However, easy forgiveness requires a shift in the way we view the world. We have to stop thinking about the world from the same perspective we've seen it from all of our lives. We have to let go of a world where "me" and "them" are two different things.
In order to forgive easily, we need to see the world as a place where we are split off from our normal home in the Oneness of God. We are here to learn some lessons and purify, but our real home is with God. In our real home, we all live in perfect bliss, forever.
When we come here to earth, it's set up so that we forget everything about our true reality. Then we start to get all caught up in the illusions that make up our lives on earth. We start to want things. First we want toys and playmates, but later we want houses and cars and relationships. We might want success, fame, power or glory. Wanting these things can set us at odds with other people. Often, one person wrestles these things away from someone else. One of us wins, and one of us loses.
When we lose, we can feel hurt, angry or fearful. When we win, we feel guilty, although some of us are not aware of this in our every day consciousness. Rest assured, however, that whenever we win at the expense of someone else, we create guilt deep in our sub-consciousness. We all have mountains of this guilt hidden deep in our minds and it is the source of our real anxiety, worry and fear.
In reality, we're all the same, each of us created exactly in God's image and loved infinitely by him. God wants us to know this about each other. The way we do this is through our forgiveness.
When we forgive, we drop our earthly view of the person we are forgiving and we see their higher truth. We know them as God's beloved son. We recognize that if God loves them unconditionally, then they are truly worthy of our love, too.
Of course, in the beginning, this is not always easy. It takes practice to get good at this. What happens, however, as we start to forgive others, is that we find that we feel so much better afterward. Over time, we realize that we can feel better NOW, if we will only let it go, shift our perspective and see the higher truth of our trespasser.
Another benefit of forgiveness is that as we begin to forgive the people and the world around us, that horrible guilt that has been building up in our sub-consciousness is dissipated. Over time, through our weeks, months and years of forgiveness, a significant release of this guilt occurs and we find our lives become peaceful and happy, even blissful.
If you are just starting out with forgiveness, try this beautiful forgiveness process from Lesson 68 in the Workbook from A Course of Miracles.
As a beginner, I would recommend that you not start out with the most difficult forgiveness task in your life. Rather, select the people who are only mildly annoying you, people who are not wreaking major damage to your life. Let's go for success and ease this first time out of the box!
"Think of the minor grievances you hold against those you like and even those you love. It will quickly become apparent that there is no one against whom you do not cherish grievances of some sort. This has left you alone in all the universe in your perception of yourself.
Determine now to see all these people as friends. Say to them all, thinking of each one in turn as you do so:
I would see you as my friend, that I may remember you are part of me and come to know myself.
Think of yourself as completely at peace with everyone and everything, safe in a world that protects you and loves you, and that you love in return. Try to feel safety surrounding you, hovering over you and holding you up. Try to believe, that nothing can harm you in any way. Tell yourself:
Love holds no grievances. When I let all my grievances go I will know I am perfectly safe."
What about the people who do real damage to our lives...how do we forgive them? Obviously, serious injuries require serious forgiveness work. In my book, "Forgiveness is the Key to Happiness", there are many forgiveness processes explained. There is a process that works on any problem in your life. Rest assured, however, that even serious forgiveness work can become easy and pleasurable. And the rewards of living a steady forgiveness habit are simply too fabulous to pass up!
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