How and where does one discover, outer and inner patience...?

Patience is an attribute of Faith.

Faith is often misunderstood till one experiences it & there is more than one way to come to Faith.

When one rests in Faith & Knowledge then the outcome is assured in their eyes. As a result they can be patient knowing that all is as should be.

If one is not assured of the outcome then patience alludes them. They may be able to wait for a time, but if that time gets to be too long then doubt calls & patience is lost.

Thanks for the question & the reminder.

Blessings!

Hey Will,.....As usual, I disagree with practically everybody. There's a line from a poem attributed to E. A. Poe: "From childhood's hour I have not seen as others saw..." I know this is going to sound terribly negative, but I believe patience is, like intelligence, something you're born with. I spent my life trying to teach, and have heard "educators,"(I hate that term!), talk about teaching someone to think. You can't. You can teach them how to attack specific problems, but thinking is innate.

Similarly, you can teach someone methods to improve or prolong their tolerance for fools or phenomena over which they have no control, but they must have a predisposition with which they are born. As for outer and inner patience, I believe they are the same, and, again, there are ways to improve the gift and be cognizant of the subtle difference. That last sentence may seem contradictory, but allow me to attempt to use my own experience as an example of the similarity and the difference. I've already mentioned I've spent my,life trying to teach. I cannot imagine a profession that demands more patience. Over the years I learned the trick of trying to imagine myself the person being confronted. Often I wonder what the motivation is for their behavior....like the woman who made an obscene gesture as she cut me off in traffic to turn into a mall at Christmas-time, probably to buy presents. I couldn't help smiling at the irony, which I'm sure was lost on her. I imagined how harried she must have been. It's a lot easier to forgive someone if you can do this, and you can train yourself. Now inner patience is the same thing, except, for me, much harder. It's harder because I am far less tolerant of my own failings than I am of others, which is, of course, illogical. The implication is that I am better than other people, and again, I have had to learn to understand why I am so self-critical. It's the way I was raised by parents who rarely praised anything I did and always demanded perfection. When I consider the reasons why I lose patience with myself, I can again smile at my foolishness. I don't wish to imply that these tricks, (actually "trick", because they are one and the same) are easy. I'm still learning. But when I look back at my youth, and my certainty of what was right and wrong, and how quick I was to judge other people, again I have to smile. What a tragedy it is to realize that it has taken me a lifetime. Perhaps, someone reading this, will gain the wisdom to begin earlier than I and achieve the peace of mind,and patience, it's taken me so long to acquire. I hope so.

In hard times man can discover outer and inner patience. But that is not compulsory, you know. Some never discover them.

When we can understand the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as our savior then we can understand what is meant by outer and inner patience. When we can understand going through death and into life and trusting The Holy Spirit, we can receive patience for the remainder of our days here on earth.

Inner patience comes with practice. Be in the moment. learn to count up to 10 before responding and before you do ask yourself is it worth it..eventually you will find that the things that bother you now no longer will because you have ceased to give it importance. When you find yourself in the moment then you will find inner peace, inner tranquility which translates to outer tranquility....Try meditation...it works believe it or not. It really does.

if one has knowledge of both inner and outer patience then nothing is being hidden.

Save perhaps, the Potential for the lack of patience.

dearest sufi brother...

may God bless us all. i will try your question in the spirit of fun...

"The outer patience is a reflection of inner patience... which is a reflection of childlike love of the divine. Patience is certainly a blessing and a gift of our LORD."

may we all be patient with one another as we walk towards the light together... in joy.

much love...

xx

"Be patient, for your patience is with the help of Allah." [16:127]

In a prison cell lies patience and thought.

when one discovers that outter view is the inner viewer

when one becomes the outter and inner

and when all seperation becomes a merger

peace to you dear friend, meechum anbu

I like Arnold's answer- so true.

But, everything positive and good is within the power of God.

It is through God that we shall receive.