Questions were submitted by participants during spiritual practice classes 
at CSE with Rev. O’Brian. 

What do you suggest for cultivating patience with spiritual progress? 
There are two things we can do that help us have patience with our progress on 

the path. The first is to take a broader look at our definition of spiritual progress. 

Often people look for dramatic signs or the occurrence of phenomena during 

meditation and are disappointed when not much seems to be happening. If we 

take a wider look, however, we can see that dedication to a regular meditation 

practice brings many positive changes to our lives. Meditation purifies the mental 

field and removes stress from the system. This impacts the way we live everyday. 

Look to see if you are better able to concentrate, are more insightful, intuitive 

or creative, experience a greater degree of compassion, inner peace or under-

standing. Any and all of these are signs of spiritual progress. 
The second thing is that while maintaining a strong focus and commitment to 

our goal of Self-realization, we must consider that holding too tightly to what 

we want as an outcome can impede our progress. Paramahansa Yogananda told 

my guru, Roy Eugene Davis, that the devotee of God must want to realize God 

so strongly that he or she cannot bear to wait another day but must have the 

patience to wait if that realization does not come immediately. This patience is 

cultivated largely through devotion, through love for God and surrender of the 

illusional sense of separation. With this perspective, all is done for God, in God. 

Results are up to God. 

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Enlightenment Journal | Summer 2011

On the Path: Questions & Answers