study guide for
Patience Attains the Goal
How to Use This Course
This video is part of an ongoing monthly series in the teachings of Sri Eknath Easwaran. The talks on this tape, like all of Sri Easwaran’s talks, are rich and deep in content. They shed light on many aspects of life, but their true value emerges as we try to apply their teachings in our daily lives.
This Guide is meant to be used in conjunction with a daily practice of Sri Easwaran’s Eight Point Program, based on passage meditation. We do not recommend following the Practical Exercises if you are not practicing this program according to the instructions given in Sri Easwaran’s book Meditation, which can be found on our Web site, www.nilgiri.org. A brief list of those points can be found at the back of this Guide.
The Practical Exercises are suggestions for you to explore as they seem appropriate in your life. If you are already familiar with Sri Easwaran’s books, you will have seen some of these exercises before. But we suggest that you take this opportunity to really put them into practice and discover their great power to deepen your spiritual life. Try them in moderation, exercising your common sense and not taking them to extreme lengths. Sri Easwaran always emphasized the importance of the middle path.
Before or after watching each talk, we suggest that you read through the notes and the Practical Exercise. Then, after watching the talk, try to put the exercise into action in your life. A week or so later, you may find it interesting to watch the talk again, with the experience of the exercise fresh in your mind. You may want to note the results in a journal.
A week-by-week curriculum for studying this tape, in coordination with readings from Sri Easwaran’s books, is available for use by Blue Mountain Center Satsangs and other interested individuals. If you would like to receive this curriculum via E-mail, just let us know and we will gladly send it to you. A full listing of our Satsang groups is available on our Web site. For more information about this series, other publications of Sri Easwaran and Nilgiri Press, and a schedule of retreats based on the Eight Point Program, please contact
Blue Mountain Center of Meditation
Post Office Box 256
Tomales, CA 94971
800 475 2369
www.nilgiri.org
Lessons in Patience from the Elephants
Introduction
In this talk, given in July of 1985, Sri Easwaran speaks in praise of the rarely noticed virtue of patience, and of the animals which symbolize that quality for him – elephants. He is commenting on Chapter 23 of the Dhammapada, in which the Buddha offers the elephant as a model of patience, endurance, and gentleness.
Our Study Guide for this tape will concentrate on patience – where to find it, how to draw upon it, and how to cultivate it as a valuable support in the practice of meditation.
Outline of
the Talk
Easwaran begins by reading Chapter 23 of the Dhamma-pada, then comments on several verses.
“Patiently I shall bear harsh words as the elephant bears arrows on the battlefield. People are often inconsiderate.” Patience, says Easwaran, requires courage – not unlike the courage needed by warriors on the battlefield. This kind of courage is hard to come by. Even the greatest warriors would find it difficult or impossible to be patient with somebody who was discourteous to them. Meditation enables us to train our mind to face such difficult situations “without ill will, without any attempt at retaliation, unkind behavior, or harsh words,” and by “forbearing, forgiving, supporting, and tenderly correcting them.” This kind of patience has a deeply positive effect on those around us.
“Only a trained elephant goes to the battlefield.” Easwaran summarizes the message of the Bhagavad Gita: “We are all soldiers on the battlefield. From birth we are conscripted, until death we have to fight, and there is only one choice we have: Whom shall we fight? Shall we fight others or shall we fight all that is selfish in ourselves?” Meditation and the allied disciplines are training for those who wish to fight this nobler battle.
“Only a trained elephant carries the king.” Here Easwaran points out the parallel with raja yoga, or the royal path – the path of meditation in which we become king or queen of our thoughts. Similarly, when we have trained our minds, we can ride the swaying elephant of the mind and remain graceful and patient under pressure.
“Mules are good animals when trained; even better are well-trained Sind horses and great elephants. Best among men is one with a well-trained mind.” Easwaran describes the state of one whose mind is trained: “Due to many years of training it’s very unnatural for my mind to get hostile or to dwell on a resentment.”
“No animal can take you to nirvana; only a well-trained mind can lead you to this untrodden land.” This phrase leads Easwaran to reflect on an experience that can come with deepening meditation – to catch a glimpse of the immense spiritual wealth within. We should work hard in meditation and the allied disciplines to attain such a glimpse, which will then provide full motivation for regular, sustained effort in meditation. Eventually, meditation will become a great joy.
