035 -- The Practice of Non-Doing: Seeing Clearly with Patience; Johnathan Woodside, 10/08/22

Mindfulness Outreach Initiative

How has your practice resulted in a greater sense of patience and an ability to be patient? As MOI teacher Johnathan Woodside states in this talk, just by returning again and again to the present moment, we are cultivating patience. Patience involves having a nonjudgmental and non-preferential willingness to engage with what is present. It also includes developing disenchantment, stilling, and direct knowledge of experience. Johnathan adds that patience helps the mind see clearly, especially the illusion that getting what we want leads to lasting happiness. Instead, we realize that everything is constantly changing and is ultimately unsatisfactory. In addition to patience, Johnathan also stresses the practice of non-doing, of just being aware of our experiences and meeting it all with mindfulness. We no longer are out to manage or control our experiences. There is no longer anything to gain or anyone to become. We merely sit and observe what is taking place to gain insight. As Johnathan says, “We don’t have to make anything happen. We just have to be witness to what is happening without delusion.”

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