Forgiveness Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Dharmic=== ==== Buddhism ==== In [[Buddhism]], forgiveness prevents harmful thoughts from causing havoc on one's mental well-being.<ref>{{cite web | year = 2006 | url = http://www.psychjourney.com/Buddhism%20Series.htm | website = Psychjourney |author=Chen Yu-Hsi|title= Introduction to Buddhism Series | access-date = 2006-06-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060414062806/http://www.psychjourney.com/Buddhism%20Series.htm | archive-date = 2006-04-14 }}</ref> Buddhism recognizes that [[Vedanā|feelings]] of [[Dvesha (Buddhism)|hatred]] and [[Vyāpāda|ill-will]] leave a lasting effect on our mind-[[Karma in Buddhism|karma]]. Buddhism encourages the cultivation of thoughts that leave a more wholesome effect. "In contemplating the law of karma, we realize that it is not a matter of seeking revenge but of practicing {{transliteration|pi|[[mettā]]}} and forgiveness, for the victimizer is, truly, the most unfortunate of all."<ref>{{cite journal | date = October 1997 | url = http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/article/universal_loving_kindness/#top | journal=Forest Sangha | number=42|title= Universal Loving Kindness |author=Ajahn Sumedho| access-date = 2009-02-07 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081210082606/http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/article/universal_loving_kindness/#top | archive-date = 2008-12-10 }}</ref> When resentments have already arisen, the Buddhist view is to calmly proceed to release them by going back to their roots{{explain|date=July 2023}}. Buddhism centers on release from delusion and suffering through [[Buddhist meditation|meditation]] and receiving insight into the nature of [[Reality in Buddhism|reality]]. Buddhism questions the reality of the [[Raga (Buddhism)|passions]] that make forgiveness necessary as well as the reality of the objects of those passions.<ref>{{cite web | year = 2006 | first=Joseph S.|last=O'Leary|url = https://josephsoleary.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/02/buddhist_and_fo.html | title = Buddhism and Forgiveness | access-date = 2009-02-07 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081208080949/http://josephsoleary.typepad.com/my_weblog/buddhism/index.html | archive-date = 2008-12-08 }}</ref> "If we haven’t forgiven, we keep creating an identity around our pain, and that is what is reborn. That is what suffers."<ref>{{cite web | year = 2004 | url = http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/article/preparing_for_death/#top | author=Ajahn Pasanno| website= Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery |title= Preparing for Death | access-date = 2006-06-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060118231818/http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/article/preparing_for_death/#top | archive-date = 2006-01-18 }}</ref> Buddhism places much emphasis on the concepts of {{transliteration|pi|mettā}} (loving kindness), {{transliteration|pi|[[Karuṇā|karuna]]}} (compassion), {{transliteration|pi|[[mudita]]}} (sympathetic joy), and {{transliteration|pi|[[upekkhā]]}} (equanimity), as a means to avoiding resentments in the first place. These reflections are used to understand the context of suffering in the world, both our own and the suffering of others. {{quote|"He abused me, he struck me, he overcame me, he robbed me" — in those who harbor such thoughts hatred will never cease. "He abused me, he struck me, he overcame me, he robbed me" — in those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred will cease."|[[Dhammapada]] 1.3–4 ([[Dhammapada (Radhakrishnan translation)|trans. Radhakrishnan]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.01.than.html|title=Yamakavagga: Pairs|year=1997|website=Access to Insight|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415034956/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.01.than.html |archive-date=2009-04-15|translator=Thanissaro Bikkhu}}</ref>}} {{anchor|Hinduism}} ==== Hindu Dharma ==== {{Main|Kshama}} [[File:Holi Feest 2008 meisjes.jpg|thumb|[[Holi]] is the Hindu festival of colors, celebrated in spring. Traditionally, this is also a day to mark forgiveness, meet others, and repair relationships.