How a flower tolerates a butterfly or a bee.

Sometimes it is better to simply tolerate the wrongs of others rather than trying to stop or oppose them. Everyone has their own set of faults and if one takes a stance of trying to oppose all these wrongs of others it can become a large burden on the mind and weight it down.

    A better approach would be to assess what things can and should be tolerated and then tolerated – as a mother would her own children’s weaknesses or a flower tolerates a butterfly or a bee. Most of the wrongs that happen to one another on a day-to-day basis are minor/petty wrongs and most of these can be safely tolerated without much great harm to oneself.

    However there are a few exceptional cases where things cannot be simply tolerated. Under such exceptional circumstance it is wise to take positive action contradicting the wrong-doers. The key is to understand what to tolerate and what not to tolerate and this is mostly a personal choice, based on an assessment of how much harm would be caused to oneself and/or others due to tolerance and whether this is acceptable.

    May you find the strength to tolerate the misdeeds of others and may you be happy and well!

    TOLERANCE – I

A majority of wrong things,
that others do,
can and should be tolerated,
for others’ sake,
and one’s own peace of mind.

Its only a few things that cannot,
and should not be tolerated,
but if you look closely,
these are few and far between.

    TOLERANCE – II

A lot of things should be tolerated,
as a mother would her young children,
or a flower the honey-seeking butterfly or bee,
with a kindly heart.

Otherwise the mind becomes filled with aversion,
conflict, anger and anguish,
taking one’s peace and happiness away.

See Also

• http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=mettamed
• http://dhammathoughts.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/speaking-words-of-love/
• http://dhammathoughts.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/article_a_buddhist_approach_to_friendship/
• http://dhammathoughts.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/appreciating-the-whole/
• http://dhammathoughts.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/fight-injustice/