Look, it’s spring. And last year’s loose dust has turned into this soft willingness. The wind-flowers have come up trembling, slowly the brackens are up-lifting their curvaceous and pale bodies. The thrushes have come home, none less than filled with mystery, sorrow, happiness, music, ambition.
And I am walking out into all of this with nowhere to go and no task undertaken but to turn the pages of this beautiful world over and over, in the world of my mind.
* * *
Therefore, dark past,
I’m about to do it.
I’m about to forgive you
for everything.
– Mary Oliver from What Do We Know, Poems and Prose Poems
Why is letting go so difficult? We often hold on to hurt and carry it forward without processing it fully. Sometimes, we hold on to the charge that pain, resentment and anger carry long after those feelings themselves have already dissipated. Ghosts of our past sit as heavy backpacks on our shoulders and take up a vast amount of our mental space. They bear silent testimony to how challenging it is to embrace impermanence – i.e., accepting that all things change.
What creates these shackles that hold us hostage? Attachment (in the form of greed, lust, clinging), which, as the Buddha has explained, is a poison and the source of much of our suffering. Equally, there is the fear of letting go. Not knowing who we would be without our stories – without our pain, or without our anxiety – can be scary because it pulls the rug from beneath our feet.
Yet, if we want to cherish the beauty of this life and allow all that is good to flow our way, we have to exorcise that pain. How do we do that? Through forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a very essential part of letting go, of putting down our burdensome emotional backpacks. When we release the hurt and heaviness of our past, we become free. “The reason angels can fly is because they are so light.” (something I read somewhere that has since stayed with me).
Dr. Fred Luskin, Director of Stanford University Forgiveness Project offers a wise reminder, “A life well lived is your best revenge”. Instead of focusing on our wounded feelings, we could learn to look for the love, beauty, and kindness around us. We could put more energy into appreciating what we have rather than focusing on what we don't. The expansiveness that results allows us to cultivate much-needed spaciousness in our minds which in turn allows us to lovingly process the pain we're carrying (with more ease) and integrate the spiritual lessons embedded within.
Courageously embracing an emotional reckoning of our past gives us the opportunity to free ourselves of anything that keeps us from living our lives to their full potential in the present and creates room for many future possibilities (that would otherwise go unnoticed) to unfold, as we are able to take in a wider view.
The motivational speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer put it so well: "Forgive yourself and welcome love back into your life."
...Therefore dark past, I'm about to do it...
Give yourself a pat on the back today. For you have made the heroic and loving choice to forgive.
No registration required. Please save the link where you can access it readily.
The sessions are based on the book, A Truthful Heart by Jeffrey Hopkins, former translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This is an invitation to deepen our understanding of Equality and Compassion.
Kabir Ji was born to an English mother and an Indian father and raised in both Delhi and London, attending Oxford University. He has a degree in Modern History.
He met his main teachers Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1979 and has been living and working in FPMT Centres almost ever since, including helping to establish Root Institute and serving as its Director for many years, before being ordained as a monk in 2002. He is currently the Spiritual Programme Coordinator at Tushita Delhi.
Cultivating Wisdom & Compassion
Guided Meditation led by Venerable Aileen | Every Saturday at 10:00 am IST |
No registration required. Please save the link where you can access it readily.
Venerable Aileen has been following Tibetan Buddhist practice since she first visited India in 1994 on her way from Ireland to Australia, where she currently resides. She became a nun 15 years ago, and served as Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo's assistant for eight years, while living at her Nunnery in India.
Prior to coming to India, Aileen was one of the core team responsible for bringing His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Australia, traveling with His Holiness across Australia for three of his visits there. She served as a Chaplain within the prison system for many years and comes from a background of social work. She likes leading meditation sessions because it gives her a chance to meditate.
The audio recordings from all the meditation sessions, including guided forgiveness practices organised by Dharma Rain are available on our website. https://www.dharmarain.org/resources
Other Online Offerings—
Kabir Ji is also teaching on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 6:30 pm – 7.45 pm, Wednesdays at 6:00 pm and on Sundays at 11:00 am.
Write to us for access details.
