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Sit on it

By Usha Muliyil

Waiting is not easy, it is the hardest part of almost any enterprise, and yet it is an art that some people can master. The violent solution to problems is so futile, one wonders why people repeat loss after loss.

Non-violence is very difficult but it uproots the problem, thus enabling both parties to see and hear each other.

Most emotions have no words. One has to interpret the actions and administer healing through actions.

The Chinese manual, the I-Ching, a set of 64 maxims has one named ‘Calculated Inaction’. “Words, may be spoken, but not understood”, the oracle reads. These are times when people may be beset by problems, but are required to wait until they subside. They may not seek solutions. They must be still.

Waiting also develops understanding, a knowledge of alternatives. More than one course of action can dawn on the mind, leading to a new interpretation of the problem.

Waiting requires acceptance of our time and our space.

What seemed to be malice, may be an attack of unreasonable anger or frustrated love or broken dreams which the assailant must quell by the use of common sense.

This takes time, and we must let the “Superior Man” in ourselves and in others assert himself over all “Inferiors”. The I-Ching designates this process as “No destination.”

Waiting appears to most people as a waste of time. They feel that life is evaporating before their eyes, and that their golden hours are being stolen from them.

According to Vedanta philosophy, it is quite the opposite. Each action, requires another action, but it is only between thoughts, and between actions that persons can catch a glimpse of their own soul.

John Bunyan wrote the wonderful allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress behind bars.

Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela knew how to wait even in prison.

Those who wait upon the Lord will walk and not faint. Waiting in the correct attitude, allows good feelings to take root, just as an undisturbed seed can open up and break the ground. Actually, it takes a tremendous number of nerves and muscles to keep still; as the earth whirls to keep in orbit.

Waiting for and waiting upon ourselves is a prelude to discovery.

Happiness that has been waited for carries with it an understanding, and an avoidance of doubts, fears and regrets.

Instant gratification is all too often followed by instant remorse. Waiting requires intelligence. It is knowing how long to wait, and what not to do or say. It is a mental game that each one must play by rules which only circumstances can dictate.

Waiting is not a waste of time. It requires alertness, awareness and a keen hold on the mind, attitude is everything.

Above all, waiting requires humility.