In The New Path, Swami Kriyananda writes: “I once had an interesting dream; indeed, it seemed to me more than a dream. I saw myself in another life, deeply devoted to a particular friend. He took advantage of my love for him, and treated me with an unkindness that fluctuated between condescension and outright contempt. In time, there arose in me a feeling of deep bitterness toward him. As I approached the end of that incarnation, I realized that if I died with this attitude my bitterness would, like a magnet, draw both of us back to similar, but reversed, circumstances.
“‘Isn’t it possible,’ I asked myself, ‘to escape these waves of retribution right now? Whatever the lessons my friend needs to learn, surely I, at least, can free myself.’ Then, from the depths of my heart, I cried, ‘I forgive him!’ At that moment, with a feeling of ineffable relief, I awoke. In that simple act of forgiveness I felt that I had actually freed myself of some karmic burden.”
Jesus Christ told his followers that if they had a grievance with one of their brothers, they must settle it before entering the temple. Explaining the inner meaning of Christ’s words, Paramhansa Yogananda said that if we want to enter the temple of deep meditation, we first must rid ourselves of any negative energy we hold towards anyone.
How do we do this?
First, look honestly at any resentment or grudges you may be harboring towards others. It doesn’t matter if these feelings are justified by the other person’s actions towards us—our part is to identify the negativity we’re harboring in our own heart, and cast it out.
Next, pray repeatedly for the person until you feel an inward release from your antipathy. Is this quick and easy? No, but the amount of time it takes is determined by the intensity and sincerity of our efforts.
Be in attunement with God and His unconditional love.
Christ said to love and do good to those who hate you, and to pray for those who mistreat you. He concluded by saying, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Perfection in this case, Yoganandaji explained, means attunement with God and His unconditional love.
Finally, be constantly vigilant so that no new noxious weeds sprout in your soul’s garden and choke out the flowers of noble sentiments. The sooner you recognize any weeds of negativity— before their roots become deeply entrenched—the easier it is to pull them out.
Our Guru said, “Reincarnation is created by the satanic force, which has instilled in people wrong desires and attachments, and has influenced them to leave the kingdom of God to return repeatedly to earth—the land of false hopes and suffering.”
If we want to find God and end our story of many incarnations, we must earnestly, energetically, and determinedly oppose those tendencies that make us cling to lower states of consciousness. When the ego realizes that we will never let up in our efforts, it eventually abandons the field of battle, and we stand victorious over the one true enemy: delusion. And that is the end of our story.
Joined with you towards victory,
Nayaswami Devi
23 Comments
A very moving post. Thank you, Nayaswami Devi, for this deep inspiration and reminder. My favorite part was the ending: “Joined with you in victory,” that affirms not only a “happy ending” to our life story, but that we will live it together with the support and satsang of our gurubhais and our masters.
Dear Nayaswami Devi Ji,
Thank you for sharing this :)
Very thoughtful and Yes its need of the hour for ourselves to keep away from Hate . With Divine & Guru blessings , we strive to be in the journey of love :)
Aum…Prem
Dear Devi, Thank you for this precious jewel of advice that comes dressed in a perfect wildflower from the fields of heaven. You are a beautiful, heavenly sight inside my mind’s heart. with love and friendship always, mariana
Dear Devi,
Thankyou for sharing theses beautiful thoughts.
Joy ,
Kamini
Dear Ji’s
Thank you for sharing , the Guidance showered upon, through the Sat sang, and Revelations of Guru and Masters Pointers makes the Path Lovable.
With Gratitude
R sundararajan
Thank you Deviji about these constant nudges and reminder for moving towards perfection. You are a perfect channel for God and Guru’s Divine Friendship to all.
Thank you, I really needed to be reminded of this at this moment. Blessings of peace and love to all!
I have a deep ressentment towards my Brother,who’s 3 years younger than me. I feel,no matter what I do,he won’t change his judgement towards me. Thus I have a hard time forgiving him,but I feel I must,if I want to change at least the way I feel. I know I can’t change him but I should be able to change my own attitude. Alright,I forgive him,I will be loving. Could you please pray for us,that the best comes out.
Love, Dominic
Yes, we will ask God to help you resolve this situation.
With joy,
devi
Thanks! all this always comes at the right time, is a time to tune into the voice of the Divine Mother that always explains step by step the path to follow in his footsteps.
Thanks! all this always comes at the right time, is a time to tune into the voice of the Divine Mother that always explains step by step the path to follow in his footsteps.
Wonderful. Thank you for this. I have been working o forgiving one person in particular for 20 years now. It’s not easy and I hope every day is THAT day.
Thank you for sharing.
Joy and peace to you.
I have faced similar situations, many times. People tell me that you are too nice for everyone.
Thank you again. What a great reminder. I am going through some physical challenges and must remember I am not this body. All your letters help me so much. Everything is God Alone.
Dear Devi
This is exactly what I needed. This is one of the negative emotion, I am struggling to win over and you have beautifully shown me the path.
Thank you for sharing this great article.
With Regards & Gratitude
Sudhir
Dear Amazing Devi,
You nailed it!
God Bless you and Thank you!
May all our hearts be free, that we may we soar in Self-realization!!
That we may soar in the Light and share that Light!!
~~~Peace, Josette
As always, a lovely and timely reminder!
Totally delightful! I heard a master say we have 1and a half minutes to clear out negative reactions before they take root in our aura. So cool to know this, thanks so much!
Ever so beautiful… How well explained, word for word. Thank you for sharing. ?
Thanks , that really hit home, I’ll continue in the battle not to be sucked into the negativity that I often run into.
This writing was inspirational but what really touched me was reading the comments. I rarely read comments on the computer because I have discovered on most sites they are opportunities for people to vent and to show the lowest part of themselves. These comments were all loving and full of gratitude for the writer’s words. Thank you for these moments of upliftment. There is much love in the world if you are looking in the right places.
Dear Susan,
I totally agree. Reading the comments are my favorite part of writing the blog.
With joy,
devi
This is such a valuable story, I have noticed when I feel anger, resentment, etc. in life that if I feel this inward it feels terrible, like I feel ill and sick so I have been practicing to release these feelings with forgiveness and love to the best of my ability and it not only makes me feel better but I am happier and can go about my day with such a lighter perspective of life.