Let's talk about forgiveness.

Definition? What is it? How does it work? How is it done and exercised?

but I think what you really are asking is -

How can this concept be implemented in a useful way that doesn't cause damage to the one doing the forgiving but instead liberates that person.

There is a difference between forgiveness and forgetting.  For myself, the concept of forgiveness means practicing what you preach.  If you strive to treat others with love and respect, this does not change if someone wrongs you.  If you hold onto the hate and anger, then you are moving away from being a loving person - it is just that simple.  Many intelligent, otherwise loving people don't get it.  They think that holding onto their feelings of anger somehow make them stronger.  But in truth, it pulls us down.

This is not to say that I believe in forgetting or allowing oneself to be victimized.  I don't.  I do now understand Jesus' direction to "turn the other cheek" if someone slaps you on one side, or to bless those who curse you.  It is a way of saying that you do not allow the hate to fester down in your gut and become part of you.  This brings you down in a spiritual sense.

Self defense can be part of a loving attitude, right thought and right action.  So in no way does forgiveness mean leaving yourself open to attack.  But forgiveness means that you don't let the attacker's negative energy enter into your consciousness. 

Forgiveness also goes hand in hand with a feeling of thankfulness and what some would call divine grace.  These emotions are ones often associated with the healing found in prayer groups, modern day miracles and the successful application of the law of attraction (like attracting like).

Matthew

  Well said DocM and B2.   Forgiveness is really just a specific form and reaction or application of pure, unconditional, universal love.

   When you forgive, you recognize and live the highest truth on this Earth, that you are a spiritual essence that cannot be harmed or made to be afraid from anything outside of you, and that you recognize and care about Oneness of the Whole.  What you really are is above all that is limiting in nature. 

Your body may be harmed, but YOU cannot be.  You love, because it is the nature of love to love and your essence was created out of love.

  Forgiveness is difficult for many here because one really has to step aside from self, one has to forget self.  Self is always what gets in the way.  I had lunch recently with a friend on a spiritual path, and he told me about a dream wherein a female voice led him into a dark room, then to an even darker room, and then to a pitch black room--in the last room the voice said, "this is self". 

   The most pure & powerful example in the entire human history of the power of forgiveness and attunement to PUUL is Yeshua's life and murder.  He forgot self, lost self in service to others and with full foreknowledge of the trials and tribulations he would have to go through. 

  However, he was not a door mat, nor just passive.  Occasionally he spoke up for and defended truth, but it wasn't about himself when he did so.   And there is a difference between actively and willingly self sacrificing for others/the Whole and just being passive or a human pin cushion for others. 

  Many in this world at times seem to "turn the other cheek", but are really just being passive or acting (really non acting) out of fear. 

Hi, this is great subject to explore and to talk about. Forgiveness is, IMO very abstract form or state of mind/awareness and difficult to grasp intellectually. Therefore, I'll rather talk about practical aspect of it, that is, about "how to exercise it".

In past years of my spiritual path, I have learned the necessity to implement any kind of desired state of mind, so to speak, into the physical or bodily "aspect of the self". What does this mean? It means that the best results were accomplished when exercised altogether in meditation and physically. For example, in order to deal with Forgiveness I saturate myself with the PUL. For instance, I meditate on PUL and in doing so, I get certain sensations which are unique and overwhelming. The meditation I use is an ancient Buddhist practice called "skeleton meditation". Here one needs to visualize his/her entire skeleton as in pure white light, starting from one foot, bone by bone (as one can in his/her best). The goal here is, with one's attention to - push the flow of the Chi through the entire body. But, instead of the Chi, I use the PUL (intending the PUL) and thus, overwhelm the entire skeleton (the body) with the PUL. This is very effective practice, let me tell you - it "holds" for the whole day - you feel like in a state of bliss, very ease, relaxed and the Self-love is very well felt. After this meditation I do some psychical practice (or sometimes I do it before, no rule here) and implement the feeling (which I got in meditation) as I remembered it into these bodily movements (usually hatha yoga). The energy released within tension and relaxation sequences provides some sort of "stamping" of the PUL feeling into my entire body and mind, causing some sort of completeness (Oneness). The way to implement the PUL feeling into exercises is also through intending or sometimes - just visualizing the PUL sensation into the part of the body which has been stretched or treated. Of course, breathing comes as an important part in saturating myself with the PUL - like inhaling and exhaling It.

