“Forgive and forget – for forgiveness is divine!”
Remember, forgiveness does you good! For while we are on earth, forgiveness contributes to our own inner well-being.
In fact, by refusing to forgive and forget, we will harm ourselves irreparably, walking the path of spiritual death. On the other hand, the person who forgives, enters a new life of gentle peace and quiet inner joy. I always emphasise that forgiveness is its own reward: it is the forgiver rather than the forgiven, who receives the greater benefit.
No negative emotion is ever appeased by indulgence – it demands more and more until it consumes you with anger, revenge and retaliation. The more you feed them, the more they will destroy your peace of mind.
Forgiveness is the cement that binds families together, it is a known fact that we are most hurt by those who are nearest and dearest to us. The pain and hurt caused by others can be brushed aside or even ignored; but when someone you have loved, someone who you have grown up with, someone you have eaten with, laughed with and played with hurts you – it’s very painful indeed!
But even this pain can be healed with the soothing balm of forgiveness, can it not?
Forgiveness sets us free – free from remaining victims of the past, free from anger and hatred; above all, it frees us from the burden of expectation, of wanting anything in return for what we have had to go through.
Forgiveness is not weakness, or passivity. It requires spiritual strength. So far from leaving us weak and vulnerable, it actually empowers us to lead a more meaningful life. It helps us to overcome the vicious cycle of resentment and revenge and enter the realms of unity, peace and harmony.
Forgiving others is not a favour you confer upon them; it is a freedom that you permit yourself, so that you may be free and easy in your own mind.
“The ‘F’ of forgiveness is freedom”. Forgiveness sets us free from the hurts which otherwise would continue to afflict us, for as long as memory lasts.
“Freshness, energy and well-being are as much a matter of the mind as of the body, when the mind is open and positive, weariness cannot affect you.”
(Dada J.P. Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.)
