GONG So just taking a posture that is supportive of being quiet and looking inward.
And taking a few breaths,
A few conscious breaths,
Just to settle the body.
Check in and just see how are you doing.
You can ask yourself,
How am I doing right now?
And just know,
No judgment or assessment,
Just to notice how it is for you right in this moment.
Breathing,
Sitting or standing or lying down or walking or driving.
And then think about something that you've done or you've said could be at work,
Could be at home,
Really any part of your life.
And let's work with something small to start and something that you would like to forgive yourself for.
Or if you say,
Oh,
Something I'd like to forgive myself for and then the thought arises,
I don't want to forgive myself.
Just smile at that.
Something that you know you could use a little forgiveness,
Self-forgiveness for.
Just call that out.
And take a look at whatever it is,
Whatever you said,
Whatever you did.
And see how in the flash of the moment that you said it or didn't.
It was really all that you could have done.
What you knew in that moment,
What you had in your heart in that moment.
That was all you could have said or didn't.
And if you notice yourself kind of superimposing,
Yeah,
But now I see I could have let that go.
And just see how there is space for forgiveness,
How in the moment that you said or did,
Whatever it was,
Oh,
That was what I had right then.
And then just say to yourself silently,
I forgive myself.
And then think about something,
It could be the same thing that you said or did.
And maybe it impacted someone else.
Usually when I'm thinking about something I want to forgive myself for,
It's something that impacted someone else.
And I feel really badly about that.
So it could be the same thing,
Could be something different.
Up to you.
And again,
Frame it in the context of the moment when you said it or didn't.
And in that frame,
See that that was the only thing that could have happened.
Even though looking at it from this moment,
From the perspective of this moment,
You might have said or done something differently,
Probably would have.
But that wisdom wasn't present in that flash of a moment or the compassion that you have now for yourself or for the other person wasn't present in that flash of a moment.
And so can you ask silently for forgiveness from the person you impacted,
You hurt?
And if so,
Then first do that silently as if they were right next to you or right in front of you.
Will you forgive me?
And then take this piece as a little inquiry to kind of savor for today and see whether or not it wants to be something that you want to actually take to the person.
Sometimes that's appropriate,
Sometimes not.
And you'll know.
And then the last piece is forgiving someone else.
And since we've been talking about mudita for the enemy.
Is there someone who has hurt you,
Has done something that has caused you pain,
Really the rock in the shoe person,
Something small?
Let's work with that and think about that person and see how it's the same.
That with the wisdom and compassion that person had at the time that they said or did whatever they did,
Things couldn't have been different.
They just couldn't have been.
And say to that person silently.
I forgive you.
And if that just isn't coming to mind or coming to your heart,
That's OK.
Just put your hand on your heart and tap a little bit.
And remember that forgiveness work is hard work.
It's rewarding,
But it's hard work.
And that's OK.
Come back to it another time.
