Buddhist Forgiveness Prayer Meditation

In this guided meditation, we will explore a Buddhist Forgiveness Prayer. A powerful practice to guide you through listening, repeating, and reflecting on forgiveness - allowing space to open your heart to both giving and receiving forgiveness. Through this gentle prayer, we cultivate a sense of peace, lightness, and healing in our hearts.

Music by Piotr Witowski.

Transcript

Forgiveness is a practice.

It's something we need to be doing every day.

And so I use this Buddhist forgiveness prayer because it captures the essence of forgiveness in four verses.

It serves as a guide,

A teaching,

And a practice.

I'm going to say the prayer three times.

The first time I say it,

Just listen to the words.

Let them settle into your heart.

The second time I say the prayer,

I will give you a little space to silently say the words yourself.

And the third time I say the prayer,

I will give you even more space for the practice of forgiveness.

So get comfortable,

Close your eyes,

And just listen to the words to start.

For anyone that I have harmed,

Either knowingly or unknowingly,

Through my own confusions,

Fears,

And desires,

I ask for your forgiveness.

For anyone that has harmed me,

Either knowingly or unknowingly,

Through their own confusions,

Fears,

And desires,

I forgive them.

For anything I'm not yet ready to forgive,

I forgive myself for that.

And for all the little ways I harm myself,

Negate,

Doubt,

Belittle,

Judge,

And criticize,

I forgive myself for that too.

And now I'm going to say the prayer again and give you some space between each verse to silently say the words yourself.

For anyone that I have harmed,

Either knowingly or unknowingly,

Through my own confusions,

Fears,

And desires,

I ask for your forgiveness.

For anyone that has harmed me,

Either knowingly or unknowingly,

Through their own confusions,

Fears,

And desires,

I forgive them.

For anything I am not yet ready to forgive,

I forgive myself for that.

And for all the little ways I harm myself,

Negate,

Doubt,

Belittle,

Judge,

And criticize,

I forgive myself for that too.

And for the third time saying the prayer,

I will give you even more space for the practice of forgiveness.

For anyone that I have harmed,

Either knowingly or unknowingly,

Through my own confusions,

Fears,

And desires,

I ask for your forgiveness.

For anyone that has harmed me,

Either knowingly or unknowingly,

Through their own confusions,

Fears,

And desires,

I forgive them.

For anything I am not yet ready to forgive,

I forgive myself for that.

And for all the little ways I harm myself,

Negate,

Doubt,

Belittle,

Judge,

And criticize,

I forgive myself for that too.

And when you're ready,

Bring your attention to your heart.

And just feel your heart for a few moments.

Feel the lightness in your heart,

The gentle peace and ease that comes with forgiveness.

Namaste.

Reviews

Lovely 🥰 after running into your talk today I had to find this and the copy in the sangha 🙏😢

this is so special- thanks for saying it three times and slowing it down each time. by slowing it down it goes very deep into my soul ♥️✨🌹✨♥️✨🌹✨♥️✨🌹✨♥️

Thank you for this. I am on a path of forgiveness and this meditation is very helpful. I will keep coming back to it. At times I can be critical with myself for not being able to forgive and let go easier. It was a good reminder that forgiveness doesn’t have to be a “one and done” thing. It can be a process. As time goes on I have more insights into other people’s humanity as well as my own which allows me to come closer and closer to forgiveness of others and of myself. I appreciate this guide to help on that journey. Thank you for your teachings. 🤍🤍

Beautiful ❤️. This is going to become part of my daily practice. Thank you Meredith.