The Power of Forgiving

I’ve started to consult the I Ching (Book of Change) more often lately, partly because I plan to conduct an introduction workshop on the I Ching at the City College of New York Adult and Continuing Education Program this Fall (ACE 212 650-7312). I say partly because the workshop is my way of staying on track with my lifetime commitment to study the mysteries of the Taoist concept of causality and change. The best way to learn is to teach.
I consulted the I Ching for insight on what to write about this week and the eighth hexagram Accord came up. Association with one another and learning from one another is how the I Ching explains Accord.

It took me some time to understand how this would relate to an article but the advice one gets from the I Ching is always personal. I realized that the power of forgiving was the advice I needed to give two of my family members who were not in accord with each other. I also realized that the power of forgiving is an important concept to talk about. There’s no power in seeing yourself as a victim - a major reason that stands in the way of forgiving.

I interviewed Jamillah Shabazz, a spiritual channeler and founder of the Healing Center (www.thehealingcenterjs.com) on my Urbanology radio program last week. In appreciation she sent me an interesting CD entitled Imprints of the Soul, where her Spiritual guide talked about the loss of power one experiences when one considers themselves to be victims. You must lose yourself to find yourself, only then can you understand the power and freedom of letting go. Somebody did something to you, you consider yourself to be the victim, and you carry the emotional pain and the story
with you long after the action that caused the emotional or physical pain.

Emotional stress builds if you cannot forgive and let go of the past. Eckhart Tolle writes in his bestselling book, A New Earth, that “Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now; and if the past cannot prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?”
Some may view forgiving as a sign of weakness, but the negative emotional pain they carry is self destructive and a primary source of many illnesses. Being in accord with oneself is being in harmony. To be truly in harmony you must be in the present, not in the pain of the past, or the fear of the future.

I invite you to join me next Sunday, July 26th, at the 1st Harlem Week 2009 outdoor festival (www.harlemdiscover.com) at U.S. Grants National Memorial Park, located at West 122nd Street and Riverside Drive. I’ll be giving Ki Energy Chunsu treatments from 12 - 7pm. Chunsu treatments help your body to address stress by giving you the opportunity to experience being in the present. If you bring this article to my booth I’ll give you a free treatment.