A REFLECTION ON KHANTĪ

While fetching my Dhamma mentor, Sis Paru back to her home, she shared with me about "khantī", a quality that's essential in developing virtues and mind training. 

Back during my undergraduate days, I was taught about the six pāramitā qualities essential to tho who're practicing the Bodhisattva-way, and one of qualities is non other than "kṣānti" or "忍辱". My understanding about is just merely patience. Breaking up the Chinese term "忍" which mean patience and "辱" which means insult, putting together the whole meaning would become "patience from insult". Well, that's really hard for me, especially when dealing with unreasonable people in the communities that I'm living in.

My gratitude to Sis Paru, the short sharing by her that night had enlightened me a bit about this. It's not just patience alone, but it's also forbearance with understanding. Each person comes from different background, hence its normal for people having different perspective and way of doing things, and that's the nature of life. I'm still human, and it's natural to have emotions.

Engage more with positivity and wholesomeness, Have hope, but expect less. Focus internally and externally on the process and learning, be aware of feelings, but not attached to them. Develop understanding and treat ourselves with compassion. And not to forget to train the mind through undertaking the five fundamental precepts to abstain from killing living beings, taking things not given, sexual misconduct, false speech and consuming anything that causes intoxication or heedlessness. In this way, "khantī" could be cultivated properly. 

As the saying goes, "khantī paramam tapo titikkhā", forbearance is paramount in virtue cultivation. 

P/S: "Khantī" has the same meaning with "kṣānti", with the former in Pāli and the latter in Sanskrit