<ref>{{multiref2 |1={{cite journal|last=Agarwal|first=R.|year=2013|url=http://forum.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/sujsha/article/view/7501|url-status=dead|title=Water Festivals of Thailand: The Indian Connection|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102204158/http://forum.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/sujsha/article/view/7501 |archive-date=2013-11-02 |location=Silpakorn University|journal= Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts|pages=7–18}} |2={{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266312/Hinduism/59795/Vaishnava-rites|url-status=dead|title=Vaishnava Rites|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007055612/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266312/Hinduism/59795/Vaishnava-rites |archive-date=2013-10-07 |at=Sacred times and festivals|website= Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2009}} }}</ref> In Indonesia, among Balinese Hindus, Ngembak Geni — the day after [[Nyepi]] – is the ritual festive day in spring to meet, and both seek forgiveness and forgive each other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indo.com/culture/nyepi.html|title=Bali's day of silence|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131115634/http://indo.com/culture/nyepi.html |archive-date=2009-01-31 |website=Bali & Indonesia on the Net|year=2010}}</ref>]] In [[Vedic period#Literature|Vedic literature]] and [[Indian epic poetry|epics]] of [[Hinduism]], {{transliteration|sa|ksama}} or {{transliteration|sa|kshyama}} ([[Sanskrit]]: [[Wiktionary:क्षमा|क्षमा]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=forgiveness+&trans=Translate&direction=AU|url-status=dead|title=Forgiveness|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102133347/http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=forgiveness+&trans=Translate&direction=AU |archive-date=2013-11-02 |website=English-Sanskrit Dictionary, Spoken Sanskrit|location=Germany|year=2010}}</ref> and fusion words based on it, name the concept of forgiveness. The word {{transliteration|sa|ksama}} is often combined with {{transliteration|sa|kripa}} (tenderness), {{transliteration|sa|daya}} (kindness), and {{transliteration|sa|karuna}} ([[Wiktionary:करुणा|करुणा]], compassion) in [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit texts]].<ref name="mpt">{{cite book|first1=Michael E.|last1=McCullough|first2=Kenneth I.|last2=Pargament|first3=Carl E.|last3=Thoresen|year=2001|title=Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice|publisher=The Guildford Press|isbn=978-1572307117|pages=21–39}}</ref> In [[Rigveda|the Rigveda]], forgiveness is discussed in verses dedicated to the deity Varuna, both the context of the one who has done wrong and the one who is wronged.<ref>{{multiref2 |1={{cite book|translator-first=Ralph|translator-last=Griffith|title=The Hymns of RugVeda|publisher=Motilal Banarsidas|year=1973}} |2={{cite journal|last=Hunter|first=Alan|year=2007|title=Forgiveness: Hindu and Western Perspectives|journal=[[Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies]]|volume=20|number=1|page=11|doi=10.7825/2164-6279.1386 |doi-access=free}} }}</ref> Forgiveness is considered one of the six cardinal virtues in Hindu Dharma. The theological basis for forgiveness in Hindu Dharma is that a person who does not forgive carries baggage of memories of the wrong, of negative feelings, and of [[Anger#Hinduism|anger]], and unresolved emotions that affect their present as well as future. In Hindu Dharma, not only should one forgive others, but one must also seek forgiveness if one has wronged someone else.<ref name="mpt" /> Forgiveness is to be sought from the individual wronged, as well as society at large, by means of [[Dāna#Hinduism|charity]], [[Ritual purification#Hinduism|purification]], [[Vrata#Hinduism|fasting]], [[Hinduism#Rituals|rituals]], and [[Dhyana in Hinduism|meditative]] introspection. Forgiveness is further refined in Hindu Dharma by rhetorically contrasting it in feminine and masculine form. In feminine form, one form of forgiveness is explained through [[Lakshmi]] (called [[Hindu deities|Goddess]] Sri in some parts of India); the other form is explained in the masculine form through her husband [[Vishnu]].