Truth and Tolerance

Truth and Tolerance

Truth is like a seed. A seed contains the complete blueprint of what it can become, but potential alone is not enough. It needs to remain in the soil long enough to take root. It needs to tolerate the soil and the climate. Without it, the seed never has the chance to grow into something living and beautiful. The combination of truth and tolerance go very much hand in hand. Truth is not limited to words, but the actual living from a place of truth requires us to develop the power to tolerate in order to be in alignment with reality.

Like a seed beneath the earth, truth must remain undisturbed long enough to take root.

Like a seed beneath the earth, truth must remain undisturbed long enough to take root. Every challenge is an invitation either to dig the seed up – to let it go – or to let it grow. Tolerance is what keeps us from abandoning truth the moment it becomes uncomfortable.

Truth keeps me steady but only if I have tolerance. For example, if I know and accept that I am a peaceful soul, then if someone insults me, I need to tolerate that urge to retaliate with an emotional reaction and stop the ego from rising. If I know I am a peaceful soul, then someone else’s anger is simply another storm passing over the soil. If I react, I uproot the seed. If I tolerate, the roots grow deeper. Living according to truth requires a lot of determination and focus.

True tolerance comes from a place of deep self-respect and strength, of knowing and standing in my truth, regardless of other people’s opinions.

Most of us are not too keen on this word, tolerance. I also feel that we need to develop a deeper understanding and meaning of tolerance, because this is not a passive state of resistance or simply having to ‘put up with’ things, people and situations. True tolerance comes from a place of deep self-respect and strength, of knowing and standing in my truth, regardless of other people’s opinions.

If we look at examples of people in history, there are many who have, for the sake of truth, had to tolerate a lot. Their goal was not to tolerate, but their goal was to hold onto the truth, to get to the truth or find the truth, and along the journey they had to tolerate many difficulties.

Without tolerance, we reject truth because it feels uncomfortable.

Without tolerance, we reject truth because it feels uncomfortable. Honest feedback often feels like rain on newly planted ground. It may not feel pleasant, but without it the roots never deepen. For example, if someone has anger issues, others may point it out, yet they don’t realize it. The ego will not allow them to admit it to themselves. Therefore, they simply react and justify their behaviour, saying “anyone would react like this.” When I take a spiritual approach to life, I will be able to step back from the situation and my ego, and see the world from a detached viewpoint, with tolerance. Then I am able to remain with the truth long enough to transform anything that is not truth. This includes managing uncomfortable feedback.

Truth requires the humility to accept that: “I don’t know everything.” Can I tolerate being corrected? Not being appreciated? Can I tolerate someone disagreeing with me? Only then can those deeper truths emerge.

Every time we resist the urge to react, defend, justify or prove ourselves right, we are giving truth another opportunity to grow.

Every time we resist the urge to react, defend, justify or prove ourselves right, we are giving truth another opportunity to grow. When we understand this, the surrender of the ego becomes a return to truth.

Without truth, tolerance becomes weakness or avoidance. Without tolerance, truth becomes judgement. A person who knows the truth but has no tolerance will come across as harsh, critical and impatient. We may recognize “bad behaviour”, but is that not also us judging others? What would be the most appropriate course of action in this situation? To agitate the weakness of another or to show compassion—which, by the way, tolerance generates. To extend the metaphor of the seed: continually digging up another person’s seed to see whether it is growing only prevents their growth. Remember, every soul has its own season.

Furthermore, real truth is constant. Circumstances are not. If my happiness depends on circumstances, then I haven’t yet become stable in truth. Tolerance allows me to remain anchored in truth despite changing situations. Like a tree: there is the seed and roots of truth; the circumstances are like the wind—they come and go—but with flexibility, it is tolerance that prevents the tree from breaking. The roots keep a tree standing through a storm. Without roots, even a healthy-looking tree can be blown over by a powerful storm.

Eventually the seed becomes a tree. At that stage, truth is no longer merely an idea but something firmly rooted deep within us. The winds of circumstance still come, but they no longer determine whether the tree stands. It is the unseen roots, nourished by years of tolerance, that give it its stability.

It’s Time … to recognise that every uncomfortable moment is actually a chance to deepen the roots of truth within ourselves.