This saturation brings very interesting state of awareness which is very difficult to describe. It's like one is entirely filled with the flow of PUL which creates high dose of Self-confidence (I like to say that Self-confidence is the same as Self-love - identical) and some sort of certainty into oneself - loosing the fear. The perspective of the reality around you changes a lot, as well It even goes into the position that you don't understand negativity, hate, revenge, any sorts of bad, you name it. It's like in those movies when alien comes and cannot understand aggressive behavior in humans - it's just not in his dictionary, vocabulary in any data he ever got in his life. It seems as if you loose these negative emotional feelings, like they leave your body and mind alone! So, in this condition, Forgiveness seems not very hard to achieve - it comes naturally - we only need to allow it. I'd like to mention that it reflects itself out on your everyday life, very much. I work with people a lot and I noticed their behavior is different, like they sense what I feel and in some way it affects them, too.                         


I came into understanding that the main problem in Forgiveness is lack of the Self-love and there are many ways to practice this. But, for me, the best way is to contemplate about it in some deep relaxed manner and to implement the knowledge from that experience into bodily exercises - very important! You can say I drug myself with the PUL, lol

Also, I'd like to recommend some excellent practices by these authors:
First one is David Elliott, he has fantastic breathing exercise, extremely simple and extremely effective! One gets immediate results of understanding the idea of Self-love after only 7 minutes of this simple breath. Here, you can download it for free on his website:

http://www.davidelliott-healing.com/trhBook2PDF.asp

I also recommend his book "Healing" which is also free to download, an excellent book!

The other author which I like is Hew Len, a Hawaiian with very simple practice to do daily in order to saturate oneself with Self-love and Forgiveness (he calls it cleaning, but it's very evident what's it all about). You can watch this interview (9 parts) where this ancient Hawaiian method called "Ho'oponopono" is explained very good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL972JihAmg

Neno

       

Thank you, all. 

I was initially reluctant to put in my own post on this subject - I'm unsure why - but now I have decided to do so.

Some years ago when I was going out of body regularly, I often had an escort who showed me around and gave me lessons on various subjects. One of the first subjects I was given lessons on was forgiveness. At the time I wasn't much interested in learning about things I thought were soft and mushy. I preferred to know about what I thought were the more manly occult subjects. But I accepted that lessons on the soft and mushy stuff went along with the other, and so I studied the lessons on forgiveness too. I came to realise that the teachings on forgiveness were the most crucial and important of all, both in overall truth and for my own personal growth. The lessons on forgiveness were many - on the nature of its substance and qualities, its purpose, and what it does, its potential. I am still digesting and assimilating those lessons today, over 20 years later.

I learnt that in essence forgiveness is no different from love, in fact it is love. It is love put to use where love is most needed, most required. And love is the heartfelt wish that another/others learn and grow with a minimal of suffering.

Forgiveness has the ability to absorb and nullify all other energies. This quality is its most incredible feature, and is what gives forgiveness its vast potential.

Although I have had lessons on the ability of forgiveness to nullify other energies, and have seen and experienced demonstrations of how it works, and have meditated often and deeply upon its mysteries, I am still barely able to fathom and accommodate its understanding. Forgiveness is so simple and huge at the same time. I feel so dwarfed and such a beginner when I think of forgiveness.  

Here are some definitions of forgiveness that I was given to help my understanding. Perhaps they will help others too.

1. Forgiveness is love regardless.
2. Forgiveness is that part of love we can direct to things distasteful.
3. Forgiveness enables us to love in all directions.
4. Forgiveness is what gives us no excuse to not love everyone. 

I was advised to meditate upon the definitions (gently ponder upon them), first in thought and mind, getting a mental sense of the shape and meaning of the definition; and then also in feeling and heart, getting a heartfelt sense of the energy, the substance. And then to put the learning into practice in my daily life.

For me, forgiveness was first comprehended in the mind, along with love, for love and forgiveness are one, then the heart was moved to accommodate the mind's understanding and to do its corresponding part of giving forth the forgiveness energy. Or so it was for me; other people might learn in the heart first, and next in the mind, I am not sure.

For me, forgiveness is directed by the mind, and known in and extended from the heart, and facilitated/moved with the breath/breathing. It comes in through the crown and out through the heart. It is not ours, but God's. It needs exercise and practice of course. Including tests and trials. 

Forgiveness is not an effort, but a switch. The effort can be in our approach to that switch and in our moving to throw the switch. But once thrown, there is no effort, for the forgiveness does itself. It is just a matter of remaining open to it, in alignment/attunement with it.

There was more about its workings and applications, but I think that is the essentials of what I was taught about it. I hope it helps someone/s.

crossbow

I have just returned from the walk, across the fields. My dog came too. It is nighttime here, and overcast clouds, no moon, no stars. Just the dull light from a small town twelve kilometres away reflecting off the overcast clouds. It reminded me that sometimes in life our sun forsakes us, clouds fill our mind, the moon and stars go away too, and we must walk by the light provided by our fellow man. Though others may reveal the landscape, still though, we walk our own path, and make our own judgements and choices - we must still find our own way.

I have been assisted by others recently, during a period when my own inner light has been obscured. I am thankful.