Forgiveness....

FORGIVENESS....

In life, we will, no doubt come across people who harm us, irritate us, annoy us, trouble us, cheat us, etc. It will, of course, generate in us a dislike or even hatred for such people. At times we want to be vindictive and get back at them. Being vengeful doesn't help. It will be foolishness and disastrous.

A former inmate of a Nazi concentration camp was visiting a friend who had shared the ordeal with him.

"Have you forgiven the Nazis?" he asked his friend.

"Yes."

"Well, I haven't. I'm still consumed with hatred for them."

"In that case," said his friend gently, "they still hold you in the concentration camp."

Our enemies are not those who hate us, but those whom we hate.

We tend to think of those whom we hate more often than those whom we love. In fact those whom we hate occupy a rent-free space in our hearts! 

Hatred will only perpetuate our karma bandhana (kaarmik bondage) with those whom we hate. It may continue over several lives until at some point in time we mutually decide to bury the hatchet, forgive each other, and make our kaarmik balance sheet zero. Even in this very life we can pray to grant us grace to remove hatred from our hearts for those whom we hate. At least from our side, mentally we should sincerely forgive them and nullify our kaarmik bondage with them. For a vast majority of us it will be extremely difficult to love such people, but we can very well maintain an attitude of indifference towards them. An attitude of indifference doesn't cause any kaarmik bondage. 

Remember, if we have hatred for any entity, even for a moment, even in our dream, it impedes our progress on the spiritual path.  

Having anger in our minds for all those who have wronged us causes us more harm in terms of physical and psychological health.       

Forgiveness is the best antidote for anger. When we forgive, we are freeing ourselves from the toxicity of anger which affects both our body and our mind. "kshamaa veerasya bhushana" says a Sanskrit Subhash*taani (wise saying). It means "forgiveness is the ornament / quality of the brave or the valiant". Forgive from the position of strength, not weakness, helplessness or cowardice. Forgive, but beware of people taking your forgiving nature for granted. Be guarded against people taking advantage of you.

One tree makes 1 Lakh matchsticks. 
But one matchstick can burn 1 Lakh trees. 
Similarly one negative thought or doubt can burn thousands of dreams and can be disastrous… 

Be Positive Always!!!