Forgiving As Spiritual Attainment

Here and there we can see people who are full of anger which can injure others. The most touching human tragedy in our history is Syria. Millions of human lives are being destroyed there. In different levels and challenges, other countries are also similar. And the story of people being full of anger has happened for a very long time.

The Great Wall of China which has been built for 2,000 years, is a monument which indicates the anger of the Chinese to the Mongols. Although this story has been going on for a long time, until today the descendants of the Chinese people and the descendants of the Mongols in various parts of the world have found it difficult to connect.



The same thing happened in our history. In the year 2001, the twin towers buildings were attacked by terrorist in the US, in the following year Bali was also attacked by terrorist with two bombings. Without knowing the reason why, a Buddhist monastery in Jakarta was also targeted by a terrorist bomb. Many friends in the Church should be extremely patient because their religious activities have been banned by certain groups in Indonesia.

In short, there are a lot of things in life that can easily cause anger nowadays. If one does not equip themselves with the intelligence of forgiving, there are many people who will suffer because of anger. And the last soul wound does not only spread violence in our time, but can also be passed on to the next generations.

That is the reason why in meditation classes we often share a message like this: "It is enough to accumulate spiritual knowledge, it's time to transform spiritual knowledge into spiritual attainment." And in our age, the spiritual attainment which is mostly needed is the intelligence of forgiving. Some of us are harmed by our uneducated parents. Our parents are wounded by grandparents. Grandparents were also hurt by their parents.

And this chain of suffering can be stopped by diligently training ourselves to forgive. It is not a coincidence that one of the great and beautiful lights was born in our time named Nelson Mandela. Although Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, he sincerely forgave the white people in South Africa. There was no anger and resentment there. The message behind the beautiful light of Nelson Mandela is simple: "if you want to have a glowing soul in this age, always remember to learn to forgive."

It is far from easy of course. And the inner energy inside which makes forgiving far from easy is the ego. The bigger the ego, the more difficult someone will forgive. A friend who is a former president director of the company with thousands of employees, spent many years flying to many countries using the first class flight, graduated from the best business school in the world shared his story, that his daily life is sweeping, mopping, tidying up litter, feeding wild animals, and humbly serving people.

When he was asked the reason why, he clearly said that he tried to lower his ego. In other words, we can make the ego smaller and smaller by doing things that are considered "low" by most people. Maybe that's the reason why Lord Buddha brought thousands of his disciples to the community asking for a bowl of food. Maybe that is the reason why the Pope had to wash the feet of the servants nearby.

And forgiving as spiritual attainment can not be achieved by reading books only or listening to the lectures only. It can be achieved through the actions of daily life which is full of service. As materials of contemplation, Mother Teresa spent decades taking good care of the poor and the sick in Calcutta India. Mahatma Gandhi left all the luxuries as a lawyer in South Africa, then merges with the suffering of the oppressed in India at that time.

The message is simple, everyday actions which are full of service, that's the soul nutrition that makes one have the ability to forgive. Each spiritual friend who reached this level of spiritual attainment will understand that behind violence is not religion. But the wounded souls. It is the wounded soul that makes them commit the violence.

A close friend once asked: "What is the sign indicating we have the ability to forgive?". Look inside when someone tells you that anyone who ever hurt you is having a successful and happy life. If you can be silent, smile without any jealousy, that's a sign that you have the ability to forgive. It is more beautiful when you can be happy to hear that people who hurt you are happy. It is a kind of spiritual attainment which is very rare in this age. And this is the kind of soul who can break the chain of suffering that binds countless souls for thousands of years. And finally they can peacefully rest in the beautiful spiritual home called peace.

Author: Gede Prama.

Photo Courtesy: Twitter.

Proofread by: Kirsty Spence.