COMING INTO AGREEMENT

There is a Hasidic story about two young spiritual aspirants who are having an argument about the true path of spiritual unfoldment. One student argues that the path consists of struggle and strenuous effort to overcome one's human defects. The other student says, "No, the path is one of surrender, release and letting go." Unable to resolve their differences, they bring the matter to their spiritual teacher. The first student says, "Isn't the path one of struggle and persistence?" The teacher says, "You're right." "But Rabbi," says the second student, "isn't the path the way of surrender?" "You're right," says the teacher. An onlooker says, "But Rabbi, they both can't be right." "You're right, too," says the teacher. There's a point where we quit arguing with our life and come into agreement with all things. We discover that each is right at the level of his understanding. We really don't have to waste time and energy trying to convince others of our truth— instead, we can affirm their truth as true for them and our truth as true for us.