Patience
Patience (khantã) is the ability to remain calm and uncomplaining in the face of slowness, ineptitude or delays.
The Buddha also sometimes called this virtue forbearance (adhivàsanà), endurance (titikkhà) or longsuffering (khama). During his time, some non-Buddhist ascetics used to deliberately create hardships for themselves (austerities) in order to test their endurance and detachment. The Buddha considered this to be rather silly, and believed that it would be far better to try to be patient with and detached from all the little annoyances we feel towards the people we come into contact with during the normal course of living. Thus he admonished, ‘Being patient is the highest austerity’ (Dhp.184).
The Milindapanha says, ‘Just as water is even and cool by nature, like this, the meditator, out of compassion for all beings and desiring their welfare, should develop patience and harmlessness, love and sympathy’ (Mil.183).