พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าความอดทนคือการทนเพื่อตัวเราเอง เพื่อไม่ให้อกุศลเข้าสิงจิตและสร้างกรรมใหม่ อธิบายกลไกการชิงช่วงชิงของธรรมชาติ 3 ฝ่ายในทุกอนุวินาที และชี้ว่าการอดทนจะสร้างตบะและขันติธรรมเป็นเกราะคุ้มครองPra Ajarn explains that patience is, in truth, something we practice for ourselves — so unwholesome forces cannot seize the mind and drive us to create new karma. He describes how the three forces of nature compete for control every fraction of a second, and shows that sustained patience builds austerity and forbearance as a protective shield.
Someone asked Pra Ajarn about a teaching on — why we must be patient, and what patience is for.
The Purpose of Life Is to Realize Nibbāna Clearly
If we understand the true purpose of being born human — which is nothing other than realizing nibbāna clearly, being born to purify body, speech, and mind ever further — then once we grasp this deeply, we come to see for ourselves why patience is necessary: patience with hardship, with difficulty, with painful feeling, with pain of body and mind, restraining ourselves from retaliating even under serious provocation, patience against the force of defilement — all so that we don't create new karma. Understood this way, we realize we aren't being patient for anyone else's sake — we are being patient purely for our own sake. We haven't lost to anyone; we choose to remain still simply so we don't create new unwholesome karma that we would have to repay for a long time to come.
Competition for Control, Every Fraction of a Second
We are born carrying time bombs that haven't yet gone off. Life may appear happy, free of suffering, but suffering is still present underneath, because the three forces of nature are constantly competing to seize control of the mind, at speeds measured in fractions of a second. Whenever one force takes hold, a state that must be endured — and is hard to endure — appears. Because the competition never stops, we experience suffering in bursts, on and off. The scriptures record that a fully liberated nun, upon attaining nibbāna, exclaimed: "Only suffering arises, only suffering persists, and only suffering ceases." This is simply how life is.
Recognize Suffering When It Appears, Rather Than Covering It Over
Most people, when suffering appears, rush to distract themselves with activity — going here, doing that, seeking pleasure from sights, sounds, smells, tastes to bury the suffering — until they forget the true purpose of being born at all. But the Buddha taught that when suffering appears, all we need to do is simply recognize it, so that the sphere of awareness arises. That sphere of awareness draws in pure energy to purify the defilement that causes suffering, letting it grow lighter.
Patience Builds Austerity and Forbearance as a Protective Shield
While we remain patient, the sphere of forbearance takes root, and austerity accompanies that patience. Whatever austerity we have already cultivated becomes a shield, keeping the suffering from overwhelming us. If that austerity isn't yet strong enough, our patience isn't wasted — it simply means we need more of it, to build up sufficient strength. Patience exists precisely so that unwholesome forces cannot successfully seize the mind. When we manage to remain patient, side gets more opportunity to compete for control, drawing in pure energy to help resolve the crisis and free us from it. This is why it is said: we are patient, in the end, purely for our own sake.