Patience in Krishna consciousness

Srila Rupa Goswami says one of the qualities of a devotee is patience. Lack of patience means we are hovering on the mental plane which is material. In material transactions, things fail or succeed in matter of time and we can witness that success or failure. We get a closure and move on. In Krishna consciousness, seemingly, it is endless. We chant, and chant and then chant and still feel we are in the same location. This perception of lack of progress is a mental yardstick which is a factor of time which is material. Since we are used to assessing progress based on time, we tend to assess our progress in Krishna consciousness similarly.

Actually, patience in Krishna consciousness does not mean like a mother waiting 9 months to give birth to a child, that is - the result is obtained after a certain time gap. That is material patience. In Krishna consciousness, patience means to realize our connection with Krishna which we have previously forgotten. To put it differently, the second we connect with the Holy Name and the spiritual master, we are instantly connected. No question about that! But we do not realize it from the depths of our heart due to our mental distractions. So the realization we are always connected with Krishna, for that idea to take hold in our hearts takes time and that means patience. Otherwise, without Krishna there is no question of anything existing.

As devotees, therefore, we should not doubt that we are disconnected and get frustrated and keep trying innovative so-called devotional techniques. Simply we follow the instructions of previous acharyas and perform our dharma materially and spiritually diligently praying to Krishna to give us the inner realization to see His Hand in all of our lives and through that inner vision, we will always be nourished and happy in our duties towards this world and Krishna.

For the prayer to work, we simply need to be focused and humble towards Krishna and gradually the dense fog of forgetfulness will rise to the point where we will see we were never separate from God or Krishna.

Hare Krishna