“Despite all that recently popular self-help books seem to suggest, our emotional and spiritual journey is of necessity a slow process—sometimes even agonizingly slow. This is because the perspective of the intellect, while usually helpful, is not always sufficient. The unspoken unifying thesis of most self-help books is that we simply need to identify what is blocking our path, and then the intellect will help us process and remove it.
Unfortunately, however, human growth has never been based on the intellect alone. Our task in this life is to feel and experience the truth right down in our bones—and for this special gift, one must wait longer… It is no coincidence that the central metaphors of two of our leading spiritual traditions emphasize the prolonged agony of waiting that precedes salvation and enlightenment.
Before his enlightenment, the Buddha was forced to wait under the tree and remember ten thousand painful reincarnations, and Jesus Christ had to endure the betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, hang on the cross, and then wait for three whole days until his rebirth. These two examples are vivid metaphors for the ability to not give up and to wait correctly even in suffering that at first glance seems infinite—because the effort is worth it.
When we are in pain, we are tempted to yield to confusion, tempted to give up and act on the impulse of fear or desire that automatically arises within us. But as the Holocaust survivor and psychologist Viktor Frankl reminds us: ‘What is to give light must endure burning.'”
David Gordon, Mindful Dreaming
One of the primary sources of internal conflict arising from a mistaken mindset is excessive expectation of the ego-mind and ego-will to bring about changes in our lives. But the ego—our earthly identity—is an extremely small part of the wholeness of the human psyche. This is precisely what David Gordon means when he describes one of the most fundamental characteristics of the processes of spiritual transformation: the agony of powerlessness and waiting. In his wonderful book, he presents these processes as a transition from “ego-strategies for gratification” to “soul-directed strategies” (see “The Ten Lessons of Awareness”). The lesson of mastering impatience is one of the core elements of this transition.
If this post reaches you now, check whether this isn’t the lesson you are learning at the moment.
