Q. How do i overcome fear because of impatience either in spiritual path or in material affairs…because impatience bring tension and i get disturbed mentally?
Answer by Romapada Swami: Enthusiasm, confidence, patience – these are the first three of the six important principles, mentioned by Rupa Goswami, which can assure complete success in devotional service. (Nectar of Instruction 3) Success in any sphere of life is impossible without enthusiasm. Whereas enthusiasm for material endeavor springs from the performer’s hopes for enjoyment or personal benefit from the activity, our enthusiasm for the activities of Krishna consciousness is nourished by our faith, by the strong conviction that “execution of this devotional service will bring all perfection and complete satisfaction of the self.” Indeed when there is strong faith, it naturally manifests as enthusiasm, and without enthusiasm, faith becomes lifeless.
But faith becomes dampened or even shaken when enthusiasm is not accompanied by patience. Srila Prabhupada gives the example of a newly married girl who may very much desire to have an offspring, but she cannot expect to have a child immediately; she has to be patient and confident that the child will be born in due time. Similarly, we have to develop the confidence in the fact that this process has been approved by all great authorities and is sure to bear fruit, if we continue to follow it diligently.
With some introspection, you would be able to see that the practices of devotion have most definitely brought about undeniable changes in your life, however insignificant they may seem during such times when you feel dissatisfied or fearful. At the very least, as Krishna promises in the Gita (2.40, 6.41), there is no loss in this endeavor even if left incomplete; rather one is assured of continued chance for improvement from wherever we left.
Unsteadiness in one’s practices is expected in the immature stages, but as you mature in devotional service, you can be rest assured that by Krishna’s merciful reciprocation, the enthusiasm of your endeavors will become steady and bear fruit. Therefore, do not let short-term apparent and temporary setbacks dampen your faith and enthusiasm! See the longer-term trajectory of your devotional path, and continue moving forward. Practice with diligence, confident in the purifying capacity of bhakti.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur describes in Bhaktyaloka:
“For the practitioner of devotional service, *dhairya*, patience, is extremely necessary. Those who possess the quality of *dhairya* are called * dhira*, sober. Due to lack of this quality, men become restless. Those who are impatient cannot do any work. By the quality of *dhairya*, a practitioner controls first himself and then the whole world. In the first verse of *Upadesamrta* the symptoms of *dhairya* are explained.”
I am sending to you as an attachment the section on patience from Bhaktyaloka for your further reading and contemplation.
