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Two-Way Process

singhbj

SPNer
Nov 4, 2007
515
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The one who forgives benefits as much as the one who is being forgiven, says Osho

Gaffar is a Sufi name for God. It means: One who forgives. If you can love and forgive, nothing else is needed. If you cannot forgive, you cannot love; if you cannot love, you cannot forgive. Only great love knows how to forgive, and only great forgiveness knows how to love, otherwise everybody has limitations. Everybody commits mistakes; to err is human, to forgive is divine. And the more you forgive, the more you start moving towards the Divine; you start transcending humanity. And the higher you reach, the more love becomes possible.

So remember to love unconditionally and forgive unconditionally, and you will not accumulate any karma; you will not accumulate any past. You will not accumulate any bondage around you, and you will not have any barriers to your vision.

Once barriers disappear from vision, godliness is everywhere. If you can forgive and love then you will find it everywhere. You can’t see God in the sinner because you can’t forgive him.

Once you start forgiving, the distinction between sinner and saint is lost; the distinction between good and bad disappears. There are no more distinctions; you start seeing the one, the distinctionless. There is no man, no woman, no black, no white, no Indian, no foreigner. There is pure energy, and that pure energy is God.

To be revengeful towards anybody is to be revengeful towards God. To think of someone as your enemy is to make God your enemy. Hence, Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies’, because they are not enemies. We are members of each other; we are one whole.

And remember: One who forgives is forgiven. The quality and capacity to forgive is one of the most beautiful flowers of the human soul. Revenge is ugly, mean; it is falling to the lowest. To forgive is to rise so high. The more one becomes capable of forgiving, the more one’s heart expands, one’s consciousness grows bigger. The day one can forgive all and everything is the day when God meets man, and man meets God.

So let this quality of forgiveness become your very centre. Don’t forgive in the sense that you are obliging. Don’t forgive as a duty, because then it creates the ego, and a very subtle ego, which is dangerous, more dangerous than revenge itself. The holy ego is the worst possible ego in the world. So don’t be righteous. Take it with ease; to forgive should come naturally, and then it is really a benediction.

All religions have found strategies, first to make you feel guilty, then to give you a simple method so that you can be free of guilt. I am not teaching you a religion. I simply want to tell you the truth. If you have done something wrong, go to the person. Be humble, ask his forgiveness. Only he can forgive you, nobody else. And remember, the meaning of the word ‘sin’ is forgetfulness. So now, don’t forget again and do the same; otherwise, your asking forgiveness becomes meaningless. Be careful, be alert, be conscious; and don’t do the same thing again.

To forgive is divine, so if somebody comes to you and says that he has committed a mistake against you, don’t miss the opportunity of tasting something of the Divine. Or, when you have committed a mistake and you go to somebody else to be forgiven, you are giving him a great chance to have some taste of the Divine. It is good for both of you. By forgiving, he tastes something which is impossible to explain; it can only be called divine. And you also will feel something tremendously beautiful — humbleness, egolessness.

But remember not to commit the mistake again. It should become a decision in you; then you are really repentant. It has nothing to do with God, it has nothing to do with any priest; it has something to do with your own psychology.

Source - http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-articles/new-age/twoway-process/34922
 

Harry Haller

Panga Master
SPNer
Jan 31, 2011
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very interesting and informative post, although forgiveness, some might say is not a Sikh concept.Forgiveness is big in the Abrahamic religions, especially forgiveness from sin, which is another concept that some would say is alien to Sikhism.

Sikhs should have no enmity, no hate, so therefore logic dictates that forgiveness too is a concept that does not belong.

If someone does something bad to me, do I forgive them?, No, I just don't hate them and move on, but I would be pretty stupid not to accept that it would not happen again.Our Gurus had a profile of each person that was a threat to them, they did not hate them, but they would never forget what they were capable of.
 

Harry Haller

Panga Master
SPNer
Jan 31, 2011
5,769
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Here are some verses from Gurbani which should clear any misconception
well they do in the sense that they actually support my argument, I cannot see forgiveness mentioned anywhere....

The forum discourage posts that contain one liners from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji as it is considered a gross injustice to the material contained. What I prefer is the whole shabad with a personal interpretation of the whole shabad. TOS itself asks for the whole shabad with references, however, as we are in debate, I will leave moderation of your post to Adminji.

I frequently find that when a few verses are used in argument, they can be taken so differently that they sometimes appear to support the opposing argument, this is why it is hugely important to quote fully with a personal translation
 

spnadmin

1947-2014 (Archived)
SPNer
Jun 17, 2004
14,500
19,219
Thanks harry ji for an accurate representation. When a shabad is used to prove a point, yes it has been misunderstood because there is no "So there" message in shabadguru. Out of a shabad an understanding emerges. When a shabad is misinterpreted, then someone has to set the record straight. What does it really mean and why does it mean something different?

The quoted shabad does not mention forgiveness and it is not about forgiveness either. :)
 

angrisha

SPNer
Jun 24, 2010
95
231
38
Canada
, No, I just don't hate them and move on, but I would be pretty stupid not to accept that it would not happen again.Our Gurus had a profile of each person that was a threat to them, they did not hate them, but they would never forget what they were capable of.

I think in someways that's what forgiveness is anyhow... moving on with out holding any emotional attachment. We may not explicitly state it, but I think the capacity to forgive is what allowed sikhi to move forward as it did (i.e. with out hate or judgement for those who have 'wronged'). From what Ive read (and I cant say this to be 100% true), our Guru's left the door open for anyone to return to them, and they accepted them with open arms and no judgement when they did....
 
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