About Forgiveness

Posted on August 15, 2007
Filed Under Embrace Your Highest Path and Purpose, Spiritual Development |

This particular opinion might not make me too popular, but personally, I don’t like the concept of forgiveness. Psychology seems to place a great amount of importance on forgiving others as well as forgiving ourselves.

Think about this, though: If you strive to forgive someone, you are implying that they have wronged you somehow. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need your forgiveness, right? This seems like judgment to me. How can we possibly say “I was right and you were wrong – but I forgive you” without falling into judgment?

The concept of forgiveness can also put us squarely into the role of victim without examining our part in attracting the situation. Consciously or not, we are responsible for creating every single life circumstance we encounter. If another person hurts us or harms us or betrays us, we have played a part in that situation. Sometimes we choose difficult circumstances and events for this lifetime before we even incarnate into the physical.

Some might say we have to forgive ourselves for the part we played in whatever painful situation we are trying to overcome. But forgiving ourselves still implies wrongdoing and puts us into self-judgment. Self-judgment is still judgment, and best avoided.

In my book, acceptance is a far better state to strive for than forgiveness. Accept that the other person did what they did. Accept that you created what you created. Accept what now is, and free yourself to move forward.

Blessings,
Andrea