Forgiveness

Imagine vividly a situation where you have acted badly, one about which you feel guilty, and about which you wince to even think of it.

Then, as you breathe in, accept total responsibility for you actions in that particular situation, without in any way trying to justify your behavior. Acknowledge exactly what you have done wrong, and wholeheartedly ask for forgiveness. Now, as you breathe out, send out reconciliation, forgiveness, healing, and understanding.

So you breathe in blame, and breathe out the undoing of harm, you breathe in responsibility, breathe out healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

This exercise is particularly powerful and may give you the courage to see the person whom you have wronged, and the strength and willingness to talk to him or her directly and actually ask for forgiveness from the depths of your heart.

Glimpse After Glimpse

Sogyal Rinpoche

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The forgiveness principle is the most powerful meditation principle to practice I know of. It is powerful because I know I have neither the willingness nor the courage to humble myself in such a manner but, time and time again, I have been relieved of the burden of guilt by simply breathing it in and breathing forgiveness out. I now have a situation that requires of me to let go of an ages’ old resentment. Yet, I can’t. Even to think of it roils old passions. I have been forgiven and forgave years ago; but, Father’s Day brought it all up once more the past two years. I can’t ask forgiveness and I can’t forgive.

         I can’t stand myself for feeling this way and I also feel like such a hypocrite when I sit to meditate or when I try to express anything along spiritual lines. The situation is such that even to try to ask forgiveness face to face would appear to be stalking and there are laws against that.

So I breathe it in… the responsibility for my part… no blame or justifications… and breathe out healing, forgiveness, understanding, and recognize that I don’t even want reconciliation at this point. I just want the suffering to go away... to stop.

            The message I get from this sitting is a simple one: “Walk through it… the Heart of Compassion is always with you through the valley and shadow of death.”

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