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Conflict and forgiveness can be understood from different perspectives— personal, tribal or national, and the longer term view of human evolution. This article looks at how soul values may be emerging, even through times of conflict ...................................................... I know O Lord
of Life and Love, about the need. (A Noontime
recollection) The quality of forgiveness is being expressed more noticeably in the world today. In the view of one of the greatest esoteric works originating in the West, the books of Alice Bailey, the ability to forgive will play a key role in moving human consciousness forward. She defines it as 'the giving of all to all and for all'. In this sense, forgiveness is a potent, transforming energy, and one that is much needed to help dissipate the fear and mistrust that has plagued human thinking for so long. So much pain and suffering has been inflicted upon so many that peace and new truth can only come to the world as we unite and learn to relinquish the past through this power to give. In many ongoing crisis situations, such as those we see in Palestine and Israel, and Afghanistan, the origins of hatred are rooted deep in the past. Each further atrocity intensifies the complex web of karma in which all sides are entangled, and each generation is poisoned anew by the ancient thoughtforms of fear and loathing that have accumulated like a crustaceous shell over the psyche of the people. Ancient thoughtforms such as these exist all over the world to some extent, yet it is also true that new levels of wisdom are evolving to shine through this denseness. At this time, the challenge for groups of enlightened people is how to penetrate this shell of calcified thought and emotion to contact the new light that is awaiting. ....................................................... To forgive is not so much a tacit act
of acceptance but a dynamic act of giving It is easy to be pessimistic about conflict, and surprising perhaps to hear that conflict may itself be a way through which humanity is able to break free from its calcified shells of hostility. This perspective, known as the 'principle of conflict', recognizes that it is through conflict that opposing forces which need to be resolved are brought to light. The principle of conflict can be worked with intelligently, but the greater the resistance to seeking understanding and resolution, the greater the pain and suffering that is to be endured in the process. New thinking The initial way forward out of conflict can be forged through changing our thinking patterns, for esoteric studies remind us always that energy follows thought. So it is through new and creative thinking that solutions to age old problems can be found and implemented in a safe and practical way. When the mind does not actively co-operate, however, the problems find their expression on emotional levels. Here they are further fuelled by negative feelings and escalate to the point where they spill onto the physical plane in the destructiveness of fighting and war. But, although this seems a calamity from the strictly human angle, it is not necessarily so from a wider, more spiritual frame of reference, for a cleansing of consciousness can still take place. Through the pain and suffering caused come the desire for relief and the eventual search for understanding--light that is seeking entrance into human consciousness cannot ultimately be denied. In this connection, there is a memorable remark made in Alice Bailey's The Rays and the Initiations, which was written in the aftermath of the Second World War, stating that 'there could be no disaster more serious than a too abrupt ending of the clash between the emotional reactions of humanity and the current ideologies. It is essential that the issues become still clearer in the minds of men, prior to any final choice or decision...Too prompt a choice at this time might prove only a make-shift decision and one based on expediency and impatience.' For right relationships to be established, a firm foundation of clear and illumined thinking is needed before a lasting resolution can be attained. For this reason peace is not always an immediate objective from an evolutionary angle, not, that is, until the necessary bridging work between people, groups, religions and nations is complete. Only then is true and lasing peace possible. To give for The bridging work that is needed in the aftermath of conflict in order to straighten out dysfunctional relationships between peoples and nations is helped enormously by the power of 'forgiveness'. To 'forgive' means to give 'whole heartedly'. This move to wholeness suggests that, rather than a mixed bag of grudging apologies and condescending pardons, forgiveness involves a recognition in the heart that a person once regarded as a foe is, in reality, an integral part of oneself. To forgive is not so much a tacit act of acceptance but a dynamic act of giving, simply and powerfully described by reversing the two syllables of the word to express the idea 'to give for'. In its higher aspect, to forgive involves an alignment with the divine Will--a recognition of the essential divinity within each person and of a common spiritual destiny that requires a sharing of the very life breath of God in whom we live and move and have our being. Dissolving karma In this light, we can begin to understand that there is a relationship between 'forgiveness' and the dissolution of karma, or the law of cause and effect as it is known as in the West. It is often thought that karma is something that has to be worked out by each individual alone, where the price is paid for past crimes and misdemeanours. However karma is more of a process of 'straightening out'--when we stray from the plan of love and light, these releasing, corrective forces help to set us back on the straight and narrow. Any pain experienced is more an incidental matter, often due to rebellion and a refusal to be brought back into line with the scheme of things. Great acts of forgiveness release that aspect of the Divine Will that readjusts lines of relationship, so benefiting all parties and wiping the slate clean, so to speak; it is an act of re-alignment with the Will of God, and far more effective than the corruptive forces of wrath and vengeance that often lie simmering beneath the mask of so called justice. ....................................................... Forgiveness is a soul recognition enabling