Practical
Exercise
Identify a situation that consistently makes you impatient, such as waiting in line or in traffic, listening to a very talkative person, or having to repeat yourself to a child or an inattentive person.
Redefine this particular situation as an exercise station for strengthening your patience. When you find yourself in that situation, try first to remember that it is an opportunity. Then, depending on what’s appropriate, start repeating the mantram or giving more whole-hearted attention to the person or challenge you’re facing. Notice that there is a tendency for the mind to get nervous, almost to panic. That point is your opportunity – work hard then to extend your patience.
Don’t overdo it. When you’ve pushed yourself a little further
than you’re used to, back off a little bit and relax your effort. Practice this
exercise regularly but gently for at least a week. Do you notice the difference
in your capacity for patience? Does it have an effect on your meditation?
Recommended Reading
Eknath Easwaran, “Patience” in Original Goodness (first three sections).
Passage for Meditation
“Let Nothing Disturb You” by Saint Teresa of Avila, in God Makes
the Rivers to Flow.
Putting Meditation First
Introduction
In this talk, given two weeks after the first talk on this tape, Sri Easwaran continues his commentary on Chapter 23 of the Dhammapada, “The Elephant.” Here, however, his focus shifts to the practice of meditation. The elephant provides an image of the result we may hope to achieve through daily, systematic practice. It is an image of immense strength, expressed through tenderness and gentle care.
At the time of this talk, Easwaran was encouraging a group of his younger students in their efforts to protect the African elephant from extinction. Together, they watched several documentaries about elephants, which vividly reminded him of the elephants he had come to know and love during his childhood in South India.
In the second half of the talk, Easwaran gives several practical tips for making steady progress in meditation by “putting meditation first” with the same quiet strength that comes naturally to the elephant.
Outline of
the Talk
Sri Easwaran begins by praising the elephant as a creature not only big in size, but big in heart. It is “the only animal on the face of the earth that does not observe the ruthless rule – survival of the fittest.”
He continues with a few stories about the gentle strength of the elephant: They work together to protect all their offspring; they settle their differences patiently and support one another consistently; they show a sensitiveness that we human beings would do well to imitate; though huge, they are careful to avoid hurting tiny creatures. In passing, he mentions the similarity between the matriarchal organization of elephant groups and the South Indian matrilineal society in which he grew up.
Then Easwaran shifts to the topic of meditation, starting with a discussion of the Noble Eightfold Path – the series of spiritual disciplines taught by the Buddha: right understanding, right purpose, right speech, right action, right occupation, right effort, right attention, and right meditation. He points out that this is a path rather than a stationary structure. The emphasis is on increasing self-effort: “You have got to move; you don’t just sit waiting for manna to fall from heaven or nectar to pour down from the skies.”
The final three steps of the Noble Eightfold Path comprise the interior disciplines. Right effort means obeying the instructions given to us by all the great mystics. Foremost among these instructions is to put meditation first. Easwaran draws upon his own experience as he began to meditate seriously. He began to ask himself, before embarking on an activity, “Will it help me to go deep in my meditation?”
Sticking to one’s purpose defines right effort on the Buddha’s Eightfold Path. Staying positive defines right mindfulness. As Easwaran puts it, “It is thinking positively, and not thinking about negative things, that the Buddha calls right mindfulness. If there has been somebody who has said something discourteous to me, it’s not that I am not aware of it. But I just don’t think about it.” Through practice Easwaran can now honestly say, “I find something positive about everybody. . . And that can save a lot of difficulties in meditation.”
Right mindfulness also includes our attitude toward our own spiritual practices. It is especially important not to get either elated or discouraged.
Right purpose refers to our orientation toward the supreme goal, which can eventually pervade all our choices, even including how we choose entertainment.
Right purpose combines with right mindfulness when we learn to drop even appropriate activities and pastimes at will. Describing his attitude after having seen an excellent play, or film, or video, Easwaran says, “I don’t think about the plot, I don’t think about the characters, these do not come with me at all.” And this extends to his work: “Similarly, every job that I do – I think about it when I am there and I don’t think about it when I am not there. “So if there has been an unpleasant incident I just drop it.”
