Forgiveness releases the condemnation that guilt has imposed and opens our mind to a way of thinking and seeing that is not dedicated to finding fault. In the most direct way possible it denies that the ego’s unworthy perception is true and offers the peace of acceptance in its place. Since it refuses to condemn, our natural union with one another can be remembered. Because of this, forgiveness is the fundamentally most important thing for us to practice.
Forgiveness is what accomplishes the whole complex business we call awakening. It is the practice of undoing our story that there is something wrong with us. It does take a lot of learning to understand why we think and behave the way we do, but once we have understood this, the way we actually change our beliefs is to make different choices and feel the different emotional feed-back we get from them. It is discovering and appreciating how good we feel when we respond to a loving impulse rather than one motivated by fear and guilt. That is the purpose of forgiveness; responding to someone or to our world in a loving way with an intention of joining with them. Creating a new experience entirely the opposite of our “normal” need to make someone wrong because we didn’t like ourselves very much.
Forgiveness is an attitude that dissolves all our thoughts of something being wrong in the desire just to love. It is the practice of making loving choices to find the freedom and happiness they bring. We have spent lifetimes developing the habit of condemning what is wrong—us—then making up stories that hide the truth about everyone. Practicing forgiveness now takes back our judgment and lets us experience what we had missed before.
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