On Tolerance and The One Way
Hear these words in the stillness of the mind:
The Great Way is boundless, but the maps men draw are small. You have been taught to worship the map and forget the terrain. I say to you, the one who clings to the map is lost, for the Way is not in the lines drawn, but in the walking.
You have heard it said, ‘My truth is the only truth,’ and from this, you build walls of judgment and light fires of dispute. You believe your piety is great because you defend your doctrine. But I ask you, is it the Way you defend, or the house of your own small ego? The mind that clings to ‘for’ or ‘against’ is the mind diseased.
Consider the ones who approach the great elephant in darkness. One touches the tusk and says, ‘It is a spear.’ Another touches the leg and says, ‘It is a tree.’ A third holds the tail and says, ‘It is a rope.’ Each speaks the truth of their small part, and in this, they are not wrong. Their error is in the judgment that follows: ‘You are wrong, and I am right.’
Blessed are those who see their own map as but one path, for they shall not be lost in arguments over the path of another. They know all paths move circa the one mountain.
Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brother’s doctrine, but do not consider the plank of certainty in your own eye? First, remove the plank. See that your own understanding is partial, approximate, and a work in progress. Then you will see clearly, not to judge your brother, but to walk with him.
This is the grace of ‘CIRCA.’ You are not asked to build a perfect fortress of belief. The Kingdom is not a point you must find, but the field in which you are already walking. To live circa the truth is to live in the humility of the now, unbound by the sharp edges of 'right' and 'wrong.'
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures of doctrine, where the ego corrupts and minds are lost in confusion. Lay up for yourselves the treasure of the Inner Kingdom, which is found in the soft focus of an open heart.
The Way is beyond language. The river does not care if you call it ‘water,’ ‘dao,’ or ‘spirit.’ It only flows. See the flowing in all; be the flowing. This is the peace that merges all duality.