After rereading my post on [1] Forgiveness and Karma, I realized that some of my outlooks on the subject have evolved. In the past I thought of karma as something similar to revenge. Those wrongdoers will get what they deserve. I still believe in karma, but maybe more in the sense of how we attract things. I attracted these so called wrongdoings, because I hadn’t learned the lesson they had for me. These wrongdoings happen over and over until I learn their lesson. So these wrongdoings aren’t really negative or even wrong, they are valuable life lessons.

After doing some research on the internet on the subject of forgiveness, I realized how important it truly is. There are many forgiveness research projects which I didn’t know. They explain how not forgiving people can lead to serious physical and mental illnesses. It can destroy lives and entire nations.

The subject of forgiveness keeps popping up everyday in my life so obviously there is a lesson in there for me to learn. I don’t feel the need to forgive anybody, because I feel I have not been wronged. I am no longer a victim. I haven’t found the lesson yet, but I am exploring it. Although my exploration has touched other’s lives, so maybe my understanding of this is the lesson?

I found some very interesting reading from a sermon by Vann Knight, Parish Minister, and below is a quote:

What is the relationship between forgiveness and karma? In other words, does forgiveness cancel the consequences of destructive attitudes, words and deeds? The answer is “no.” Though it may not appear so at the times even when we are forgiven, we still reap the consequences of our actions. For instance, the person from whom money was stolen may forgive the thief and cancel the debt, but the thief will in some way experience the consequences of stealing. The consequences are inextricably bound to the action. Once the arrow has left the bow, you can’t call it back. Forgiveness and karma work something like this: If you destroy another person’s hand by holding it in the fire, you may be forgiven by that person and you may be able to forgive yourself, and you may come to know the forgiveness of God, but the burned person will live the rest of their life with a physical scar, and you will live the rest of your life with a spiritual scar. Here’s a spiritual hypothesis that I believe to be true: to whatever degree I inflict injury of any kind on another, I inflict an equal injury of some kind on myself. Forgiveness does not cancel consequences, but forgiveness does mean that I experience those consequences in the context of grace.

Now, listen very carefully. Forgiveness does not cancel the consequences of what I have already done, but forgiveness may alter, for the better, future actions and therefore future consequences. A basic concept related to forgiveness is that of “turning.” This turning implies a turning away from that which is destructive and turning to that which is creative. To the degree that forgiveness prompts me to do good, I am then set on a course to reap positive creative consequences. In this sense, forgiveness has the potential for changing our future – our future actions and therefore their future consequences.

Keep in mind that I said forgiveness has the “potential” for changing our future. Whether our future becomes better because we are forgiven depends on our response to forgiveness. If I know myself to be forgiven but take it for granted with no sense of gratitude, or if I have little or no appreciation for the damage that I did, or if I have no real intent to change my destructive ways, then the fact that I have been forgiven will have minimal impact on my future actions and therefore minimal impact on future consequences. In essence, even if you are forgiven, if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve been getting.

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Wow! [2] Click here if you would like to read the full text.

Robert D. Enright, PhD in his book [3] Forgiveness is a Choice describes a systematic way to work toward forgiveness. The following material is adapted from Dr. Enright’s work. As you consider each step, you are working toward forgiving.

Phase 1 - Uncovering Your Anger

Have you faced your anger?
Are you afraid to expose your shame or guilt?
Has your anger affected your health?
Are you obsessed with the injury or the offender?
Do you compare your situation with that of the offender?
Has the injury changed your life or your worldview?

Phase 2 - Deciding to Forgive
Decide that what you have been doing has not worked.
Be willing to begin the forgiveness process.
Decide to forgive.

Phase 3 - Working on Forgiveness
Work toward understanding.
Work toward compassion.
Acknowledge your pain and let it be.
Do an act of kindness toward the offender, or to honor your decision.

Phase 4 - Discovering Release from Emotional Prison
Discover the meaning of suffering.
Discover your own need for forgiveness.
Discover that you are not alone.
Discover the purpose of your life.
Discover the freedom of forgiveness.