Tygarjas Twyrls Blog

It’s kind of like gratitude. One of those things that somehow makes things a whole lot better in a big hurry.

The problem is that if someone has wronged you, and no wonder you became as annoyed as you did by it, if you carry an animosity toward that person, it takes from your energy to get things done, and the things you are doing it must color if it sits so heavy upon your mind. And I write this in the second person because there seems to be a law backing this that has some basis in physics. Like trying to run with bricks in one’s pockets, it just aint as effective as not caring what wrong was done to us, i.e. pockets without bricks.

Personally, the question in my mind was, “How do you forgive someone who can’t seem to stop hurting you.” And the answer I came up with, was: Compassion. It was the only thing that fit. Thanks to the grace of an angel, and in this instance I do believe I am speaking metaphorically about a very beautiful person who has inspired me every time I have tried to look in her direction, lately I’ve been reading a book about the Dhali Lama’s approach to living happily. As a result, thankfully, thoughts of compassion have recently been readily available at the forefront of my brain. And after spending some time flirting with the notion of trying to forgive someone, internally, who seems incapable of not harming others by his actions, myself included, revisiting the notion of forgiveness I was delighted to find that compassion seemed a likely key to unlocking an otherwise impossible problem.

Still need plenty of distance from that person, because, after all, that person has not yet learned how not to be as selfish as he is, but, by considering even for a moment how that person came to be as selfish as he is, at the least I don’t have to take it personally that in this moment, or at least those moments, he could not stop himself from being so selfish. And this is a first step. Looking from a fuller heart, I can’t help but admit that if I had been filled with so much horror so early in life, I do not know if I could have turned out any kinder than he. And this, for me, is the first step to forgive. A step that enables me to let go of angers that would otherwise haunt me; distract me from my work at hand, drain me of the energy to do that work. In fact, to the contrary, this week it gives me something productive to do, a topic I can write about.

So, enough about me, how does this relate to divinity? I answer with another question: How do you feel when hatred, or even disdain, is at the forefront of your mind? Does that feel divine to you? And if so, is that a God you want to be worshiping?

Peace!