TOLERANCE / MIND

                                                            29      TOLERANCE

Of the many human virtues, tolerance is nature’s gift to stay cool and ward off anger and hypertension. But, to muster and master the art of tolerance is hard to say the least. Some approaches can help our attaining the right level of tolerance. The most basic requirement is to cultivate the habit of looking at from the other man’s point of view. So to say, one needs to perceive clearly that there are different perceptions to an issue. Carefully considering the emotional restrictions that the other person clings to,  helps our sympathizing with him /her, instead of ‘branding’ the person as partisan in attitude. Ironically, the one who lacks tolerance is as much biased as are the adherents to respective view points. Still, tolerance does not mean that we subscribe to the views of the opponents. Tolerance gives the advantage of holding our ground, even as we can raise arguments to convince the validity of our stand.

Inadequacy or low tolerance raises the pitch of the argument in terms of decibel. In driving the idea home, hot words come out instead of polite suggestions.  There is a degree of slant to bias which causes low tolerance and aggressive postures while rebutting the other point of view. So, avoidance of bias is a step to develop tolerance to view points. To ward off bias, correct analysis is a prerequisite. Thus, tolerance is a derivative rather than its being a natural attitude.           

                                                            30     MIND                                                                       

Of the human faculties, the ‘hard to locate’ reservoir of limitless information is the mind. Yes, it can hold finite ideas of infinite volume. At no point, it gets saturated. It appeals to be an entity of expansive potential, storing ideas in the faculty called memory. Biologically, what territory of the human body constitutes the mind is elusive to say the least. Despite our inability to locate the mind, mind locates and recalls information that we may have gathered in distant past. Ironically, we need not exert ourselves to cull out information that had already gone into our ‘heads’. Since brain holds control over our mind, items are believed to be ‘stored’ in brain. Be that as it may, the mind power is different from that of brain power! Mind is an ever-acting system that can work independent of the body. Indeed it is a marvel unparalleled.  It is a marvel, by virtue of its ability to assess even as it stores information in a codified form. The component of assessment relates to identifying the element of facts from those of fiction or fabrication if any. In doing so, the mind recalls silently, all experience of the past in determining the veracity or otherwise of the utterance. Fallibility of judgment arises either from poor discrimination or from taking statements for granted. Yet, the value of mind is supreme, as it relates to conscience-the guiding spirit. On occasions, persons overrule the conscience in a bid to achieve what they perceive as important. Such overruling moments are perhaps the items of conflict between right and wrong, driving the individual to take a position. Often, on such intricate moments, materialistic considerations drive the judgment in favour of this or that. Also, it is unfair to suggest that all decisions are materialistic, since a number of decisions do emerge from moralistic considerations. But, without mind nothing can work. However, an inexplicable factor coming in the way of decision-making relates to grooming from childhood, as ‘taking positions’ is based on the value system to which the individual adheres.