Forgiveness As I walked through a very small town in Illinois I was greeted by an enthusiastic dog which was jumping, barking and wagging its tail, HELLO! from behind a chain link fence; running back and forth from the yard to a wooden deck, first one way and then the next. I was talking with her, telling her how beautiful she was and what a good dog, and a woman emerged from the house to check out the situation. I greeted her with my best smile and a bright greeting, we talked about the lovely dog for a little while and then she asked what I was doing. I told her a little of the pilgrimage for peace that I walk and she was intrigued. She offered me water, asked if there was anything else that I needed. I accepted her offer of water and she filled up my magic water bottle. She wanted to talk more and I listened. She shared that she should not be talking with me because her husband was very concerned about strangers, said that she normally was as well but that she felt like talking with me. She cried as she said this. I just listened and smiled in compassion. She went on to say that she was not a happy person, that her father had done some very mean things to her when she was young. There was clearly much pain from the association with these memories which she replayed in her mind. She said that she had cared for her father before he died, while he was in hospital, and that she wanted to forgive him, but that she could not. She said that on his last day she knew that she should forgive him, that she should say something to him, but that she did not and he died shortly after. This, after all, had become the source of her pain as she spoke with me and what she perhaps carries with her even now. She had not been able to forgive her father but what replaced that was that she could not now forgive herself for feeling as she did and for not forgiving him. Oh, the ego centered mind and emotions, how they work their best to enslave us. We talked about forgiveness, about how to forgive her father and herself. It was so clearly necessary for her to do both in order to move forward, to find her happiness. She said that she wanted to do so and asked for help, how?. We took a moment then, I asked her simply to close her eyes, to take a few deep breaths then relax her breathing, and then to repeat to herself inside, I forgive myself. She did this for just one minute and the relief was palpable, clearly visible. I asked her to do this every day, to take one minute or so and consciously repeat these words of forgiveness. I further asked her to pray for the strength to completely forgive all including herself, for God to remove all that blocked her from doing so, That she might serve more fully. Finally we talked about finding thirty minutes of silent time each day so that the inner work could be done, that her highest Self would help clear this block for her and give her strength for forgiveness. This is necessary. It does not happen in sleep and it does not happen when our mind is occupied with things of the world. In her case we talked about taking a daily walk in the beautiful nature of her area. She said that she would. This issue is of course endemic. When our egoic mind feels wronged it does not want to forgive. Of course this is not rational or logical for it is not possible to forget. We must forgive for if we do not we are a slave to our emotions. Forgiving our own self is even more important than forgiving others. We must. These three techniques work. If we practice them life will begin to unfold to us, our prison doors crack open. 1. Close your eyes, breath deeply then relax. Say, I forgive such and such, I forgive myself. Repeat for a minute or a few. 2. Pray to your highest Self or to God for release from unforgiveness. Ask for the power to forgive all including yourself. This is not a selfish prayer, it provides benefit to all. 3. Take at least thirty minutes per day, every day, in receptive silence. Make a routine of this. Take a nature walk or have a seated meditation session, or both. The inner work happens during this silence. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti May all know Peace
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 19:44:19 +0000