Have you ever had trouble forgiving someone for something they "did to you"? We all experience various aspects of life that are challenging, and if these challenges involve the behaviour of another human being being unacceptable, it can be easy to hold a grudge. But how can we forgive if we truly believe that another person has done wrong? Simple, we can't. If we still believe them to be wrong, then we havent yet forgiven.

The inability to forgive arises solely from the mistake of identifying a person as their thoughts. An average human being currently experiences many thousands of thoughts every single day: I must clean my teeth; What should I cook for dinner?; I wonder what the weather will be like today?; My bum looks big. The internal dialogue goes on and on. To believe that we are solely the collection of all such thoughts is absurd, yet people make this mistake all the time, and it is at the core of all problems.

Your true self is beyond all description. It cannot accurately be put into words. We can point you towards a realisation of this in the following way: Imagine all of the actions that you could potentially carry out here on earth: Mastering the game of golf; Cooking a great meal; Riding a bike; Looking at a bird; Cracking jokes. There are literally an uncountable number of actions that you could potentially perform. Then imagine all of the things that havent even been invented yet, and all of the things happening all over the rest of the Universe that you could in theory become engaged in. A little thought and you will realise that there is an infinite number of possibilities. And so it could be said that you ARE a field of inifinite possibilities. You cannot be defined. You are unlimited potential. Another way to see that you are not your thoughts is simply to meditate. When you experience being without thought it becomes obvious that you cannot possibly be a collection of those thoughts you sometimes experience.

Thoughts are a part of your human experience, just like seeing, smelling, tasting etc. They are a tool, nothing more. Yet You are so much more. Not only are you a field of infinite possibilities, but as you detach from your thoughts you realise that you are pure joy and love. Without identification with thought it is impossible for you to commit acts of harm on another.

With this realisation, if someone does something that initially upsets you or makes you angry, remember what is really going on here. If you are blaming them for something then you are making the ultimate mistake: you are seeing that person not as they truly are, but as a collection of thoughts and actions.

Consider the kinds of thoughts that are going through the head of someone conducting an extreme act of violence. Imagine the pain associated with those thoughts. To commit such an act, that person must be identified with their thoughts, completely unaware of the infinite depth of their true being lying beneath. In the moment of violence, they believe that they are hatred itself. Without the identification with hateful thoughts, violence could not possibly happen. Once you realise this, there is no need to hold a grudge. They did what they did because they were unconscious; lost in a stream of thoughts. There really was nothing to forgive. In fact it was just a mistake, and you can offer help. This is where compassion arises and transforms the situation.

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