Forgiveness
Whatever forgiveness is, it is not putting an end to the matter. It is not marking an episode closed and completed--out of memory, out of mind. Forgiveness does not end bearing witness. If anything, it deepens the process of bearing witness. If I really believe that we are one body, then the killer, the torturer, the SS guard, are all me. Can I forgive myself? Can I see past the blaming, the accusing, the rage, and the guilt? If I can, then I can take action. I can begin to take care of the situation and the people around me. I can take care of this universe, which is none other than my body.
How do we atone? By being at-one. By seeing that at every moment, a part of me is raping while another is being raped, a part of me is wantonly destroying while another part is being destroyed, a part of me goes hungry while another eats to excess. We are all interconnected. We are all one. If we get stuck in anger, in blame, and in guilt, then we are paralyzed, we can't act. When we can get beyond those things, when we can forgive, then the right action arises by itself, and we begin to take care of each other.
Forgiveness means bearing witness to all aspects of ourselves, seeing how one aspect does something, another aspect suffers, and they're all me. ~Bernie Glassman
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