tendency to want to get rid of it. My mind would slow down for long periods of time, without following or creating a desire.

Some of you have this idea of conquering pain, getting over the ‘pain threshold’, but that’s a disaster …

This reflection by Luang Por Sumedho is from the book Ajahn Sumedho Anthology, Volume 3, Direct Realization, (pdf) pp. 51-52.