Tolerance is a measure of Strength

Almost all the belief systems having their source in the Indian sub Continent, whether acknowledging the supremacy of the Vedic tradition or not, contain statements that are Literal, Symbolic or Poetic.

It is an essentially human tendency to take symbolic statements literally and to defend to death the factual support or ostensible “proof” of such statements. It would be much more beneficial, on the other hand, to go beyond the statements themselves to the truly meaningful symbols they represent. The marvelous fact is that most practitioners of a belief system are well aware of the symbolism. Yet, they treat these statements as absolute truth and indulge in such atrocities as go against the very grain of the principles that these statements seek to uphold.

It is high time that the average Hindu breaks out of his shell of dogma. All of us should take a fresh look at the symbolism behind most of our practices; to go behind the icon to the symbol it represents. Beyond the idol to the ideal it illustrates.

The word tolerance has many meanings. It means “freedom from bigotry or from racial or religious prejudice”. It also means “the act of enduring or the capacity for endurance”. Tolerance is a technical term which indicates the measure of a substance to withstand fractionally higher weight, dimensions than the standard. The tolerance of steel, for example, is the measure of its capacity to bear greater weights than the design. In this sense, tolerance is actually a measure of strength and not merely a measure of flexibility. A tolerant person is a strong person in the same way that steel with higher degrees of tolerance can withstand greater weight and pressures than those for which it was originally designed.

Applying this principle to our belief systems, we should understand that tolerance in religion is a measure of strength and a willingness to permit other belief systems to co-exist with our own. Every religiously tolerant person is like a strong bar of steel uniting with other equally strong bars to form a mesh or matte which is the strong foundation of our large country and its long term prosperity.