Patience
Let me be like the earth, which accepts anything thrown on it,
be it dirty, smelly, foul,
I will accept it without rejecting, patiently, quietly embracing.
Let me be like the water, which accepts anything thrown into it,
be it dirty, smelly, foul, nasty,
I will accept it without rejecting, patiently, quietly embracing.
Let me be like the fire, which accepts anything thrown into it,
be it dirty, smelly, foul, nasty, detestable,
I will accept it without rejecting, patiently, quietly embracing.
Let me be like the wind, which accepts anything thrown into its path,
be it dirty, smelly, foul, nasty, detestable, both good and bad,
I will accept it without rejecting, patiently, quietly embracing.
Treat me like a foot rug, step on me,
with light or heavy steps depending on the individual,
I will bear your weight, quietly accepting.
Treat me like a lowly beggar, I am grateful to you,
for i have nothing and you have more
I will bend my body low, quietly accepting whatever you give.
I'm just like the corpse or a dead snake,
nobody wants to touch or move it,
I am detestable, repulsive, useless,
I will understand your hostility.
I am full of foul excrement,
there is nothing desirable about my body;
I am detestable, repulsive, unwholesome,
It is only natural that you repel me.
I'm a bull with horns broken off, defenceless, harmless,
so should you attack me, it's only one-way;
I will accept your blows silently, calmly, having no reason to fight back.
So this is how I have practiced, since the day I left home,
since I left behind the hotbed of greed, ill-will and delusion.
The great earth shook nine times with Ven Sariputta's declaration of truth.
The Buddha praised him,
"Unresentful like the earth, firm like a gate post,
Equiposed and strong in vows,
Mind without impurities like a pool:
For such a one the round of births exists no more!" (Dhp 95)
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