Hurts, injustice, discrimination, and unfair treatment, whether real or perceived, objective or subjective, are inevitable. They have been all through human history; they will be there as long as human beings exist. It does not matter whether they are perceived or real. For our perception is our reality. The illusory perception of a piece of rope as a snake at night can create the same effect as the perception of a real snake. We can make our perception as accurate as possible. Mentally healthy persons have comparatively more accurate perceptions. The more mentally healthy you are, the more accurate your perception is going to be. Most likely all persons in the world have experienced some form of hurt, injustice, discrimination, misunderstanding, and unfair treatment. The way we deal with these situations will determine who we are and how spiritually and emotionally mature we are or become. Certainly the French soccer coach in the World Cup soccer tournament that is going on now was very hurt. But would we approve his behavior of not shaking hands with his opponent South African coach? Did the French soccer team have to leave South Africa, the venue of the World Cup tournament, prematurely and in disgrace? What about the French player who uttered unspeakable profanities against his coach? And the player who apparently intentionally fell down in court during play feigning to have been hit by an opponent to get unfair advantage against the French team? What happened to sportspersonship all over the world? Questions galore. Answers have to come from who we are and what we are about. Are we any different from players who are closely watched and scrutinized by the entire world? I do not think so. The bad aspects of these players and coaches are within us; so are their good aspects. The relevant question is: Are we taming the bad elements to keeping them in check while letting the good elements to advance our humanity – the entire humanity? The unwillingness to forgive the slights, humiliations, hurts, injustice has immensely contributed to the pain, misery, and depression of the whole world.
            
Seven Reasons to Forgive

             Persons who have offended and hurt us may not have the goodness or courage to ask our forgiveness. Or they may even be ignorant. Christ on the cross forgave those who were killing him. He said: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23, 34)". Gandhi is reported to have had "He Ram" (Oh God) on his lips when he was assassinated just before the prayer meeting. That was his life-long wish. The most important thing to remember is: It is good to forgive others if for no other reason than enlightened self-interest. By not forgiving,
1. we keep the hurt alive within us;
2. we keep the score (who hurt us, how many times);
3.we stay entangled in that we are not as free as we can be;
4. we let the person who hurt us rent space in our head free; we carry him/her – clearly a burden;
5. we continue his/her abuse – this time the difference is: we abuse ourselves instead of him/her by choosing not to let go of this person from our system;
6. we trap some energy that is not available for our emotional and spiritual expansion and development;
7. and, above all, healing cannot take place. No true inner peace or wholesome and complete healing can be had without true forgiving.
             From a spiritual perspective, how can we ask God to forgive us if we are unwilling to forgive our fellow human beings. In the Our Father (Matthew 6, 9-15), perhaps the most important prayer of all times, very great importance is given to forgiveness. Of the two most important things asked of God in that prayer, forgiveness comes after necessary daily need like food. Jews in the Old Testament were required to forgive seven times. So to the question of Peter: "How many times one should forgive? Seven times?", the instant answer of Jesus gave was: "Seventy times seven", that is, endless times(Matthew, 18, 21&22). Another important thing to keep in mind is: We have often heard the expression - Forgive and forget. Forgetting is most likely to take place when forgiving is unconditional and complete, and when what is forgiven is not hugely tragic. Some persons think that complete forgiving cannot take place without forgetting. That is not true. Forgiving is in our power/control as it is a conscious act of the will; forgetting is not in our control as it is not in our power to forget. In other words, we cannot will to forget. The Indian as well as the Semitic ("forgive them for they know not") concept of ignorance (avidya) as the root of all evil greatly facilitates our act of forgiveness.
             In our spirit life we want to be like the Lord. So my daily prayer is: "Lord, Universal Consciousness, Cosmic Energy, let me see the world and all the human beings the way you see them; let me forgive them the way you forgive them when they hurt; let me love them the way you love them".