Zen and Forgiveness

I could never figure out why people hang on to regrets and negative past experiences when it is so much healthier to let them go. For some reason, most people just cannot help thinking about them and, for some that negative experience keeps playing over and over in the back of their mind like an old rerun movie; I guess it is just human nature.

That experience happened only once, well hopefully, but when that negative past experience or regret starts to creep back into the mind, the mind and body actually feel the stress of when it first happened, and there is absolutely no benefit in doing so.

This is unjustified stress and feelings you don’t need and it is taking up your time in an unproductive way; time that you should use to experience more fulfilling and happier feelings that allow you to be Zen.

Sometimes when I am meditating, a negative thought or emotion will try to interfere while I am focusing on my meditation. I do not let it rattle me and then I use trigger words or phrases to oust them from my thoughts.

My trigger words and phrases work very well for me. When a negative thought intrudes I simply say in my mind, stop or okay, that’s enough. Here are a few techniques that help me dismiss those negative past experiences from my thoughts.

I focus on my breathing when meditating and realize those experiences are coming from my past. I consider those past negative experiences and regrets a part of life’s lesson and I’ve learned from them and will not let them happen again.

If an experience has caused you harm or cost in some way try to forgive not only the one who has caused you harm but also forgive yourself.

Forgiveness is very powerful and an excellent technique for letting go. Realize that all the experiences in your life, negative and positive, are attracted by you, your attitudes, emotions, and how you think.

By realizing this and owning it, you can change your thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and habits, allowing you to become a true master of yourself instead of a victim of your past and you will truly become Zen.

Forgiveness is a powerful ally because it gives you freedom. Freedom from harboring those negative and angry feelings, freedom in gaining a healthier state of mind, and freedom to enforce those positive feelings; those feel good feelings in your life.

Of course you cannot undo what has already been done so the best course of action is to forgive and forget. If you were to carry the emotional baggage of pain and anger and not forgive and forget, then you would always keep that negative past experience in the present.

Not only that but if you continue to hold a grudge or keep that angry emotion alive it would block your ability to move forward and have a healthy Zen attitude in life.

It is important for you to realize that even though you may not have played a part in those negative experiences from the past, you certainly have control of them and how you allow them to affect your life now and in the future.

It does take time to learn how to forgive and forget, and in order to do that it is important to have a solid understanding of what it really means to forgive. It means giving up feelings of anger, resentment, and the desire to get even with the person who harmed you.

It does not mean you have to go along with what has happened to you, but you do need to accept it, release it, forget it, and move on. It is an important skill set to work on because it will improve your emotional state of mind, leading to peace and Zen.

It is essential that you learn to forgive yourself. The strange thing is that you may not be aware that you are holding a grudge against yourself. However, you can discover this is by paying attention to your mind-talk; those conversations you have with yourself.