The Strength of Patience When Everything Feels Uncertain

Hello Open Heart Project,

As we look ahead to Building a Mindful New Year, I’ve been reflecting on the qualities that genuinely support meaningful change. In recent weeks, we’ve explored generosity and discipline as part of the paramita teachings—capacities that help us relate to our lives with steadiness and clarity.

This week, our attention turns to the third paramita, patience. I’m delighted that Marisa Viola, whose work centers on resting, receptive forms of meditation, will be guiding us in this exploration during the program. If you don’t yet know her, Marisa teaches with extraordinary gentleness and depth. Her approach reminds us that true patience isn’t passive or resigned, but a spacious strength that allows us to meet our experience without forcing it to be different.

Patience in this tradition is not about gritting your teeth through difficulty. It is the recognition that discomfort, uncertainty, and resistance are impermanent, and that when we stay present, transformation becomes possible.

The video I’m sharing is from an earlier teaching, but it expresses exactly what I hope we can carry into the new year: a trust that our inner experience is always shifting, and that we can meet it with openness rather than struggle.

categorized in: dharma, meditation, open heart project