“In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.” Dalai Lama
The best action to take against any action or behaviour of an enemy is non-action. Another word for this is silence, which, as the old saying goes, is the best answer to a fool. Some people would call non-action or silence as a sign of cowardice or simply a mark of naivety. I call it a mark of personal enlightenment, a sign of measured self-awareness and an indication of self-mastery. Some people call it a mark of calculated tolerance. I call it a mark of the highest level of your spiritual maturity. It is your most powerful weapon against any enemy action or behaviour.
The best action to take against any action or behaviour of an enemy is non-action. Another word for this is silence, which, as the old saying goes, is the best answer to a fool. Some people would call non-action or silence as a sign of cowardice or simply a mark of naivety. I call it a mark of personal enlightenment, a sign of measured self-awareness and an indication of self-mastery. Some people call it a mark of calculated tolerance. I call it a mark of the highest level of your spiritual maturity. It is your most powerful weapon against any enemy action or behaviour.
To be tolerant is to understand whom you were, who you are now and whom you want to be in the future. It means you have learnt what you are today from what you were yesterday. It means you have a rich vision of what you want to be tomorrow. This position has given you the ability to manage your response to situations around you in ways that brings the best of you to the surface. Each act of tolerance you demonstrate teaches you and others something special about your true nature.
When someone intentionally does something to hurt you but you show no sign of hurtful feeling whatsoever against that person, you have successfully returned the negative effect of his or her action back to the sender. Consequently, the person brings torture upon him or herself. That is what I call self-inflicted injury.
To achieve self-mastery, you have to learn to be a keen observer of events around you from the smallest things happening within your own household to all the major events taking place around the world. Within your family setting, you can start to practice tolerance by learning to understand and accept your own contributions in any row between you and your spouse, you and your children, you and other members of your extended family including you and your in-laws. You may not be able to change their minds in any argument, but you can change your own mind. Once you are able to achieve that, you are one-step towards having a happy and peaceful relationship with them. This is what I call a win/win relationship. In a dispute situation, some of them might say it is because you have surrendered to them. I say it is because you have learned to understand yourself better and also because you have gained a better knowledge of their way of thinking.
Within your work environment, you can begin to practice non-action and become a more tolerant person when you learn to let go of your opinion of yourself, when you learn to allow others to express their opinion even when you disagree. It is a mark of an educated mind. Even when an individual expresses an opinion that seems to undermine your own or makes you appear stupid, practice responding with silence. To an enlightened observer, your silent non-response shows whose opinion is more superior without having to defend your position.
To be tolerant is to know how to measure your response to events around you. It is to know that no one can hurt you without your permission. It is to understand self before others. It is learning to agree to disagree. It is to know that the good people in your life are God’s own unique way of apologising for the bad ones. It is knowing that being tolerant of the bad people in your life is a magnet for attracting to your life more good people. It is to know that God uses the good people to compensate you for the bad ones. It is to know that you have nothing to lose from tolerating bad people. It is to know that you have everything to gain because all the bad people in your life are your teachers.
When someone intentionally does something to hurt you but you show no sign of hurtful feeling whatsoever against that person, you have successfully returned the negative effect of his or her action back to the sender. Consequently, the person brings torture upon him or herself. That is what I call self-inflicted injury.
To achieve self-mastery, you have to learn to be a keen observer of events around you from the smallest things happening within your own household to all the major events taking place around the world. Within your family setting, you can start to practice tolerance by learning to understand and accept your own contributions in any row between you and your spouse, you and your children, you and other members of your extended family including you and your in-laws. You may not be able to change their minds in any argument, but you can change your own mind. Once you are able to achieve that, you are one-step towards having a happy and peaceful relationship with them. This is what I call a win/win relationship. In a dispute situation, some of them might say it is because you have surrendered to them. I say it is because you have learned to understand yourself better and also because you have gained a better knowledge of their way of thinking.
Within your work environment, you can begin to practice non-action and become a more tolerant person when you learn to let go of your opinion of yourself, when you learn to allow others to express their opinion even when you disagree. It is a mark of an educated mind. Even when an individual expresses an opinion that seems to undermine your own or makes you appear stupid, practice responding with silence. To an enlightened observer, your silent non-response shows whose opinion is more superior without having to defend your position.
To be tolerant is to know how to measure your response to events around you. It is to know that no one can hurt you without your permission. It is to understand self before others. It is learning to agree to disagree. It is to know that the good people in your life are God’s own unique way of apologising for the bad ones. It is knowing that being tolerant of the bad people in your life is a magnet for attracting to your life more good people. It is to know that God uses the good people to compensate you for the bad ones. It is to know that you have nothing to lose from tolerating bad people. It is to know that you have everything to gain because all the bad people in your life are your teachers.
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