Theos-Talk Archives (August 1995 Message tl00447)

Art wrote:
> ...Is
> there something in Theosophical teaching that instructs us how to hold
> truth passionately and yet at the same time respect and listen to others
> who have no intention of compromise? Is it possible to be tolerant of those
> you consider intolerant and come out with integrity?

Lewis:

 I think it was Annie Besant who suggested that righteous
indignation was a step in the right direction, but that at a later
stage of development we move to at state of "peace that passes
understanding," to paraphrase from another source.

 It reminds me of the intolerance one might feel towards a smoker,
but which later turns to compassion for a fellow human being who is
enslaved to it and unable to see the harm it does to himself and
others around him.

 I have heard it said we are often most intolerant of weaknesses
in others which we have only recently overcome within ourselves. An
interesting idea which I have observed in myself and others over the
years.

 As for those weaknesses with which we still struggle, when we
come upon them in another and they don't even consider them
undesirable, we often find that person particularly obnoxious and
heap disdain upon them.

 Lastly, one of the frequently quoted mantra's in theosophy is
 "To know, to dare, to will, and to remain silent.
 The last of these being the most difficult."

Lewis
 llucas@mercury.gc.peachnet.edu