On the path nothing more is needed than patience. Man can do everything that he is capable of, but still there is no necessity that the ultimate happens; it may happen, it may not. We can grope in the dark; the door may open, it may not So if one has not infinite patience, one starts getting tired of the search. There is no short cut to it -- and there cannot be because of the very nature of things. The journey is long and many times one starts losing hope. Those are the moments when patience will be needed.

 

Patience is nothing but a fragrance of trust. The night is dark but one trusts that the dawn is coming. Each moment it is coming closer and closer. Maybe the night is actually becoming darker. In fact it becomes darker before the dawn comes, so the actual may not be helpful to the possible. The actual may be saying, 'What are you doing? What are you waiting for? The night is getting darker than ever before. The dawn must be going further away and the distance is growing greater. This is simple logic: the night is getting darker so the dawn cannot be very close. You are losing track! There is no point in waiting any more. '

 

The mind will try to frustrate. The mind will bring a feeling of hopelessness, because once a person becomes hopeless all search is lost. Then he simply leads a routine life, a mundane, mediocre life. He simply goes on repeating empty gestures which have no significance. One simply goes on doing things because what else to do? One needs to be occupied, so one goes on repeating the same thing again and again and again. It creates tediousness. Repetition creates boredom. But the base is that once you become hopeless about the dawn, then the night has taken complete possession of you. That is the dark night, and everybody has to pass through it.

 

Patience is of two types -- the positive and the negative. Negatve patience simply means a sort of lethargy, not doing anything, just waiting for some miracle to happen, waiting for Godot... not doing anything for it to happen; not being in any way creative about it -- just sitting, lazing around, and just thinking that some miracle will happen, and knowing well that it never happens. Then a sort of dullness arises, a sort of stupidity, insensitivity, a deadness. I am not talking about that patience. That is not really patience -- it is a dead corpse.

 

The real patience is positive, active, creative. The real patience is not just a laziness. It is radiant with hope. It is throbbing with life and zest and enthusiasm.

 

The english word 'enthusiasm' is very beautiful. It comes from two roots: 'en' and 'thus'. 'Thus' comes from theos -- that means God. That is the meaning of deva. When somebody is full of God, he is full of enthusiasm. To be full of God means to be full of hope -- that the actual is not the end of the world, that all that has happened is nothing compared to that which is going to happen, that the past is very limited and the future is endless and the actual is only a very tiny part of the possible. The possible is vast like the sky. The actual is just your house -- nothing much... a very tiny island in the ocean of the possible.

 

The real patience is a deep enthusiasm. One is throbbing. Mm? -- just as one waits for one's beloved. It is not dullness; every pore of your being is alive, aflame. Anybody passes on the road -- a postman passes by or just a stranger -- and you rush to the door. Maybe she has come? Your waiting is not just a dullness. You wait with alertness. You wait with trust. You know deep down that it is going to happen. It has not happened yet but there is a tremendous certainty in the heart of hearts that it is going to happen. That's what enthusiasm is.

 

So be positively patient. Work hard. Patience is not a substitute for work. You have to work hard but you have to trust that just by your own work much cannot happen. Man's hands are very small and the existence is very big; we cannot contain it. Our efforts are very tiny, and that which we are desiring is infinite. So do all that you can do. Never relax in that, but still remember that only by your own doing it cannot happen. Your doing is needed and your waiting also. Your doing is needed and your passive, alert, patience also. When these two things meet -- the effort and patience of man -- grace descends.

 

The meeting of patience and effort is the opening of the door. Then suddenly the clouds start opening and the sun is there, bright and full of light and full of delight

 

- Osho, "God Is Not For Sale, #3"