123. Tolerance is a Prerequisite to a Spiritual Seeker.

TOLERANCE is a quality found in a civilized person who has self-confidence. To tolerate and believe in co-existance is a great attitude which has to be developed if one is to live in a harmonious society. Intolerance has it roots in unawareness, narrow-mindedness, chauvinism and dwells in unwarranted self-esteem and pride. Intolerant people cannot accept others as their own lot; instead they set out to destroy anything which does not mirror their ideologies and dogmas.

 Tolerance is the approach to extend freedom to people of all traditions, even though we may disagree with it. The beauty in accepting the disparity and respecting with mutual understanding is tolerance. Love sprouts out of tolerance and are nurtured by compassion and concern. A person who has the talent to appreciate the goodness in the other person is more tolerant. Tolerance helps in defusing tensions that are sparked by differences and will remove the camouflage that is divisive between two individuals

 We humans have lots of emotions and feelings and that differs from each individual. By using our mind and intellect that we are blessed with enables us to feel much more than animals and other life forms, and we are able to discriminate between right and wrong. Most of us use our intellect to condemn immoral practices like stealing and being untruthful. Though it is appropriate many of us never think of our behaviour of being intolerant towards our fellow being which has to be equally condemned. We have not learnt to accept people as they are and the events as they happen. It is our selfish nature which wants things to happen as we wish and expects people to be in the same wavelength as we are. If one ponders as to why the tolerance level in us has come down???

 We find that it is due to fanaticism and racism that we behave inhuman and hate those who differ with our views. It has become unruly for us to have developed all through the ages to show intolerance of thoughts and faiths and traditions that are alien to us. We have never made an effort to understand that this earth plane has space to many like us and that they do have their own views which has to be respected it not followed. So long as we give in to envy, hatred, jealousy and greed, tolerance will never unfold in us. The day has come where every individual needs enlightenment so that he appreciates the universal values of liberalism through which he discovers to listen to others and at most agree to disagree rather than enter into war of words. When such a thing happens, the harmony of the society will be preserved. And then this earth will be a better place to live in.