Life does not always go our way. When we feel we have been wronged or taken advantage of, we become sad, angry, and sometimes vengeful. Giving in to these feelings, we worsen our situation and plummet even deeper into states of pain and turmoil.
In his discourse today, Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj spoke of the two ways in which we can deal with such situations: one is to give in to anger and seek revenge. The other, which is the way of the saints, is the path of mercy and forgiveness. When we avenge our hurt and pain, we inflict pain on others and ourselves. Revenge and anger do not resolve anything. By contrast, when we find it in our hearts to forgive and be merciful, we lead with kindness, which dissipates the turmoil.
We can only control our own actions, said the spiritual Master. When others harm or hurt us, it is futile for us to try to control their actions. Instead, we must learn to calm ourselves and do what we can to resolve the situation peacefully. To forgive those who have hurt us, we need to learn to defocus from the pain and reach a state where we have no feelings of hurt or revenge but only love.
How can we attain this state? Saints and mystics tell us this happens when we find closeness with God. God, the Creator, is an Ocean of love, and when we focus on God, we are bathed in this love. We can focus on God through meditation, by withdrawing our attention from the pain and sorrow of the outer world and focusing on the gateway to the inner spiritual worlds at the third eye. As we do so, we become imbued in God’s love and begin to see the oneness of all Creation. We realize our connectedness with all life forms, as part of one family of God. Mercy and kindness then come easily to us as we see one another as our own. We recognize how we bring pain and difficulty to others when we seek to have our way. God is within, and the sure way to eliminate the pain and suffering of this world is to connect with God’s unending expanse of love, for love heals all wounds.
