A Lesson in the Great Brain Property Called Patience

“Patience is a virtue,” as they say. But how many people actually practice the act of patience? How many people want everything this second because they are trained by endless scrolling through social media to have the attention span of a goldfish? How many Amazon next-day deliveries of materialistic shit arrive every minute? Here, I will offer a personal example of why we need the great brain property that is called patience.

In late January 2021, after the release of my first book The Temple of Consciousness, I decided that time had come to undergo the horrific surgery for haemorrhoids. Of course, the “horrific” nature of this surgery is relative as not all patients suffer the same pain afterwards. For me, they had to remove four large full haemorrhoids from inside, known as fourth-level cases. 

For any surgery or treatment, you must choose a good doctor and never leave anything to luck or randomness (though almost all humans are always at the mercy of luck and randomness). So, I chose a very experienced doctor who applied a specific method of removing the haemorrhoids. There are several methods but the most important factor is who makes what and never what makes who. 

During the surgery, I felt like my whole body was trembling, and indeed the whole bed. I wasn’t in any pain, of course, because of the aesthetics, but I realized that something big was inside me. A big drill was digging inside me! I spent the first evening in hospital, under strong anaesthetics and medication, but I soon realized that I couldn’t pee or poop. Despite this, I managed to sleep for two or three hours on a nightmare night.

The next day I left hospital, which is the protocol for this operation. The second day at home was quite easy and I felt that everything was gone. What an illusion that was! From the third day till to the thirteenth day, I suffered so much pain, so much misery, so much hopeless, like never before in my life. I felt that my depression and suffering was so much worse. For ten days, peeing was almost impossible. Pooping was incredibly painful. Sitting on a chair…what a misery. 

During these first 13 days, everyone else was lucky to my eyes and I was very unlucky! I was jealous of ordinary people because they could poop and pee normally, without any pain. My mood was totally destroyed, and the pain caused a kind of paranoia in my brain. This was my personal discovery: under huge physical pain, which no medicine can make mild, the brain starts to behave differently. During this period, I behaved badly and rudely to my church leader, and here I would like to offer him a big apology.

After the thirteenth day, the pain started to become moderate, but in a very slow manner. In fact, the full period of recovery lasted 8–9 weeks. However, now, I feel blessed! With patience, I got rid of my troublesome haemorrhoids, and now I am in perfect physical shape. 

The key thing to understand is that what happened is already the past, which is equal to it never happening. Can you imagine that? During the post-surgery period, I suffered heavily. Now, everything is gone as if it never happened. Imagine a prisoner who has been sentenced to ten years in prison. Imagine what hell his life is in prison. Then imagine that 10 years have passed and the prisoner goes out and realizes he was never imprisoned. It is an illusion we are all trapped in.

What is going on, my dear friend? 

During any uncomfortable process, you may think “soon it will be over” or “soon I will be free”. But during what process? Do you understand that the present is one thing and past is the same as the present? Simply look between the space and distance, where there is always patience. Without patience, nothing is valid. The space is the bed I was lying in, and the distance was the procedure. 

This is something you may practice yourself next time you experience something painful or uncomfortable, and if you achieve this great brain property called patience, you will love it eternally. The lesson here is that patience can be your partner, your spouse, and your spiritual force — your top supporter to achieve any small or big feats in life. Without patience, there is nothing.