16. The Mastery of Forgiveness | Kissing Consciousness Conscious Living Movement

Page Screens of Module Sixteen.

The great philosopher and scholar, Socrates, first explained that when we refuse forgiveness we punish ourselves, and that we are actually the ones we continue to hurt. If we honour and pay attention to this truth wherever it is relevant to us we can see the ways in which we can give full expression to our own capacity for love – self-love and self-honouring, as much as anything – by releasing the blocks to effective forgiveness.

This Module looks at the ways in which we can work with our understanding of those things which we think we cannot forgive so that we can return the power back to ourselves, and also return to the point of power of the present moment.

We cannot do anything about the past, but the relevance of not forgiving is about what is going on with us ourselves, and in the now moment, with our thinking. And so it is this that is the current issue, and because it relates to us, now, it is something which we can do something about.

Forgiveness is also correctly identified as a strength, and we will be discussing this truth as one of four ‘Facets of Forgiveness’ which we identify in the Course.

This phenomenon of forgiveness is a challenging but potentially deeply rewarding area of human life, thinking and feeling, and one that you can take at your own time and pace, if, as and when you want to.

“When we approach forgiveness from the perspective of Wisdom, the first thing we must do is to acknowledge that we are setting ourselves a higher level or standard of enlightened thinking by which to live. Maybe we could be forgiven, if you’ll pardon the pun, in many instances, if we didn’t forgive many of the things in life. However, the extent to which we can see that forgiveness may be in our best interests, and the extent to which we also recognise our new, broader, more ‘Universal’ sense of self, and the benefits of forgiveness and compassion to the Whole, becomes a double-powered factor which may inspire and encourage us to go beyond what we have previously managed; to let go of the anger and hurt wherever we feel possible.

It is important, therefore, that we do not expect too much of ourselves. If we feel that we simply cannot forgive at the point of our lives which we are in at any moment, then we accept that that is fine. Kidding ourselves that we have reached certain levels does none of us any good. So we see that forgiveness ‘may inspire and encourage us to go beyond what we have previously done’ – without faking it! Without laying claim to inner strengths which we have yet to develop. Or yielding that which we don’t genuinely or sincerely wish to yield.

In this respect, forgiveness is a skill and mastery like any other, requiring practice, leading to the development of inner skills, and focus of intended desire. Accordingly, it is also subject to the same laws of the processes of growth and personal capacities.” – James Blacker, taken from Wisdom The Course

The Main Subject Headings of Module Sixteen…

The following are the main subject headings of Module Sixteen: The Mastery of Forgiveness.

Forgiveness Gives
What is Forgiveness?
Four Facets of Forgiveness
The Need to Forgive Ourselves
When is Someone Truly Sorry?
Good and Evil from the Self’s Perspective
The Mechanics of Forgiveness
Recapping Our 3 Step Approach to Forgiveness
Hurting the Ones You Love

Written and Observational Exercises
Test Yourself Questions

Smaller, subject sub-headings in this Module include; Any level you are at is fine, To what extent are you hurting yourself by not forgiving?, Strength: Forgiveness comes with and is a sign of strength, Forgiving does not necessarily mean forgetting, Behaviour and True Nature, Fear always leads to suffering, ‘No’ is okay too, and ‘The Mastery of Love is relevant again’.