The Healing Power Of Forgiveness

Forgiveness breaks all bounds of repression and depression. It liberates the psyche from bondage to the past.

In fact, I would rank forgiveness as the essence of psychotherapy.

As human beings all our limitations arise from our psychic wounding. This wound has been either intentional or accidental, but it drains our vitality. In fact, if it has been grievous enough, it runs our whole life, and ruins it.

We are creatures designed to absorb and transmit love, and when an unloving act is foisted on us, when someone or something casts a shadow on our capacity to love, we bleed.

War zones, jails, and insane asylums are where the wounded gather. This is where society sends its broken souls. Those who regain their capacity to love will emerge from these places of grief. Those who remain bitter will forever be incarcerated in them, whether or not they have been physically freed.

Those who are whole and well are dedicated to their capacity to love. They cannot kill, hurt, injure or maim another because they have not lost their capacity to see themselves as the other. Ideals do not sway them to injure others, no matter how vaulted the traditions in which those ideals are espoused. No ideal transcends their ideal to be of love and service to their brethren.

The cure for overcoming psychic wounding is to forgive. When we forgive, we pardon; we express mercy; and we liberate our own kindness.

When you forgive, you give forth your power of love to heal the image, memory, or person that distorted your self-image and gave you the false belief that you have been diminished, disempowered, and disenfranchised.

It is the wounded who strike out and wound others. It is the shadow of their own pain that they cast upon others. It is their unlovingness that they extend out of their crippled psyche. They become conduits for the poison that they themselves despise.

All forms of malice, ill-will and cruelty, euphemized in the name of some lofty ideal, come forth from those who speak in the names of righteousness; the crucifixion of Christ could not have come about except for the distorted sense of what is right by the persecutors.

If an act is unloving, no ideal can justify it, for to wound another is to wound ourselves. We create pathos in our wake. We spill grief before us.

How to forgive the unforgivable? How to release the sword of ill-will thrust into our hearts? How to break free of the resentment that has bound our tormentors these many years?

You do it by simply understanding that to for give is a healing for you. It is breaking the karmic bonds. It is an act of self-loving. Forgiveness heals pity, brings reconciliation to that which is broken within, and makes healing possible.

An act of forgiveness can be silent. In fact, it has little to do with the other person. They may or may not feel the psychic release as you drop your smoldering anger, nourished over more years than you care to remember.

When you forgive, you release...you release yourself. You release your attachment to pain. You release your aversion to the act done to you. And when you do this, something magical happens. You set yourself free.

It is never about whether the other person or event deserves your forgiveness. It is about your going free from your own web of negativity. When you forgive, you staunch the bleeding. When you forgive, you open up your heart and regain your capacity to love. And when you learn to love, your life opens up like a glorious dream. The question, ultimately, is never whether you should or should not forgive...instead the question is always this: do you deserve to be happy right now by letting it go.

Resource Box

Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, Ca., 15 years ago and now resides in Denver, Colorado. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life

Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article.

---

As Above, SO Below

The 'As Above, So Below' law that is the combination... Read More

Where Are You, God?

Do you ever have one of those days when you... Read More

Higher Self: Growing Inside of Us

Maybe once in a lifetime, we find ourselves seeking spiritual... Read More

Angels on Assignment

Recently it has come to my attention people are noticing... Read More

Inner-Tubing With God: Understanding Gods Ways

It is so obvious that God works and thinks on... Read More

Are You Hooked to the Power Source?

As Christian's we are often very independent. We try to... Read More

Undercover Investigation

It is important and necessary that we regularly spend time... Read More

What Is The Spiritual Path?

For many years of my life, I thought the spiritual... Read More

Integrity and Spirituality

The concept of integrity has arisen often in discussions of... Read More

Terrorists Again - 14 Prayers to Protect Your Family

In the last 2 weeks or so, I have been... Read More

The One Who Heals

It's late. But it's usually those words that you cannot... Read More

Nurturing Your Spirit

Do you ever wonder about the other "YOU ?"The one... Read More

Can Moms Have a Quiet Time, Too?

Spending 'Quiet Time' with the LordFrom the beginning of my... Read More

Relationship Advice: What Bewitched Can Teach Us About Successful Relationships

Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell recently starred in the movie... Read More

Snowflakes

The human race had their beginning, and I had mine... Read More

Meta-Rational Thought

We, the human species, stand on the threshold of a... Read More

Do Feng Shui Remedies Really Work?

THE PREMISEFeng Shui is an ancient Chinese art that has... Read More

The Garden of Agony (Part 1)

Eden, the garden of ecstasy is no longer available to... Read More

Wanted: Floodlight Of Treasure To Undo The Works Of Darkness!

'Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours in a day?... Read More

Esoteric & Occult Secrets

To understand the nature of esoteric and occult secrets it... Read More

Why Keep a Journal

What purpose does keeping a journal serve?Do you write down... Read More

The Mystery of Purpose

Some men see things as they are and say, "Why?"... Read More

Living Successfully - Spiritual Answers for Modern Day Desires: Part 1

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me,... Read More

The Power of Myth to Transform Your Life

Irish myth has the power to transform your life into... Read More

Ancient Wisdom: Can it Still be Applied Today?

*Advice on living a humane and compassionate life.According to text... Read More

About Divine Communication - A Special Q & A

1. How can anyone receive direct communication from Divine Source,... Read More

Giving From the Heart

I thought for sometime that I was hard done bye... Read More

Abiding in the Word

How many Christian people do you know who are bearing... Read More

The Power of Angels -- An Interview With Rose Ann Schwab, Part Two

Rose Ann Schwab is an internationally and world renowned professional... Read More

New Hope For Global Peace

In a recent article entitled "Some Evidence of How We... Read More

Sing Psalms, Let Joy Resound: A Case For Exclusive Psalmody

Ephesians 4:4-6 indicates that Christians ought to practice one single... Read More

Its Always Divine

So I met a friend recently and we went to... Read More

Astrology & The Bible: Age of Aquarius

The normal Aquarian preoccupation with rational science is clearly seen... Read More