What is the eternal patience? It is that waiting we encounter in meditation when we do not seem to be making progress. It is the patience we have with others recognizing that every flower unfolds in its own time. It is ultimately the patience we have with ourselves when we keep making mistakes in life.
I feel that desire for "progress" in meditation is itself a hindrance to it. It is said that we are always in Samadhi but we are not aware of it. It is the machinations of the mind that keep it obscured.
Theoretically, contentment is better than patience. Patience is waiting for a desire to be fulfilled. Contentment is the absence of any desire to be fulfilled, which is fulfillment.
