Question: How do we cultivate sustaining patience? Is patience different from tolerance?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
They are certainly connected.
Obviously, they are not identical; they are two different words.
Patience is cultivated by recognizing that you are not the controller;somebody else is.
That somebody else is Kṛṣṇa.
And Kṛṣṇa is very loving and very kind.
Let say a small child wants something. Commonly small children are impatient when they want something.
How does a small child become patient?
They trust their parents or their guardians, someone who is looking after them, that they will recognize their needs. In due course, in a proper manner, the child’s needs will be met. If the child can be encouraged to recognize this, by this maturity they will become patient instead of being impatient.
We can learn about how to become a patient devotee by observing children who learn how to become patient.
Tolerance is connected but is not the same.
There are different ways and different circumstances that we are called upon in life to be tolerant.
First of all, the principle that both patience and tolerance share is recognizing we are not the controller. Someone else is the controller. That someone else—Kṛṣṇa–is very kind and loving.
The spiritual perspective or spiritual dimension of tolerance is rooted in trusting the Supreme Controller.
