Page 64 - Non-violence and peace-building

Responding to Provocation through Patience

enjoys the rule of law, if you take the law into your
hands you will make yourself a criminal. In this way,
you will create two sets of enemies for yourself—one,
the person who has done something wrong and from
whom you want to exact revenge; and the other, the
governmental authorities. If you hand over the matter
to the authorities to handle, you extricate yourself from
the controversy, as it were, and leave the authorities and
the person who is bent on creating trouble to handle it
between themselves.
True and effective effort is always silent. It does not
make a hue and cry. If in the face of an unpleasant
situation you start shouting and agitating, it only shows
that you are overwhelmed by your emotions. People who
are driven by their emotions cannot take any meaningful
steps. Meaningful and effective action emerges from
serious reflection and contemplation. Making a hue
and cry in the face of a difficult or challenging situation
renders a person completely incapable of seriously
considering and evaluating matters. This rule about
conflict-avoidance applies as much in the case of
individuals as it does in the case of entire communities.

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