It is by these means that we can develop a truly fruitful practice of meditation. He describes his own meditation session that morning, from which he emerged with tremendous inner resources, like a diver emerging from the sea with a bag of pearls.
Practical
Exercise
In this exercise we will once again explore the practice of extending our patience, but this time we will focus on our practice of the Eight Points.
Identify one of the Eight Points which seems to get weary: find a time in your day or week when you find it espe–cially hard to practice the point that is appropriate at that moment. Some examples:
*At the end of the work day, when you have planned to go home and meditate, your capacity for training the senses wanes and you find yourself in the bakery rather than your meditation room.
*You know it would be best for you and your family to spend more time together, but your enthusiasm for putting others first is eclipsed by the evening news.
*You’re waiting in line at the supermarket – an ideal time for repeating the mantram – but it feels as if the mantram is worn out and you spend several minutes flipping aimlessly through a magazine.
Once you’ve seen the opportunity, try simply to extend your patience a little bit. Don’t try to change yourself overnight – just add a measure to your patience. Practice the spiritual discipline you’ve chosen for yourself patiently. Be patient with the fact that it will be a bit uncomfortable. Be patient with yourself for not wanting to do it. But do it anyway.
Again, don’t overdo it. Try this exercise often in small ways. Do you see the effect on your practice? Can you concentrate on building your patience rather than on the discomfort?
Recommended
Reading
Eknath Easwaran, “Patience” in Original Goodness (the last three sections).
Passage for Meditation
“The Central Truth” in God Makes the Rivers to Flow.
Terms & References
Alexander the Great (356–323 bc) Greek emperor who invaded India and fought several major battles in which elephants were used by the Indian forces.
Coward, Noel (1899–1973) British actor and playwright.
Ganesha In the Hindu tradition, the son of Shiva and Parvati. He has the form of an elephant and is described as “he who removes all obstacles.” He is the personification of the power and strength of God.
In Which We Serve A 1942 movie directed by Noel Coward.
jataka tales Stories of the Buddha’s past lives.
Kanthaka Prince Siddhartha’s horse.
kshatriya A warrior or prince; the ruling class of traditional Hindu society.
Mahabharata The great epic of India, composed in about the ninth century bc.
mahout A keeper and driver of an elephant.
manna In the Bible, a food miraculously supplied to the Israelites during their period of wandering.
Meera Sri Easwaran’s niece. Being a part of the matrilineal Eknath family, she received her family name from her mother’s side of the family, as did Easwaran.
Mills, John (1908– ) British actor.
Mohenjo Daro An ancient city in the Indus Valley, built between four and five thousand years ago.
Nagpur Literally, “city of elephants.” A city in central India where Sri Easwaran spent some time, first as a graduate student and later as a professor of English.
Nirvana Sanskrit term used by the Buddha to denote extinction of selfish desire and selfish conditioning, the highest state of spiritual fulfillment.
pachyderm Elephant.
puranas A class of Hindu scriptures, dating chiefly from 300 ad to 700 ad.
raja yoga One of the major yogas, or paths to illumination. Raja yoga (the “royal” yoga) teaches the art of meditation.
Ramayana Ancient Indian epic, depicting the life of Sri Rama.
sadhana Spiritual disciplines.
Shuddhodana Siddhartha’s father.
Siddhartha The Buddha’s given name.
Sind An area along the Indus river, now in Pakistan.
Vigneshvara Remover of obstacles. An epithet of Ganesha.
The Eight
Point Program
1. Meditation
Silent repetition in the mind of memorized inspirational
passages from the world’s great religions. Practiced for a half hour each
morning.
2. The mantram
Silent repetition in the mind of a Holy Name or a hallowed
phrase from one of the world’s great religions. Practiced whenever possible
throughout the day or night.
3. Slowing down
Setting priorities and reducing the stress and friction
caused by hurry.
4. One-pointed attention
Giving full concentration to the matter at hand.
5. Training the senses
Overcoming conditioned habits and learning to enjoy what is
beneficial.
6. Putting others first
Gaining freedom from selfishness and separateness; finding
joy in helping others.
7. Spiritual companionship
Spending time regularly with others following the Eight
Point Program for mutual inspiration and support.
8. Reading the mystics
Drawing inspiration from writings by and about the world’s
great spiritual figures and from the scriptures
of all religions.