Passages from October's book "Alchemy of the Heart" deal with healing the heart. This section of the book begins with some important lessons about forgiveness.
Healing your heart begins with mercy - giving compassion to others, giving compassion to ourselves. It begins with affirming that we are masters of our destiny. No matter what we have done, no matter what we have experienced, we can rise above ourselves. We can learn to control the creative energy that flows through our hearts.
If we refuse to forgive someone who wrongs us, even if he wrongs us again and again, we bind ourselves to that person. "By everything you cannot give," André Gide said, "you become possessed. The person we refuse to forgive, the person we are angry with, becomes our master. No matter how hard we try to go in a certain direction, we only get as far as the cord of unresolvedness lets us go - and it is usually a very short cord. The cord is short because our soul is inevitably drawn back to the incident to restore harmony and come to resolution.
Therefore, people who end up in their graves without having made peace with their adversaries are in for a surprise when they arrive on the other side. They will discover that if we do not let go of our resentment, anger or vindictiveness, we will have to reincarnate with the same people again and again, until we learn to love. So deep-rooted vendettas΄ between families and even nations, do not just go back generations; they can go back centuries, or even lifetimes. The feud continues with no end in sight, until they are forgiven.
The issue of forgiveness confuses many of us because we have been erroneously taught that forgiveness erases the offense or crime. We think that when we ask forgiveness for something we have done, or when we forgive someone, that that is the end of the matter and that we have no other responsibility. But forgiveness is not the same as remission. We are still obligated to take full responsibility for our actions.
When God forgives us, our negative karma (or sin) is sealed for some time. It is as if God removes His package of karma from our necks so that we have time to follow the path of self-mastery and prepare to pass the exam when it comes by again. And it will pass again. When we finally pass the test, we can be promoted to the next level of spiritual mastery.This is how the universe works. When we lose our self-control or get angry, we are tested again on the formula of patience and forgiveness. The test may come under different circumstances or it may come as a repetition of the same scenario with the same players. Either way, we will have to show how much love and forgiveness we can handle the situation with in order to heal ourselves and others.
As you treat others, so you will be treated. God grants us forgiveness to the same extent that we grant the mercy of our hearts to others. And if we do not forgive, mercy will be withheld from us. So the greatest danger of the merciless heart, is that it harms the one who possesses it.
Although we forgive someone, it does not mean we approve of their harmful actions. But it does mean that we can let go of our sense of injustice, and let God handle the situation. When, where and how, is God's business - "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:19).
The most important person to forgive is often yourself. Sometimes we think we are not worthy of that forgiveness. We look at our human side, and we say we're just not good enough. But we are not here to perfect our human side. We are here to release our own inner greatness, and bring out the full potential of our spiritual selves. Each of us has made mistakes, and it is necessary for us to get in touch with the pain we may have caused others. It is necessary to feel, with the full sensitivity of our heart, the repentance that convinces our soul never to hurt another part of life in that way again. But it is also necessary to get over it.No matter what mistakes we made, we did the best we could, in that moment. Now is the time to forgive ourselves, move on with our lives, and keep our eye on the immeasurable spiritual potential we have within. All of us possess that potential, but we have not always accepted it.
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