In the world of dreams, forgiveness is seen as something that provides an uneven sacrifice of good for evil; a gift unjustified and undeserved. It sees forgiveness as something bestowed by the innocent on the guilty; being fully aware of the evil deed of the "other," yet offering absolution. "I" forgive "you." One is innocent, the other guilty. The innocent look past the deeds of the guilty.
This is a twisted view of forgiveness.
First of all there are no "others," the "world" and all its "evil deeds" are a dream in my mind. I desire to see a world "apart from" God and this was seemingly projected from my mind to "outside" my mind. The Son seems to be split into "many" and thrust outside of himself. Oneness was "divided by a billion," creating up/down, right/left, here/there, near/far, safe/unsafe, happy/sad, you/me etc.
Real forgiveness pardons only what is false and untrue. Truth is God's Creation. All Truth belongs to Him and reflects His Laws and radiates His Love. The major difficulty that I find in genuine forgiveness is, I still believe I must forgive something that really happened. All I need do is forgive what never happened and what was never True. Real forgiveness sees nothing outside me.
"Sin" is not Real and this makes true forgiveness natural and completely sane; a deep relief and a quiet blessing to my mind. It does not give illusions any Reality at all, but collects them lightly, with a little laugh and gently lays them at the feet of Truth. Like a child playing a game of war with plastic soldiers; he looks up to see his mother and father nearby in safe comfort, reminding himself he is only playing.
Forgiveness is the only thing that stands for Truth among the illusions of the world. It sees their nothingness and looks straight through the thousand forms in which they appear. Forgiveness looks on what is false and it is not deceived. It does not become anxious at the self-accusing shrieks of sinners mad with guilt, but looks on them with quiet eyes and thinks "this is not Truth."
Forgiveness sees illusions as illusions, not as Truth. It overlooks what is not there and opens the Way to Truth, which has been blocked by dreams of guilt. While I continue to see a "world of insanity" before me, I will Awaken to Reality by offering forgiveness.
When I am tempted to accuse someone of "sin" in any form, I can understand that there is nothing outside me, that "evil/bad" is only a projection of my own guilt. What I seem to see "others" saying and doing is a projection of my own mind, for there are no "others" and there is nothing outside me. I will keep my mind as free of guilt and pain as God Himself intended it to be, and as it is in Truth.
Let all dreams of evil, hatred and attack be brought silently to Truth. I will not dwell on them and allow them to consume my mind and keep it tormented. I will gently Awaken from the dream by understanding what I thought I saw was never there. There is no need to "fight" to save myself. I am Safe in Heaven with my Father, dreaming of exile to a world of madness.
Yet while I see a "world" before me, I must practice forgiveness which joins my mind with the Reality in me. I will spend 15 minutes twice today in pursuit of Reality. While I see a dream before me, I will choose one brother and think about his "sins" one by one as they cross my mind. Briefly consider all the "evil" things I thought of him and realize that there are no "others" and nothing "outside" myself, so the "sin" I perceive is my own thought of guilt and madness. I will begin to sense a lifting up, a lightening of a weight across my chest and a deep feeling of relief. The heavy chains of condemnation I sought to lay on a "brother" have imprisoned only myself and weighed me down.
Today I will practice forgiveness throughout the day, for there will still be many times when I forget its meaning and attack a "brother" who is really myself. I crucify only myself. My "brother" is myself.
"I will see forgiveness as it is."
