The power of forgiveness is a rich and wide terrain in our human psyche. Forgiveness has many dimensions, from forgiveness of a debt, to seeing that ultimately there is nothing to forgive, that our entire human journey is simply a shift in perception that returns us to our true Nature of compassion and understanding.
Here are some insights I have discovered about the nature of forgiveness:
- Forgiveness cannot be willed, forced or contrived because it does not come from the logic of the mind, but the understanding of the heart.
- Forgiveness happens on multiple levels and is usually experienced through layers and time.
- At the deepest level, forgiveness is not something we ‘do’, but an experience of grace that we receive.
- Forgiveness is a gift that responds to a sincere request and a willingness to release anger, blame and guilt.
- Forgiveness releases backwards and forwards in time, affecting us personally, ancestrally and collectively.
- Forgiveness is a dramatic shift in perception, one that releases us from the role of victim, into a greater capacity to be response – able.
- Forgiveness releases us from shame, guilt, anger and hatred because it reveals how we are, in our essence, the same and worthy of the grace of forgiveness.
- Forgiveness reveals the gifts that come directly from the apparent injury and allows us access them in ways that benefit both ourselves and others.
- Forgiveness releases us from the past, returns us to our essential innocence, and awakens a capacity for greater joy and aliveness.
- Ultimately all forgiveness is self-forgiveness and a direct path to access our Soul’s wisdom. When we commit to living in forgiveness, we stay out of the pain of the past and available for the love that is here, now.
Forgiveness is a practice, one that over time, reveals the essential sameness of our humanity. It shifts our perception from judgement to understanding and empowers us to see through the eyes of the heart, allowing everyone and everything to be, just as it is.