Hello,
Lovely one.
I'm delighted you're here.
Welcome here.
Thank you so much for joining me for this practice.
The world really needs for people to practice.
And practicing what?
You may be wondering.
What are we really doing here,
People?
Well,
Each time we take our seats,
We're undertaking the vow of no harm.
We're entering into a space of goodwill.
We're connecting to a very wholesome vibration,
One of goodness.
So we're doing a lot.
And there's many forms and techniques and mindfulness practices that can help support all of these important actions.
But one in particular is that of forgiveness.
When we can forgive truly and genuinely,
We are releasing ourselves from the emotional burdens we often carry without realizing it.
We are essentially taking or making the commitment to do no harm.
So there's many different ways that we can cultivate forgiveness.
But I thought I'd offer a practice that is a hybrid between an ancient practice and also something simple that we can do with or without this recording.
We don't need a lot of time to practice forgiveness.
It can be done in a matter of moments.
But since this is a formal practice,
I am going to suggest you finding a position for this practice.
I know some other teachers like to use the invitation of assuming your meditation posture,
Finding a comfortable seat.
Maybe as a way to initiate this practice,
This heart-centered practice is to place your hand on your heart and it doesn't have to stay there.
And it doesn't have to be over your physical heart or it could be the center of your chest or even just on your solar plexus,
Somewhere on the core of your body.
Just so there can be that sense of awareness there and also inclining towards a kindness and the quality of compassion,
Of care.
So the first part of this practice is really this very basic offering of forgiveness.
So what I'm going to invite is for the next minute,
All you need to do is to continue to repeat the phrases or the phrase,
I should say,
I forgive you.
If you have someone specifically in mind,
You can bring them to mind or you can simply leave it open,
That space open and notice whoever comes into awareness,
Into that place in your mind and heart.
And you can simply repeat the phrase and offer,
I forgive you,
I forgive you and see if it can come from a really heart-centered place within.
So let's begin offering forgiveness to whoever it is that we maybe knowingly need to forgive or unknowingly.
I forgive you.
I forgive you.
I forgive you.
I forgive you.
I forgive you.
I forgive you.
Letting go of any anger or resentment you may feel towards someone who may have wronged you in the past,
Knowingly or unknowingly.
And now we're going to explore what it's like to ask for forgiveness,
To be at the receiving end of forgiveness.
So similarly,
Repeating the words,
Please forgive me.
Again,
If there's someone in particular that you would like to ask for forgiveness,
You can bring them to mind.
If not,
You can leave that space open and see who walks through the door,
The heart.
Please forgive me.
Please forgive me.
Please forgive me.
Ensuring that your words carry weight and that they're coming from deep within,
From this genuine place that really wants to be recognized and wants to take responsibility for any hurt or harm that you may have caused another being in the past.
Knowingly or unknowingly.
Please forgive me.
Now,
Let's take a few moments just to rest in this space of an open heart.
A place where maybe we have a greater sense of the heart's capacity to forgive,
To let go.
To build upon this exercise,
I'm going to offer now a more traditional phrase of forgiveness,
Starting with another.
It may be helpful,
Again,
If there's someone in particular to bring to mind,
To bring them to mind,
To bring them forth.
Gently visualizing an image of them and saying these words for the many ways in which I've harmed or caused suffering to you out of my own pain and suffering.
Unknowingly or knowingly,
I ask for your forgiveness.
Please forgive me.
So,
For the many ways in which I may have harmed or caused suffering to you out of my own pain and suffering,
Unknowingly or knowingly,
I ask for your forgiveness.
Please forgive me.
And now,
Offering that forgiveness by repeating the supporting phrase,
For the many ways in which you may have harmed or caused me to suffer from your own pain and suffering,
Knowingly or unknowingly,
I offer you forgiveness.
I forgive you.
I forgive you.
For the many ways in which I've been harmed or caused to suffer by your own pain and suffering,
Unknowingly or knowingly,
I offer you forgiveness.
I forgive you.
I forgive you.
So,
Simply allowing the heart to do whatever the heart does.
We're not forcing anything here.
It's a very gentle,
Loving invitation to release any resentment from the heart or to even release any shame or guilt that we may carry from our unskillful actions.
And lastly,
It's a value to take a moment to offer ourselves forgiveness.
So,
As if we're looking directly at ourselves,
Can we take this opportunity to acknowledge all the ways in which we've maybe caused harm to ourself?
Out of our own pain and suffering,
Knowingly or unknowingly.
Can we offer ourselves forgiveness?
I forgive you.
I personally love using terms of endearment.
So,
You say,
I forgive you,
Honey.
I forgive you,
Sweet one.
I forgive you.
For the final few moments of this practice,
Maybe shifting the attention to that of the whole body,
Feeling that sense of embodiment and discovering the compassion and wisdom that's there.
Maybe leaning into any feelings of release and noticing the impact,
The positive impact this practice has had within your own inner landscape of the body,
Heart,
And mind.
And abiding in this quality of forgiveness as letting it be known,
However it's manifesting in your own being in this moment.
Embracing any ease it may bring,
An easing of the heart,
An easing of the pain.
And if those phrases of forgiveness keep coming up,
Of just the simple,
I forgive you,
I forgive you,
Or please forgive me,
They just spontaneously appear in the space of awareness.
Just nurturing them.
Acknowledging them.
And holding yourself and all ones forgiven and all the ones that we've asked for forgiveness,
Holding them dear,
Holding them with care.
Wishing all hearts to be free from unnecessary burden,
Resentment,
And anger,
Ill will.
May we all experience the peace and liberation that comes from having a fiercely forgiving heart.
Thank you,
Dear one,
For your practice.
It's deeply impactful.
