Forgiveness: Meaning Across Dimensions
Forgiveness seems to be the spiritual, metaphysical word du jour. It’s an interesting concept and takes on many different meanings depending on where you sit in your journey.
At the most basic level, let’s look at a common definition: Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense, lets go of negative emotions such as vengefulness, with an increased ability to wish the offender well.
Most circles I interact with consider conversations about victims and offenders to be faux pas. However, even without calling it out, I’m not sure there’s a way to remove these pieces altogether.
In spiritual conversations, on the surface forgiveness feels like an empowered, peaceful concept. And as a tool to guide you through certain aspects of the journey, it’s a valuable reminder not to hold onto grudges, blame, etc. At other levels it can encourage us to meet people in the frequency of love, rather than lower frequencies of obligations and expectations.
However, inherent in the connotation of the word is that someone did something to you or you did something to yourself. Can someone do anything to you? And by extension can you do anything to yourself? Forgiveness implies that some “wrong” occurred. Or we use it to release our dissonance about a reaction to the situation, thus indicating that we judged that situation. Regardless, none of it encourages neutrality, wonderment, and self-responsibility.
“The little child simply marvels at all that they see and says, ‘Well, how about that?’ Can you imagine looking upon the deepest, darkest parts of your own shadow, your own denials, and being able to say, ‘Oh, how about that!’ Remember that everything is neutral, and all that arises within your consciousness has no effect upon the truth of your reality.” – The Way of Mastery, Shanti Christo Foundation
What happens, instead, when we choose to meet each other in the frequency of love? When we say:
I honor you for you.
I choose to journey beside you.
I release us from any obligations or expectations.
I choose to be free.
