Radical Forgiveness

[Guest guest]

Hi All:

 

Has anyone here read the book " Radical Forgiveness " or attended

one of Colin Tipping's workshops?

 

I purchased and read the book last year on the recommendation of

a friend on a healing list, and I must admit it had a strong

effect on me. Everyone here probably knows how pragmatic I tend

to be about life situations and dis-ease, but I can assure you

that I have not always been that way; and every day I find a new

challenge to work with... if anything, life is seldom boring!

 

This segment about Radical Forgiveness is from Colin's website,

http://www.radicalforgiveness.com and I thought I'd share it as

an introduction to the concept. I know that the one thing that

has always been an issue with me in forgiveness has been the

letting go part, the " forget " part in " forgive and forget " . Until

I was exposed to this idea and began to apply it to personal

situations, the aftertaste of a million things weighed on me,

polluting my ability to live in the moment and release my role as

a victim.

 

It's not that he originated the thought, but he's made it

accessible in a way that is not religious or confusing.

 

Blessings,

Crow

" Look for Rainbows in the Darkness "

 

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One might assume that if it's radical, it must be more than that

which we normally understand as forgiveness. So what's the

difference, and how important is the distinction?

 

Ordinary forgiveness is 'letting bygones be bygones.' And

that's OK as far as it goes. But the belief that something bad

happened remains. Even while we try to forgive, we still think of

ourselves as having been victimized. This results in a struggle

between two conflicting needs:

 

the desire to forgive -- vs. -- the need to condemn.

 

Not surprisingly, it takes many years to achieve and cannot be

forced. You cannot 'will it' to happen. With ordinary

forgiveness, only time will heal.

 

RADICAL Forgiveness, on the other hand, is virtually

instantaneous, easy to do and can be achieved using simple

tools. It requires no special knowledge, no unique skill or

discipline and, best of all, depends on no guru.

 

RADICAL Forgiveness occurs when we 'get it' that from a

spiritual big picture standpoint, nothing wrong happened -- that

the situation was divinely guided, and meant to happen that way

for the highest good of all concerned -- even if we don't know

'why.' Furthermore, we come to understand that our Higher Selves

called forth the experience for our healing and spiritual growth.

 

This is not a mind-altering technique or a moral stricture that

one 'should' forgive, but is experienced as a shift in

consciousness. This enables us to be open to the idea that

there is, or was, a certain perfection in the situation.

 

When we understand that life is unfolding exactly as it should

and that everything is divinely guided, we find peace -- even in

the most 'unpleasant' of situations or memories. That surely is a

healing!

 

When we understand that our enemies really love us (at the

soul level), when our hearts open and we are released from

the victim archetype, that is a healing, too.

 

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