rcligious pcrson lamcnts and whines in pain, evcn to lhe exlenl of waking up lhe neighbour; whereas lhe religious person bears it calmly. Thc others do not cvcn come to know that hc is in pain. Kundanmalji Swami's is a case in point. Hcsuffercd from a painful w.ut.The doclor said il must be incised. Chowthmalji Swami began the operation with a sci.ssor. Kundanmalji kepl sitting likca statue. without anesthctic. Hc said, "Chouthmalji! Kindly cut it off ai one go!" How does one find the ent'.'rgy lo bear lhings calmly! Those who leam to discriminate between lhe body and lhe sou!, who come to realize that lhe body and lhe sou! are different from each other, dt."'elop lhe power of tolcrance. Oncc I s.aid lo my mother, Sadhvi Baluji, "lt is good lhat you lcll beads. Now add this much to your recitation-~TI,,. so11I is diffemll from lllt' body and t/1t botly Is diffm,t from tlte sou/." She raspcd this poinl vcry well indeed. Whenver 1 \•isited hcr ,md askcd how she was, shc would say,"1 have no disease, am perfoctly all righl and enjoy utmosl pe,1ce." 1 said,"But is it not a dt-nial of lntlh to say one is well when onc is not?" Shc said, "No, Thc tn1th is lhat my soul is ai peace. lt is the body which i.s diseased, not I." Shí- used to ll'll lo other sadhvis "Now we ha\•C no dependencc upon onc anothcr. You are on your own and 1 am on mine!" Giving m:m lhe secrel of a happy life, Bertrand Russel said, "Only thal man is happy who dot."S not abruplly cut off his reliltionship wilh other pcople ,·md d()('S nol allow it to become strained. The man who respecls another pcrson's'individu.11ity and takcs joy in es..1blishing intima()' with lhc whole of human society. is ahvays happy.N The crealion of such a st.ltc of mind is possible only on lhe basis of toleran<X'. Only the person \'.'ho knows how to endurc whatcver happens, can rcach the great ideal of forgivl'ness. The sccrel bchind lhe succcss and swc,ctncss of collcclive lifc is-tolerancc. ln lhe seventecnth <X"ntury lhe family of lhe thcn minisler Ochisan had bccome very famous throughoul Japan on acrount of lhcir goodwill. lt was an cnlightl'J\ro. family of a hundrcd pcoplc. The tradition of thc joint family had prcvailed for years Therc had n(."1.•er bc,cn a singlc instance of mutu.11 r,1ncour on account of pctty differcnccs. Empcror Yamalo of Japan camc to hcar of lhcir rcnown and it aroused in him great wonder. ln order lo find out lhe secret of that family's renown, lhe Empcror paid a visil to lhe Minister's house. Thc goodwill of lhe family was rcally astounding. Thc Empcror cxprt.-sSt.·d his curiosity about lhe spirit of extraordinary 10\'C and fricndship pervading lhe family and wantcd to know the rcason thcroof. The eldest pcrson in the family had grown vcry old. Bt.>causc of cxtrcmc old age, he could not CV<'fl spc,1k. Hc made a sign, rcquisitioning pen and paper and whcn thcsc wcre givcn, hc wrotc on thc paper a singlc word-'Tolcr,\nce"! Tolerance is lhe consummaüon of forgivencss. Ht-re lhe queshon of age does not arisc. Thc clderl)• pcoplc trcat lhe young with forbearance and thc young treat their clders likewiS('. ln this mutual forbcarancc, noobligation is involvcd; it oni)' inspires respcct for oncsclf. Tolcrance of others becausc of sclf-inte«'St is no loving forbcarana:>, but helpk>ssncss.
He Who Burs Everything
Who may be said to bc rcally ingenuous in lhe sense of bcing true, írank and honourable? A saying in lhe Aayaro provides lhe answcr. Truly ingcnuous is he who çan bear thc hcat and lhe cold. And by lhe heat and lhe cold are not meant only lhe summcr and wintcr. Onl)• he who can put up with all kinds of fovourable and adverse circumstanccs, is cnti1lcd to thc glory of bcing callcd ingcnuous. Gcncrally, that man may bc said lo bc tmc and honourablc who is free from thespirit of possession. However, merc non-poss,t."SSivt-nt'SS falis far short of lhe meaning here Thc sadhak in whom lhe complcxes of auachmcnt and aversion stand dissolved, who has broken out of the ring of passions, may bc said to bc tnily ingenuous. And thc element which can exalt us to that stage is cquanimity. Equanimity and goodwill arc two aspects of lhe sam!' coin. Equanimity is a powcr whkh only lhe rcally capable persons can command. The incompetent are without equanimity. lhey are c.1sily dishcarlened, ha\'e littlc lolerançe and cannol lhcrcfon.• adore lhe spiril of goodwill and fricndship. Thc truly ingcnuous have many qualilics. Non-possession, brahmacharya, non-stealing and 1ru1h are also their ch.1racterristics. But all these are included in equanimity. With cquanimity in life, all lhcsc qualilics thri\1e. ln the abscnce of equanimity, howevcr, thest"' cannol !'xist. momcnl equanimity is violatt.-d, ali tht.-sc qualities also disapp.-ar. Thal is an indubi1,1blc fact. 0n lhe ground of conduct, lhe synonym of cquanimily is thc spirit of fricndship. This is a ~l.lti\'e trulh. Whcn feclings of anlagonism. contempl, disrcspecl or angcr arise in the mind against a person, loask forgi\·enessof that pt..>rSOn, and to frecly pardon any misconduct against oncsclf, constitules fricndship. This is meant for thosc who li\'e in lhe pr<.lCtical world. The gúodwill úÍ a person who has risen above ali pr,,clicalitics, is not confined to .1ny onc individual; it embraccs thc whole of m.-.nkind. liis ideal is to inculcale a fecling of equality for all-big or small. This is a kind of spiritual forre whkh ali may not bc ablc to devclop. Bul those in whom thc spirit of frit.-ndship is fully developed. can havc no encmics in the wholc world. Thcy irrigale mcn's minds wilh a ncctar which quit!' washes away lhe poison of l'nmity and ali is lovc and goodwill.