Forgiving is all about moving on in life

Forgiveness is described as the first of the 10 virtues of righteousness. The recently observed 10-day Jain festival of Paryushan Parva celebrates these virtues and concludes by exhorting all to ask each other's forgiveness for any offending action.

In Buddhism, the quality of karuna or compassion and kindness includes the ability and willingness to forgive. The Qur'an enjoins followers of Islam to "Be foremost in seeking forgiveness" (51:1). Jesus spoke from the Cross: "Father, forgive them (executioners), for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

By forgiving one another, strained relationships can be healed. The act of forgiveness can soothe away emotional pain. It sets one on the spiritual path.

Forbearance is a pre-requisite for forgiveness. It implies overcoming anger through practice of tolerance even in the most adverse situations. It is a positive emotion and a conscious act of will.

It helps us to overcome resentment; it decreases feeling of hurt and insult; it also enables us to forget other's weaknesses, shortcomings and faults. It not only enhances interpersonal relationships but also leads to improved understanding of self and others.

Forgiveness heralds the beginning of enlightenment, peace and happiness

Forgiveness is an attribute of a calm and peaceful mind and heralds the beginning of enlightenment, peace and happiness. There is no rest or repose of mind for those who brood over slights, injuries and wrongs. Hatred and violence multiplied in retaliation creates a spiral of destruction.

An eye for an eye leaves the world blind, as Mahatma Gandhi said. Revenge, which is the opposite of forgiveness, is a virus that eats into the very vitals of the mind, and poisons one's entire being, physical and spiritual.

Resentment is a mental fever which burns up the wholesome energies of the mind, and "taking offence" is a form of moral sickness which saps the healthy flow of kindliness and goodwill. Forgiveness is beneficial at both personal and social levels.

While the importance of practising forgiveness has been extolled for centuries, it is only recently that research studies have demonstrated its important health benefits and forgiveness is being increasingly used as a stress management tool for reducing anger and depression as well as for enhancing hopefulness and self-efficacy.

People with a forgiving nature are said to have lower blood pressure than those who are less forgiving. That hostility and anger, or resentment and bitterness have been linked with poor health, hypertension and heart problems, is proved in a study, largest ever, conducted by Stanford Forgiveness Project.

The forgiveness training, the study revealed, resulted in a 70 per cent decrease in feeling of hurt, 13 per cent reduction in long-term experience of anger, 27 per cent reduction in physical symptoms of stress backache, dizziness, headache and 15 per cent decrease in emotional experience of stress.

The chief beneficiary of forgiveness is the one who forgives. Forgiveness is sound ethics that safeguards our mental and physical health and spiritual well-being. Those who try to get even with their enemies discover to their dismay that they hurt themselves more in the process.

Of course, one has to suffer the consequences of one's actions. Yet, to forgive and forget is to create positive energy; it helps bring about a climate of peace.

Source: Jain Mission (indiatimes Spirituality)