<ref name="mpt" /> Feminine Lakshmi forgives even when the one who does wrong does not repent. Masculine Vishnu, on the other hand, forgives only when the wrongdoer repents. In Hindu Dharma, the feminine forgiveness granted without repentance by Lakshmi is higher and more noble than the masculine forgiveness granted only after there is repentance. In the Hindu epic [[Ramayana]], [[Sita]] – the wife of King [[Rama]] – is symbolically eulogized for forgiving a crow even as it harms her. Later in the epic Ramayana, she is eulogized again for forgiving those who harass her while she has been kidnapped in [[Lanka]].<ref name="mpt" /> Many other Hindu stories discuss forgiveness with or without repentance.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ransley|first=Cynthia|year=2004|title=Forgiveness: Themes and issues. Forgiveness and the healing process: A central therapeutic concern|isbn=1-58391-182-0|publisher=Brunner-Routledge|pages=10–32}}</ref> The concept of forgiveness is treated in extensive debates within Hindu literature. In some [[Hindu texts]],<ref>See ''Manusamhita'', 11.55, ''Mahabharata'' Vol. II, 1022:8</ref> certain [[Sin#Hinduism|sins]] and intentional acts are debated as naturally unforgivable, for example, murder and rape; these ancient scholars argue whether blanket forgiveness is [[Hindu ethics|morally]] justifiable in every circumstance, and whether forgiveness encourages crime, disrespect, social disorder, and people not taking you seriously.<ref>{{cite book|first=Prafulla|last=Mohapatra|year=2008|title=Ethics and Society|publisher=Concept Publishing|isbn=978-8180695230|pages=22–25}}</ref> Other ancient Hindu texts highlight that forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. Forgiveness in Hindu Dharma does not necessarily require that one reconcile with the offender, nor does it rule out reconciliation in some situations. Instead forgiveness in Hindu philosophy is being [[Compassion#Hinduism|compassionate]], tender, kind, and letting go of the harm or hurt caused by someone or something else.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Temoshok|first1=Lydia R.|last2=Chandra|first2=Prabha S.|title=Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice|publisher=The Guildford Press|isbn=978-1572307117| editor-last1=McCullough | editor-first1=Michael E. | editor-last2=Pargament | editor-first2=Kenneth I. | editor-last3=Thoresen | editor-first3=Carl E. | chapter=The Meaning of Forgiveness in a Specific Situational and Cultural Context|date=28 August 2001 }}</ref> Forgiveness is essential for one to free oneself from negative thoughts, and to be able to focus on blissfully living a moral and ethical life (a ''dharmic'' life).<ref name="mpt" /> In the highest self-realized state, forgiveness becomes the essence of one's personality, where the persecuted person remains unaffected, without agitation, without feeling like a victim, free from [[Arishadvargas|anger]] ({{transliteration|sa|akrodhi}}).<ref>{{multiref2 |1={{cite book|last=Radhakrishnan|first=Sarvepalli|year=1995|title=Religion and Society|location=Indus|publisher=Harper Collins India}} |2={{cite book|last=Sinha|first=Jadunath|year=1985|title=Indian psychology|volume=2 (Emotion and Will)|publisher=Motilal Banarsidas|location=New Delhi}} }}</ref> Other epics and ancient literature of Hindu Dharma discuss forgiveness. For example: {{Blockquote|<poem>Forgiveness is virtue; forgiveness is sacrifice; forgiveness is the Vedas; forgiveness is the Shruti. Forgiveness protecteth the ascetic merit of the future; forgiveness is asceticism; forgiveness is holiness; and by forgiveness is it that the universe is held together.