Welcome. This meditation supports the Stage Six task of forgiving and accepting others as human. In this task, you are challenged to see that the actions of others don’t mean anything about YOU. You are asked to forgive, in the sense of letting their choices be THEIRS, and seeing that they are fallible humans just like you. This task then further challenges you to forgive and accept aspects of society, like groups of people, or societal norms, that you previously rejected. Acceptance here does not mean agreeing with or condoning. It means fully recognizing that they are a part of your current reality, and that doesn’t mean anything about you. The hardest part of this task is detaching the existence and actions of others from meaning anything about you, so that you can see their humanity and their truth clearly. This meditation will support that detachment and the forgiveness and acceptance needed to see effectively see the humanity of others.
Posture
Take a moment to get comfortable. You can sit or stand or lay down. It’s doesn’t matter. You can close your eyes or keep them open. Do what works for you. If you are in a public place, you can use the people around you as inspiration.
Presence
Take a slow deep breath. Let it out like a sigh of relief. Be at peace. You are here now. Take another slow deep breath, and this time, send it out slowly, consciously, with purpose, all the way. Be at peace. You are here now. Pause and repeat these breaths until you feel relaxed and at peace.
Journey
Let’s begin. Forgiveness is a loaded word. To forgive is NOT to condone or agree with. To forgive is to let their choices be THEIR business, not yours. Take a moment with that truth.
Consider now someone who has wronged you in the past. They made a choice. They made a mistake. They hurt you. If you have not yet forgiven it, it is because they have not yet tried to make amends. They have not acknowledged your pain. You may feel they should be punished. Fear not, karma will have its way. We all receive what we give.
So you don’t want to waste your time wishing others pain. In fact, how many hours have you wasted in thoughts of them at all? Do you really want to donate your time to them? Let’s let them go quickly…
To let something have to connect with it deeply. Let’s acknowledge each truth in turn.
They made a choice and wronged you. Yes….
They must live with their choice. Yes…
Can you see how life has already taken its price? Would you want to be them?
Their choice does not MEAN anything about YOU. It does not IMPLY anything about YOU. YES… Sit with this truth and feel it deeply.
Thank them for the lesson. Now let them go.
Turn your attention now to some societal norm or social rule that you disagree with. Some people think it is a good rule for their lives. Yes. But you don’t have to follow it. NO.
You have a choice. They don’t have to be wrong for you to be right. They can follow what is right for them right now and you can follow what is right for you right now. Yes.
Lastly, consider a group of people that you have previously rejected. Acceptance does not mean agreement. You can accept that they exist. You can accept that they make their own choices for themselves. You can accept that you disagree. You can make your own choices for your own life. And it’s all OK.
If you are in public, look around. If you are not, imagine a crowded place. Here we are… each on our own independent journey… crossing paths sometimes… trying to figure it out… make it the best choices for ourselves as we can at the time, knowing what we know…. not knowing what we don’t know…. clueless about the future ahead… hoping for the best… sometimes encountering the worst… making better choices for ourselves on our own paths… this is what it is to be human. Here we are… each of us human… fallible… mistaken… but better each day… learning…. whole… and all in this game called being human.
Can you see it? Their humanity? Their fragile realities? Their mistakes and their triumphs? Their joy and their pain? Watch them. See how they each try to find their way back to unconditional love. See how they look in the wrong places, until they look inside. See their journey’s eventual end in their later years…. see them as old and wise, maybe grumpy or sweet. See them at the very end, seeing the truth in the light…. Just … like … YOU.
Return
When you are ready, bring your awareness back to your surroundings. Notice how you feel. Take this feeling with you and return to it anytime you like. Seeing the humanity in others includes increases your ability to see the humanity in yourself. Enjoy this side benefit as you practice.
