This material world is like the prison house of God; souls who have turned their backs towards him have been put here. So, we cannot expect the people of this world to behave like Saints. There will always be persons who will come to cheat us, and on some occasions, they may even succeed. That is life; we all get cheated once in a while. But the important thing is to learn to take it in our stride. That is where the quality of forgiveness comes in.
If we continue to harbor resentment towards those who have wronged us, we will be unable to progress spiritually. Resentment acts like a poison on the mind, filling it with bitterness. And we keep reliving the sour experience within, pinned down to the past. Someone aptly said: "Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
On the spiritual path, we must be careful not to nurture ill feelings towards anyone, realizing that they will harm us more than anyone else. Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says:
भूलिहुँ दुर्भावना कहुँ, हो न सपनेहुँ प्यारे। (साधना करू प्यारे )
"Even in your dreams, do not make the mistake of harboring ill-will towards anyone."
Forgiveness is a sublime personality trait that immediately releases all bitterness from the mind. It is a favor we do, not to the other person, but to ourselves. The lives of saintly people are full of inspiring stories of how they forgave their wrongdoers, and even succeeded in winning them over by their love.
A person made an attempt on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, while he was living in South Africa. Mahatma Gandhi refused to hate the man. He said, "I shall love him, and win his love." One year later, that same man came and apologized to before Mahatma Gandhi, and wept for forgiveness. This is the characteristic of great personalities; they refuse to allow their minds to dwell on hatred towards anyone.
Beautiful teaching by Swamiji. Forgiveness is a sublime personality trait that immediately releases all bitterness from the mind. It is a favor we do, not to the other person, but to ourselves.Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
ReplyDeleteI agree..So true!!
DeleteWe should not have resentmemt towards any body because it not going to harm anybody but our own mind. So we should forgive to release all bitterness from our mind.
ReplyDeleteVery true.
DeleteIt is absolutely necessary to keep our mind pure in spiritual path . Foriveness is a primary requirement for a sadhak.
DeleteAs we walk the path of spirituality, we face many oppositions. We need to have the virtue of forgiveness to move ahead. Swamiji is blessing us with the most important virtue we need to posses as a spiritual aspirant.
ReplyDeleteForgiveness is a sublime personality trait that immediately releases all bitterness from the mind. If we keep resentment in our heart then it will only stop our spiritual progress. Resentment acts like a poison on the mind.
ReplyDeleteRadhe Radhe
ReplyDeleteIll-will is upset to our mind and it is obstruction to the path of devotion.
ReplyDeleteIn his lectures on the Seven Mindsets, Swamiji noted that in addition to hurting the person who harbors resentment, it also is a cause for physical ailments like arthritis.
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ReplyDeleteBeautiful piece of knowledge that we must be careful not to nurture ill feelings towards anyone, realizing that they will harm us more than anyone else !!
ReplyDeleteTrue. Resentment acts like poison for the person harbouring that sentiment. This can be realized from our own personal experience.
DeleteInteresting blog. It is such a relief to us if we forgive someone. Because bad feelings against anyone keep haunting us and in turn harm our spiritual progress.
ReplyDeleteWe have to be careful not to nurture ill feelings towards anyone, realizing that they will harm us more than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful article! Thanks Swamiji.
ReplyDeleteForgiveness is a virtue that helps us keep our mind in peace and grow on the path of Bhakti.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful article.
Shri Krishna who is living inside our heart also experiences all the negative feelings we harbor. Remembering this will help us make our heart fitting for His presence.
ReplyDeleteForgiving everyone who has tried to hurt us thinking that "God resides in the heart of everyone and we love God, no matter what HE does" is the best way to get peace of mind. Very nice article!
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