The Art of Forgiving

 

The Art of Forgiving

Throughout life we face situations which are good and not so good and the human mind is such that it invariably remembers the not so good with great clarity. In fact, even several years later the wounds of any traumatic incident can be opened by the triggering of some memory. We carry such wounds deep in our psyche. If we want to get out of this hurt, bad memory, recall bad memory get hurt again cycle then we need to learn to literally forgive and forget all people involved in that incident.

Invariably, we say we have forgiven so and so, but in reality, it does not happen, because the moment some incident triggers that memory you feel the pain all over again. What I have felt most useful is to forgive one’s own self. Because most of the time one carries the guilt of hurting someone or being the cause of some hurt but one never ends up forgiving oneself. The moment we forgive ourself at the soul level, we immediately feel lighter, like a load has been lifted off our shoulders.

Once we learn to forgive ourself it becomes easier to forgive others. The trick is not just forgiving at the physical level, one should learn to forgive at the soul level – only if you can learn to do that you will be true to the adage – forgive and forget. I am of the considered view that if you forgive and do not forget then the forgiving is superficial and the hurt remains in the psyche.

I have been practicing meditation for more than 12 years now and every day after meditation I offer a prayer forgiving everyone who may have knowingly or unknowingly hurt me and seeking forgiveness from those whom I may have hurt knowingly or unknowingly during the day. What this does, is that it keeps cleansing your heart and brow chakras and keeping them pure. This daily practice has helped me tremendously to remain unaffected by day-to-day activities and incidents. Many times, we say something which is interpreted wrongly by the other person and then he carries a grudge against me and I have no clue about it. When a person advances in meditation such kinds of grudges damage you at the subtle level, hence it becomes all the more important to forgive and seek forgiveness daily after meditation!