INTOLERANCE

Is intolerance of intolerance, intolerance?

The answer depends on one's convenience. 

We are quick either to condemn or to support, both in my opinion are bad.

For a moment let's forget intolerance, think about tolerance. This itself is such an ugly word and its meaning is so negative.

We need to respect not tolerate.

Tolerance is always limited and this limit can be breached at any time for any reason, even the most idiotic and frivolous one. 

Anyone who tolerates is abiding time until he, she or they cannot or will not tolerate anymore. 

Tolerance is a negative term, and intolerance which is born out of the inability or unwillingness to tolerate is even more negative. 

Tolerance is a simmering of discontent, and its offspring intolerance  always leads to conflict and destruction.

Respect on the other hand is a positive emotion and attitude. 

It sees the good in the other and hence a desire to yield space and energy, to cooperate and to share. Respect leads to flowering of relationships.

It is better to talk about, respect rather than tolerance and intolerance.

Who are we?

A friend who is highly sensitive to praise and criticism wanted to get away, 'Just go away from the madding crowd' she said. So away she went to the Himalayas, returning two weeks later looking worse than when she left.

On quizzing her I learnt that her problems and concerns accompanied her. She could not stop thinking about what what people were talking about her. We have put our happiness and peace of mind in the hands of others for their opinions shape our beliefs about ourselves.

Most of us live our lives in differing shades of this same situation.


"You do not have your own face, you  have only opinions of others about you. Somebody says you are beautiful and you start to think you are beautiful. Somebody says you are ugly, and you feel hurt and you carry a wound that someone says you are 'ugly' - you have become ugly.

You are just an accumulation of the opinion of others, you do not know who you are. You know only what others think you are. And this is strange, because those others who think who you are don't know themselves. - they know themselves through you. This is a beautiful game: I know myself through you, you know yourself through me and we both don't know who we are."

                                                                                     - Osho