Inner Truth: Why Forgiveness Matters

There was a gardener who loved each tree, each plant, each little shrub in his garden so dearly that he would not cast away the dead leaves and the withered branches. He stored them all in his garden.

Gradually all the space in his small garden was taken up by the dead leaves and dry branches, and the beautiful garden wore the appearance of a garbage heap.

Are we not— so many of us— like this gardener? We go on storing worries and anxieties, failures and frustrations, fears and disappointments, which are better cast away and forgotten. And the beautiful garden of our life turns into a wasteland!

A troubled conscience will never allow us to live in peace and quiet - and our conscience will continue to remain troubled unless we rid ourselves of the hatred and resentment that makes us unforgiving.

If we wish to achieve inner peace, there is only one way - release ourselves from anger and resentment, learn to let go of hatred, and practise forgiveness. The truth is, if you are unable to forgive and forget, you pay the price in physical and emotional terms. What form this emotional, physical deprivation may take, it is difficult to predict.

The author, head of Sadhu Vaswani Mission, is a spiritual master. www.sadhuvaswani.org

Have a spiritual message? Mail it to us at inbox@dnaindia.net in 250 words or less.