I was contemplating this picture of the Kinkaku Temple in Kyoto, Japan sent by my beloved host daughter and wishing to be there surrounded by the serenity of the place when I received a call from an old friend. He was excited and astonished from what happened to him recently.
He said he has been reading about forgiveness and trying to practice it after being layoff twice. He was angry, depressed and holding little hope for his future. So he decided to give the book a chance and committed to perform the forgiveness ritual that was suggested there.
In most spiritual traditions there is a ritual of forgiveness, an important practice to sweep clear our path and open our hearts.
Without telling anyone he performed the ritual and was taken by surprised when a couple of days after performing it his previous boss called (first contact after four years!) to say hello and apologize for how things were handled during his first layoff.
He made me smiled when he said, “ I did not expect this, I opened the door to heal this wound and now I will have to talk with my previous boss, that is going to be the real challenge!”
Some people get mad at someone and get over it very quickly and others find offense in every little thing and wait for years to get revenge or feel a victim. I know some things are just so hard to overcome, but forgiveness is the key to overcome the sense of powerless.
In the words of Isabelle Moiland in The Long Search “As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy rent-free space in your mind”
Now that the harvesting season is starting, hope you will take a moment to reflect and let go of grudges that are holding you back.
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