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Tolerance 
from the Rose Garden Web site

 Bhagavad Gita. X 1V v 2
They who, having resorted to knowledge of all the universe, have attained unity with Me, Are neither affected in the creation, nor disturbed in the dissolution 
 

The Dhammapada.
Patience, the Buddha says is the best austerity, and the best patience is Nirvana. 
There are three patiences, patience toward harmful beings, patience toward heat and cold, and patience toward the difficulties of meditation on selflessness.

 
Gospel of Zarathustra Ch 53: v 1 pt. 2.
Oh my God my Lord, I who aspire to Thee, 
Thou have let me be given in both worlds, bodily and Spiritual, 
the blessings earned by Righteousness, whereby Thou bringest the faithful into Light. 
 

Tanakh The Holy Scriptures Psalms: 62 v 2, 9
Truly my soul waits quietly for God, 
My deliverance comes from God.Trust in God at all times,
O people, pour out your hearts before God. God is our refuge.

 
The New Testament, John: 15 v 1-2 
Jesus said "I am the vine and God is the gardener. Every barren branch is cut away 
and every fruiting branch is cleansed to make it more fruitful still. "

 
The Holy Qur'an Sura XVI v 77.
To God belongeth 
the Mystery of the heavens and the earth, and the decision of the hour of judgement, 
as the twinling of an eye, or even quicker, for God hath power over all things.

 
Readings from the Gayan 

Behind us all is the one spirit and the one life. 
How then can we be happy if our neighbour is sad?


Beloved ones of God, a few words on Tolerance. Tolerance is the sign of an evolved soul, for a soul shows the proof of its evolution in the degree of tolerance it shows. By a psychological study of nature and the tendencies of the lower creation one will find that the evolution that takes place among birds and beasts shows a tendency of intolerance becoming less and less. It is the love element developing in their nature which brings them together to form flocks and herds. 

The same tendency of intolerance sometimes manifests in a more distinct and pronounced form in man. The reason is that human responsibility in life is greater, human difficulties are many and humans live in a crowd which is larger than a flock or herd.

 At the back of this tendency there is a most wonderful secret hidden, the depths of which are fathomed by the mystic. The mystic who sees God within and without, both, who recognises God in unity and in variety both, the mystic realises that it is the One Who has known Himself to be One, Who does not know of two, Who feels uncomfortable and agitated and shows a revolt on knowing that "There exists another besides Me". And it is therefore that the birds have the tendency to fight with their own element, and one finds the same thing among beasts. 

Among humans, the rivalry that exists between professions and between people of the same position and between nations shows the same thing, that one principal that the nature of ego, through every name and form revolts against another, especially of the same name and form, in some way or other. One may give a thousand reasons for intolerance. They exist too, but the inner reason is one and the same, in all aspects of intolerance. The Sufis have called it Kibria, which means vanity, vanity of the One to Whom alone it belongs.

 As one evolves spiritually so a person seems to rise above this natural tendency of intolerance, for the reason that one begins to see, besides themself and the second person, God; and one unites oneself with the other person in God. It is the third person whose love or devotion makes two people unite. For instance, the children of the same parents love one another in the realisation that they are of the same parents; the people of one country love one another in the thought that they belong to the same country. 

And when two people tolerate one another with the though of God as their Creator and their support, then they are more evolved because they can tolerate anyone of any country or race, of whatever name or form.

 But when a soul has evolved still more, tolerance becomes the natural thing for that person. Because the highly evolved soul then begins to realise "Another person is not separate from me, but the other person is myself: the separation is on the surface of life but in the depth of life, I and the other person are one" 

from The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan. Volume 13, Metaphysics:No10


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