Acceptance Versus Tolerance
I was revisiting a talk by the late Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, who left us many valuable teachings about suffering, each wanting to help us move through suffering in a way that leads to inner growth and enlightenment, when I came across this quote…
“The moment you know how to suffer, you suffer much less.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh
Initially I was confused by this quote and it’s intention. However, I recently watched an interview with another Buddhist monk, Gelong Thubten and things became much clearer.
ACCEPTANCE V. TOLERANCE
When we’re facing unwanted emotions, moving into acceptance is not a passive act and so shouldn’t be confused with tolerance or resignation. Acceptance is an active, open-hearted embracing of our present moment, as we lean into the pain we are feeling.
Thubten highlighted that, as we live in a world that promotes comfort, we quickly want to move away from anything that feels uncomfortable, when what we should be doing is using these moments to practice acceptance…practice being with our pain.
Acceptance is non-judgement of what we are feeling. This builds our resilience to pain and suffering. So the quote makes perfect sense.
“The moment you know how to suffer, you suffer much less.”
When we are in emotional pain, knowing how to be with it and not deny it or run away from it means that we can move through it quicker and more completely. When the message contained within the pain is received, it has no need to linger. Reaching for distraction when things feel hard keeps the pain with us.
DISCOURAGEMENT
We can sometimes feel discouraged when we are well into our spiritual journey and old emotions come up that we thought we had dealt with long ago. When this happens, our discomfort shouldn’t be seen as going backwards, but as an invitation to go deeper into our spirituality.
“Our own unhappiness is the most fertile ground for inner strength, resilience and compassion”
~Gelong Thubten
When we lean into our pain with awareness and kindness, something shifts. Not just because the pain lessens but because we become bigger than it. It means we stop fighting it and in doing so, we make room for healing and resilience.
With love and light
Gwen x
