This is a meditation that can help foster forgiveness of others.
Jewish tradition encourages us to emulate our Creator.
And when it comes to the notions of forgiveness and unburdening,
Perhaps the message of was,
Is and will be can help us on our way.
Was,
Is and will be is one of the names that we have in our Jewish tradition for the Creator.
Was,
He always existed.
Is,
He exists right now.
And will be,
He will exist until eternity.
Was teaches us that we have a history.
Is teaches us that we all share this present moment.
And will be teaches us that we all have a future.
No matter what occurred in the past,
We are all given the chance to seek new beginnings,
New chances and new fresh perspectives.
Just because it always was,
Doesn't mean that it always will be.
So now we look outwards and reflect on our relationships with others.
Find yourself in a quiet place without any distraction and come into this present moment.
You can feel self-supported by the chair you're sitting on or the ground you're lying on.
And once again,
Bring your focus to this moment now.
Allow yourself to dispel any notions of tension.
Let your shoulders become relaxed.
In this still moment,
We can check in with ourselves.
See if there are any lingering feelings of hurt or sadness from an action or a word that's been said or done to you by another person.
Locate that feeling of hurt in your body.
Ask yourself,
How does it feel?
Does it have a shape or a color?
Focusing on that bad feeling,
Ask yourself,
Is it welcome?
Would you rather it were gone?
Would you prefer to soothe that pain by calmly asking it to scatter to the winds so that you can return to a state of inner peace?
Once again,
Let's use this concept of was,
Is and will be in order to come back to our inner peace.
Inner peace.
Was.
We all have history.
We are all products of multi-faceted life events that shape the way we show up in the world.
This person that you might like to forgive,
They have a was.
They have their own particular story that's painted their version of life.
Could it be that they weren't given the best chance in life?
Could it be that there are blockages in their spiritual and emotional flow that caused them to act the way they did to you?
If it feels right to you,
You can imagine them in front of you right now.
And direct your empathy to them for the fact that they themselves might be a product of negative experiences and relationships that's coloured their view of the world.
Now,
If it's right for you,
Be with them in the present.
Is.
Could it be that this person himself or herself might be feeling awful about what they did?
Deep in the recess of their own soul,
Perhaps they pine for closeness and connection with you once more.
With this thought in mind,
Let's go to will be.
Let's look to the future.
Because every person has a future.
Every person has the free will choice to change.
Just because this person has been showing up the way they have doesn't mean that they are programmed forever.
In this state of calm,
In this moment,
And if it feels right for you,
Look into their future.
And perhaps see them unburdened,
See them wholesome and happy and filled with self-knowledge.
If it feels right for you,
Perhaps you can give them the gift of a second chance.
Give them the precious gift of knowing that there is always hope that things can change.
And now,
Check in once more with yourself.
Check in once more with that feeling that you had at the start of this meditation.
Can you forgive?
With the hindsight of past and the insight of future,
Can you forgive?
Take a big,
Deep breath in.
And as you breathe out,
Breathe out the pain,
Breathe out the feelings of hurt.
And as you breathe in now,
Breathe in this knowledge that we are all humans doing the best that we can.
Once again,
Take a big,
Deep breath in.
And as you breathe out,
Once again breathing out this feeling of being hurt,
Breathe it out and instead embrace the fact that every person is here to learn their lessons and fix their ways.
Breathe in again with this knowledge that every person has the chance to create their future anew.
Breathe out again.
And once more,
Check in with yourself.
And once more,
Check in with yourself and how you're feeling.
Asking yourself if you feel lighter,
More optimistic,
Hopeful,
Compassionate and empathetic with this wonderful knowledge of was,
Is and will be.
