Edward’s Diary Entry 20 - Virtue 3: Perseverance

Virtue 3 is Perseverance, or Steadfastness in Knowledge (Jnana-yoga-vyavasthitih). Perseverance is doggedly going on with what has to be done regardless of whim, liking, disliking or laziness. More literally, “Steadfastness in seeking wisdom and in practicing yoga”. So I chose this little painting of the donkey carrying Jesus and Mary over firm ground all the way to Egypt, led by St Joseph, as during a little meditation session the word “doggedly” and then “donkey” came to mind. And the lighting is superb, of course, because it’s by Rembrandt, from 1627. I needed all the support I could find! It was permissible for me to have social duties that must be combined with meditational duties. But I had to watch out for this in view of past weaknesses and decisions that were never fulfilled. So once you make a plan, you stick to it, whatever happens. Because we are all heroes at the beginning, as one swami pointed out, and then we dwindle and start finding pretexts and excuses. The enneagram explains why one starts out straight and then the line gets crooked after a while. So this virtue has to be called on and implemented quite often at the beginning of a Plan, and at certain intervals. But after a while, your mind gets trained to want to sit down and look within. You start looking forward to it, or missing it if there have been any interruptions, say a trip abroad or even a head cold or any other temporary difficulty. To persevere on the path, without impatience. And if impatience comes, do an exercise: Count your years of “going with the flow and accepting your world-picture as absorbed by your conditioning” and your “minutes or hours of meditation” and you’ll understand why we must remain steadfast once the decision has been made, and practice patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day.