Everything that I could ever say about you,
Or understand about you, is true of me –
Of some previous, or present, or potential part of me.
I must forgive you, or I have not forgiven myself
For being who I am,
In every previous, or present, or potential aspect.
If I judge you, I judge the corresponding part of my own self.
If I condemn you, I am myself condemned.
If I lash out at you, I will, myself, experience pain.
If I turn away from you, I become blind to myself,
And I am in danger of being hypocritical.
So I must turn toward you; this aspect of myself.
If I am in pain, I must ask myself
"What have I not forgiven?"
If I am feeling self-righteous, I must ask myself
"What am I being blind to? What am I not seeing in myself?"
I need YOU, in order to learn about myself;
To discover all the potential aspects of my being,
And through forgiveness,
I practise the love of Being.
I need you in order to learn new ways
To respond to every aspect of Being;
Ways which are in harmony with the Great Principle of Life.
I cannot define this Principle,
But I can intuitively experience it as a state of bliss;
As the Peace that passes Understanding;
As being "at-one-with" the world;
As a state of joy, of love:
The inner core reality which transcends physical matter
And makes material concerns seem trivial and "unreal".
This does not mean I will always agree with you,
Or allow you to do whatever you want with respect to me,
Or even approve of everything you do.
It simply means I will respond at any time
Not to "what is good for you,"
Not to "what is best for me,"
But to what is going to bring us both
Into harmony with the Great Principle, the "One",
And so, ultimately, with each other.
I am prepared to do
Whatever it is that I ask of you,
With full knowledge
That whatever it is I have recognized in you
Is also a part of myself.
Through coming to know this part of myself,
And knowing what I can do
To bring about a more harmonious perspective,
I can offer myself as a guide to you;
But just as I was blind
And in my own time, by my own effort learned to see,
I respect that it will be
In your own time, by your own effort, that you
In your turn, will also learn.
This is the nature of forgiveness.
