Forgiveness Begins Now

A guided meditation using the Mandala of Being, a simple, powerful map where you stand at the center (the present moment) and can turn to face different directions, including your past. When old stories stir up difficult emotions, this practice offers a path back to now, where forgiveness becomes possible.

Transcript

Bringing back some of our past stories can sometimes be very troubling,

So take that step back into the center of the mandala,

Bring yourself into the now,

Feel your breathing right now,

Pull your mind away from the emotions that have been stirred up by the past stories and bring your attention fully to each breath.

Take all the agitation out of the breathing,

Let the breathing be soft and natural.

Feel your hands,

Feel the air around your hands,

The presence of your attention in your hands,

Who I am begins right now,

I am sufficient as I am.

Standing in the center of the mandala,

In the now position,

Turn and face the past position,

Let yourself experiment with saying thank you,

Thank you for everything I've lived,

Thank you for every situation in the past that's helped me to discover who I am right now,

Thank you for the challenges,

For the joys,

For the losses and the successes.

Feel that sense of gratitude inside of you,

Even if it seems impossible to forgive the past.

Don't manipulate or force yourself to forgive,

Let who you are start right now.

Come back into your body,

Listen to the sounds around you,

Look at the color,

The quality of light,

The things that surround you,

The now of your experience.

Forgiveness isn't telling yourself a story that makes the past acceptable,

Forgiveness is being so rooted in the original newness of your being in the present moment that a story about the past no longer has any power to stir up that mud,

To agitate you,

To create guilt or blame or regret.

Feel once again what it's like to say to yourself,

Who I am begins right now.

Feel what it's like to say to yourself,

My story starts now.