us to participate In all cases where wrong has been committed, we need to accept that, as part of humanity, we are also part of the problem, even if it takes place in some distant land on the other side of the globe. We have to move out of the judgement seat and accept joint responsibility for the large overshadowing cloud of poisonous thought which has built up over the ages through the selfishness and wrong thinking of humanity as a whole. We all understand the sharing of the many unseen but very real and debilitating viruses which spread from person to person and place to place, knowing no boundaries and uniting us all in suffering of a degree. But less is known or considered about the psychic 'viruses' of wrong thinking and how this is also shared amongst us all, simply because it has been created by us all. The quality of our thoughts is far more potent than purely physical forces. For aeons illusion and glamour have germinated and festered in the darkness of wrong thinking and desire, causing unhealthy relationships within ourselves, with others, and the planet as a whole. And the great task of letting in the light has traditionally been left to world saviours. They have consciously taken on world karma in order that some of the psychic burden that is threatening to bury human consciousness is lifted, allowing humanity to breathe more freely and stand on its own feet again to bear the responsibility of its actions. And perhaps we will never know the extent of the sacrifice made by those who deliberately absorb the poisonous substance in the mental and emotional realms into their auras and take on the karma and suffering of humanity. An atonement The act of forgiveness is therefore a form of redemption--a 'vicarious atonement' which, because of the quality of the energy it releases, lifts and heals by helping to reintegrate the part into the whole. The outstanding example of this was when Jesus was on the Cross and uttered the words 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do'. These words highlight the fact that forgiveness can help those who are ignorant of the evil they commit. It can also help those who are awakened to it and strive against it, whereas those who are aware deep in their consciousness of the wrong they have committed, but adamantly continue along this path through self-justification, become further separated from the whole by their refusal of redemption. For the average person who has consciously sinned, the law of karma brings the needed adjustments, sometimes over many lifetimes, in a fair and scientific way. On the surface, it may seem reasonable that the perpetrator is responsible for redeeming any wrong doing. But if the lesson of wrongdoing can be learned and adjusted in another way--by the presented opportunity to selflessly serve another for instance--then good can prevail without suffering. In all cases karma can be adjusted most effectively by the direct absorption and transmission of love. This is particularly true in connection with group and national karma, where the importance of the individual gives way to a greater system of interlocking forces of good and evil. In times of war, the individual may suffer even though there is no specific blame or original cause attached to him, but in the process all will be taken into account and humanity as a whole helped along the way. Right forgetting Acts of forgiveness necessarily involve 'right forgetting' of the hurts and wrongdoings that have been committed. This involves a use of the Will--that spiritual intention which lifts and draws conflicting forces to a common meeting ground from where it is possible to move forward. We often witness the inability to forgive and to let go of the past--each continued crime reinforcing the cycle of conflict and injustice. Clearly forgiveness here would have to involve sacrifice and an inner realization of group affiliation--an impulse of the soul--which sees no separation. 'Right forgetting' is also a crucial stage on the spiritual path in terms of our ability to forego everything we have known. Through right-forgetfulness we can eliminate all those forces and wrong identifications which veil reality, enabling the Soul to have an unimpeded line of communication to the physical brain. This does not mean, of course, that we become forgetful in the normal sense of the word, but that memory is transformed from 'an attachment to the things of the past' to 'a realization of the wisdom gained from experience'; this wisdom is then applied to the present so that right decisions can be made. Soul recognition In summary, forgiveness is a form of soul recognition and sacrifice enabling us to participate in building a civilization of light and love. Forgiveness is essential for our future happiness and this is reflected today in the many who are making personal adjustments in their lives to forgive themselves or others. Evidence for this was seen in the forming of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the wake of the fall of apartheid in South Africa, and which was replicated to help with the peace process in Northern Ireland; the Pope's significant plea for forgiveness for any wrong action perpetrated by the Roman Catholic Church towards the orthodox religions at a mass in Athens and which was followed by his trip to the Holy Land where he urged the region's people 'to be as merciful as their God, to forgive past wrongs and to commit themselves to peace'. A group in Australia has promoted a 'Forgiveness Week' with the help of servers in other countries for many years, and there is also a new phenomenon in the form of a number of 'forgiveness' sites on the internet--of varying quality! We can say though that the practice of forgiveness of ourselves releases us into the expanded vision of the soul, with its higher laws and principles, letting in new energy and light. The great joy and hope today is that there is a group in the world who have taken on the shared responsibility of world saviour, fulfilling the Christ's prophecy that we will one day heal ourselves and the injunction of His great Brother, the Buddha, to be 'a lamp unto our own feet'. This group of people have, to a large extent, freed themselves from the prison of desire and self-will and are participating in a group vicarious atonement, 'harmonizing...the disharmony of others by the power of a spiritual presence, which brings about the great transmutation'. The work of each true server of humanity finds its place in this group helping to reveal the light and the living presence of our innate spirituality and a vision of world unity. The teachings tell us that 'When...the mode of sacrifice enters into the realm of the subtler and subjective values and the true meaning of forgiveness is intellectually, practically and spiritually comprehended, the New Age will be abundantly realized.' As we link our consciousness with others around the world, we can consider that the new truths which are waiting to be precipitated into human thinking must necessarily build on those of the present. Through a revelation of the deeper meaning of qualities and concepts such as forgiveness, with which we are already familiar, they can be lifted out of the language of the personal into the language of universal love and wisdom.
This article is adapted from a talk given at the Wesak Festival in May 2001, London, by Christine Morgan of the Lucis Trust, Suite 54, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EF. Tel: 0207 839 4512.
© Caduceus, 2002.
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