Be patient in the middle of your longing

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! Kabir Sahib says, “Are mann kahe dheeraj na dhare (O Mind! Why are you not patient).” And we are also told not to use one’s life like a waiting room.

How do I practice both these simultaneously?

Acharya Prashant: No there is no contradiction Anuranjan (the questioner). Kabir Sahib is saying, “Be patient”, I have said, “Do not use your life like a waiting room.”

You must not wait even for a second for the things that merely promise but will not deliver.

See very quickly that the promise is for the future and that future is never going to arrive, therefore there is no point waiting for that future.

Just give up. Just give up on the wait.

And Kabir Sahib is saying, “Even if you now set your eyes towards the Real target, you are not going to immediately get it. A long process of Sadhana (spiritual discipline) will be required.”

You are not going to be immediately liberated. You are a thing in time, and you will require time to melt. If you become too impatient, then you will disrupt your own journey towards the Truth.

So Kabir Sahib is saying, “Be patient. Do not think too much of yourself. What do you think that you are such an advanced seeker that you will be able to attain God in a week’s time? Who are you? Just keep waiting. You deserve to wait.”

So I am saying, “When it comes to nonsense, do not wait, do not tolerate.” Kabir Sahib is saying, “When it comes to the Truth, keep waiting and keep tolerating.”

There is no real contradiction here.

I am talking of your immediate life, Kabir Sahib is talking of an advanced stage.

Kabir Sahib is talking to those who are really looking towards God. To them, he is saying, “Dheeraj dharo (Be patient).” And Kabir Sahib was only talking to those who are looking towards God — “Suno bhai sadho (Listen O seeker).”

He ensured that he was not talking to those who do not have sadhuta (Saintliness) in them. So he would always say, “Kahe Kabir suno bhai sadho (Says Kabir, listen O…