Today we're going to perform a brief forgiveness meditation.
So anytime you have a small moment of hurt,
Anger,
At someone else's actions,
You can listen to this meditation to start to allow yourself understanding and forgiveness.
Because holding on to the anger and the hurt is only hanging on to a cold that is going to hurt you.
So let's begin.
Get into a comfortable position and go ahead and close your eyes.
With your eyes closed,
Let's first bring up a really happy,
Positive memory.
Search in your mind for something that you really have a lot of gratitude and love for.
This may be hard if you're currently feeling the hurt,
But look around and direct your attention until you find one.
When you have found that memory,
Bring it close,
Make it big,
As if you're reliving the memory.
A time in which you felt safe,
Loved,
Cared about.
And let that memory wash over you.
Let the joy,
The kindness,
The generosity,
Let yourself feel whatever it is you felt that day in that moment.
Breathe it in,
Breathing deeply.
And then,
Allow yourself to send those emotions back out to that memory.
Have love,
Have kindness,
Have gratitude for those emotions and for that memory.
And for that memory,
Send it back outwards.
And then,
I would like you to pull up the person you experienced the hurt from,
Whether they were a stranger or a loved one.
To the best of your ability,
Pull up a picture of them.
As clear as if they were standing right in front of you.
And I want you to hold them in your heart and in your mind's eye.
You don't have to let go of the hurt,
You don't have to fight it.
At this moment,
Simply be there with them.
Feel them,
Allow them,
Sit with them,
And all of your emotions if need be.
But then,
Because it's close to hand,
Take all of that love and kindness you had from the first memory and bring it towards yourself first.
Let that love,
Let that kindness,
Let that gratitude sit with you.
Try to hold the person in the same space.
Try to hold the person in the same space as you hold yourself with your love,
With your own kindness.
And then look at the person again,
And try to see them in a new light.
See if you can see them feeling hurt.
Them feeling lost.
Them feeling scared.
Them feeling confused.
The same emotions that you feel,
They feel.
See if you can see them feeling those emotions just now.
And let the compassion,
And let the compassion that naturally begins to show,
Spread to them.
The resonance with your hurt and their hurt,
Your fear and their fear.
Allow yourself to send it to your image of them.
To first see them as a human,
Just like you.
Who makes mistakes,
Who feels hurt,
Who feels overwhelmed and lost.
And allow yourself to recognize that shared humanity.
And now,
I want you to bring up the moment of hurt.
Whether it was a small comment,
A boundary pushed,
Letting you down,
A loss,
A promise broken.
Bring that memory forward.
And first,
Don't resist.
Allow the anger.
Allow the frustration.
Allow the hurt.
The guilt.
The shame.
The fear.
Allow it to wash over you without resistance.
And breathe.
Don't forget to breathe and feel it.
We don't often allow ourselves to feel these emotions.
And that's part of what we can't forgive.
That we feel that their actions caused in us something we don't want to feel.
So if we can allow ourselves to feel it.
To welcome it.
Some of the hurt falls away.
Some of the hurt falls away.
And then,
Once again,
Call forward that memory.
The love,
The kindness,
The gratitude.
All that you can bring to it.
And give it to yourself.
Give yourself.
The kindness in the face of your hurt.
The love in the midst of your fear.
The gratitude and compassion in the face of your loss.
And allow yourself to feel,
Without resistance,
Both the hurt and the love at the same time.
And then,
Finally,
Take this same feeling,
The duality,
The uncomfortable and the positive,
The hurt and the love,
The kindness and the fear,
And bring the scene back into your mind.
The scene of hurt.
And see if,
Once again,
You can see this person with new eyes.
Can you see what you couldn't see then?
Their own hurt.
Their own fear.
Their own frustration.
Their own loss.
With your practice,
Allow their emotions to wash over you.
To see how they were really feeling.
And give them the same gift that you gave yourself.
See their hurt and respond with compassion.
See their fear and respond with kindness.
See their anger and respond with love.
Because they are human and you are human and you both feel you feel deeply what's going on inside.
You don't need to justify or rationalize their actions.
You only need to feel the way that they have felt.
And in that moment,
You understand.
And you forgive.
You forgive them for their feelings and you allowed it.
And you allow the feelings to happen in you.
You welcome them.
You allow them.
And then there's nothing to forgive.
Simply a feeling that's allowed.
And when it's allowed,
It comes to pass.
Now take 30 more seconds to simply feel into everything that has changed.
If there are emotions that haven't been resolved,
Allow them to come to the surface and repeat the practice.
And if you struggled to allow yourself the love and kindness and compassion,
You can find our direct loving kindness meditation and practice so that you can come back to forgive.
Thank you and thank yourself.
Take one last deep breath and release everything you held with you today.
Before you can go ahead when you're ready and open your eyes.
