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CHANGE OF HEART-A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT
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operative. He enjoys complete intrepidity--total absence of fear. The whole atmosphere is charged with fearlessness.
The third principle of mind-transformation is tolerance. A woman said, "How can there be peace in family life?" I said, “Don't bother about peace for the time being. Think first of toleration. Peace is the by-product of toleration. In the absence of toleration, there can be no peace. Toleration means—to tolerate one another. Different ideas, different impressions, different ways of living, different interests everything is different. Neither ideas, nor patterns of living, nor traditions, nor interests cohere. Notwithstanding all differences, however, peaceful coexistence is possible. There need be no difficulty about it. The hot and the cold, light and darkness, fire and water, may exist together. Contradictory elements may abide in the same person or place. The great virtue of the doctrine of nonexclusion is the coexistence of the contraries. The harmonization of the opposites is the foundation of the doctrine. If contrary elements can coexist in the material world, why may not rival thoughts or different patterns of behaviour coexist in society Such peaceful coexistence s certainly possible. But the secret of such coexistence lies in the evolution of tolerance, which means tolerance of one another, tolerance of different thoughts and ways of living, of different cultures and interests. Mutual tolerance obviates discord and strife and is consequently a great factor in the maintenance of peace. Each individual thinks in his own particular way. I think in my own way. Is my thought, my idea, the ultimate reality? does it wholly symbolize truth? Have I alone the monopoly of truth? Do I deny the other person the right to think in his own way? Can't the other person think straight? Is the other person wholly incapable of right thinking or conduct? Great masters have said that an old and very experienced person can make a mistake and even a child may sometimes offer a wholesome suggestion. Truth, irrespective o where it comes from, should be universally acceptable.
There is the story of an autocratic ruler asking the head of a family to provide him with a rope of sand or face death by hanging. It was an impossible demand! A rope of sand! Nothing could make the grains of sand stick together. How could one make a rope like that? The headman and all the members of his family were plunged into despair. Death stared them in the face. The elders could find no solution. But a child said, "I see a way out!" And immediately he wrote a missive to the king and sent it through a messenger. The missive read: "Sir! Your command is acceptable. We'll do as you please. Only we must respectfully submit that we live in a very small village far removed from civilization and without any educational facilities. In your great capital dwell artists and craftsmen of all sorts, highly skilled in various disciplines. If you kindly send us a
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