It's a beautiful time of year to let go of the past and resentments, old or new. Forgiveness is a gift that we give to ourselves, offering us great freedom. It's like a clean slate or a blank canvas upon which we can create anew, or begin again, whilst anchored in pure Truth. Let's let it go before the new year, yes?

I am forgiving, forgivable, and forgiven.

I forgive everyone. I forgive me, I forgive you. Even if you are not sorry, or know not what you did to hurt me, I forgive you. Please forgive me too. Even if I haven't apologized, or know not what I did to hurt you, please forgive me. Even if you do know what you did to cause me pain, and even if I do know what I did to cause you pain, I forgive you. Will you forgive me too?

Where there are no words that can be spoken to change the past, there is a known apology inside of the deepest part of me and inside of the deepest part of you. I'll meet you there.

When we meet again, in whatever form that takes, we shall each be created in a new image and likeness, not bound to, nor by the past.

The deepest place within you and I are as eternal and vast as the space that spans beyond the myriad universes. When I meet you, I know that I am meeting and greeting my secret and unseen self, none greater or lesser in whole or worth. Here we are wrapped in Divine Love; here there is never anything to forgive in the first place. Where there is no I and no you, where we are one, I forgive.

I am forgiving, forgivable, and forgiven.

Photo by Elizabeth Rowley

Love Everyone and Don't Get Angry!

I just finished reading the new book by Ram Dass, "Polishing the Mirror."  Within the book he shares the story of a time when he was in India with some of his devotees, and his guru, Maharaji-ji.  He went to India to flee from the Western culture only to find himself in the midst of the western culture that exists within India.  This angered him.  He was so upset that he locked himself in a room.  When his Western devotees came to see him, he angrily told them to go away.  Within a short amount of time he alienated the entire group of people who were there to see him.

Ram Dass was upset and confused.  His guru constantly told him "tell the truth and don't get angry," but the truth was that Ram Dass was angry.  One night in an angry fit, he threw a plate of food to the ground.

Maharaji-ji then wanted to know what was troubling him.  Ram Dass said he couldn't stand all of those people and he couldn't even stand himself.  He hated everyone.  Maharji-ji responded with "Love everyone and don't get angry."  Ram said, "But I don't love everyone."  Maharji-ji got nose to nose with him and said, "Love everyone and tell the truth."  Ram started to say, "But..."Then he realized what Maharaji-ji was really saying to him, which was this:

When you finish being who you think you are (unable to love everyone), this is who you will be (love everyone).  He thought he was somebody who could not love everyone and tell the truth.  Maharaji-ji said, "when you give that one up, I am still here, and the game is very simple.  Love everyone and tell the truth."

Is it just me, or does anger feel like a hostile takeover within?  I am grateful for spiritual evolution and the ability to identify anger and allow it to pass by like a taxi cab on the street, rather than getting in the cab and going for a long and bumpy ride!

Most of our anger comes as the result of things not turning out the way we think they should have turned out.

When anger arises, you may find it simple to move past it by saying to yourself - "Love everyone and don't get angry."

Or take these additional steps to move through anger and liberate yourself from the bondage of it:

1. Feel your anger fully.
2. Set a specific amount of time to rant about it.
3. Take responsibility - What could you have done better?
4. Put yourself in the shoes of the other person (or people, organizations, institutions).
5. Wear a rubber band on your wrist and flick it when you begin to obsess on angry thoughts.
6. Return to loving everyone once again.

I believe that if you look hard enough you will find something to love in the eyes of another, and if you can focus on the part that you love, the anger will fall away naturally and immediately, if you allow it to.

Love everyone and don't get angry.