</poem>|[[Mahabharata]], Book 3, Vana Parva, Section XXIX<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15474/15474-h/15474-h.htm#link2H_4_0322|chapter=Vana Parva|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327231954/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15474/15474-h/15474-h.htm |archive-date=2013-03-27|at=Section XXIX|title=Mahabharata|volume=I|year=1896|author= Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa|translator=Kisari Mohan Ganguli}}</ref>}} {{Blockquote|Righteousness is the one highest good, forgiveness is the one supreme peace, knowledge is one supreme contentment, and benevolence, one sole happiness.|[[Mahabharata]], Book 5, Udyoga Parva, Section XXXIII<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05033.htm|chapter=Udyoga Parva, chapter XXXIII|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012081817/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05033.htm |archive-date=2013-10-12|title=Mahabharata|translator=Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli}}</ref>}} {{Blockquote|text=<poem> Janak asked: "Oh lord, how does one attain wisdom? how does liberation happen?" Ashtavakra replied: "Oh beloved, if you want liberation, then renounce imagined passions as poison, take forgiveness, innocence, compassion, contentment and truth as nectar; (...)" </poem>|sign=[[Ashtavakra Gita]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osho.com/osho-online-library/osho-talks/krishna-yoga-janak-2a36cc7b-0cd?p=9dcf65d6ecc65c6bb95af1370350e875|title=Ashtavakra Gita, Chapter 1, Verse 2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029002436/http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-janak-ashtavakra-statements-b14e68d3-99b.aspx |archive-date=2013-10-29 |translator=OSHO|year=2008}} * Original: मुक्तिं इच्छसि चेत्तात विषयान् विषवत्त्यज । '''क्षमा'''र्जवदयातोषसत्यं पीयूषवद् भज || 2 || * Ashtavakra Gita has over 10 translations, each different; the above is closest consensus version</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Mukerjee | first=Radhakamal | title=Aṣṭāvakragītā (the Song of the Self Supreme): The Classical Text of Ātmādvaita by Aṣṭāvakra | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. | date=1971 | isbn=978-81-208-1367-0 | page=}}</ref>}} ====Jainism==== {{See also|Micchami Dukkadam|Kshamavani}} In [[Jainism]], forgiveness is one of the main virtues that Jains should cultivate. {{transliteration|sa|Kṣamāpanā}}, or supreme forgiveness, forms part of one of the ten characteristics of {{transliteration|sa|[[Dharma (Jainism)|dharma]]}}.<ref>{{cite book|last=Varni|first=Jinendra|postscript=; Samaṇ Suttaṁ; Ed. Prof. Sagarmal Jain|title=Translated Justice|editor-first1=T.K.|editor-last1=Tukol|editor-first2=K.K.|editor-last2=Dixit|year=1993|location=New Delhi|publisher=Bhagwan Mahavir memorial Samiti|at=verse 84}}</ref> In the Jain prayer, ({{transliteration|sa|[[pratikramana]]}}) Jains repeatedly seek forgiveness from various creatures—even from {{transliteration|sa|ekindriyas}} or single-sensed [[Jain terms and concepts#Classes of beings|beings]] like plants and microorganisms that they may have harmed while eating and doing routine activities.<ref>{{cite book | last =Jaini | first =Padmanabh | title =Collected Papers on Jaina Studies | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publ. | year =2000 | location =Delhi | isbn =978-81-208-1691-6 |page=285}}</ref> Forgiveness is asked by uttering the phrase, {{transliteration|pra|micchāmi dukkaḍaṃ}}—a [[Prakrit language]] phrase literally meaning "may all the evil that has been done be fruitless."<ref>{{cite book | last=Chapple | first=Christopher Key | title=Jainism and Ecology: Nonviolence in the Web of Life | location=Delhi|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers | date=2006 | isbn=978-81-208-2045-6 | page=46}}</ref> During {{transliteration|sa|[[samvatsari]]}}—the last day of Jain festival {{transliteration|sa|[[paryusana]]}}—Jains utter the phrase {{transliteration|pra|micchāmi dukkaḍaṃ}} after {{transliteration|sa|[[pratikraman]]}}. As a matter of [[Jain rituals|ritual]], they personally greet their friends and relatives with {{transliteration|pra|micchāmi dukkaḍaṃ}}, seeking their forgiveness. No private quarrel or dispute may be carried beyond {{transliteration|sa|samvatsari}}, and letters and telephone calls are made to the outstation{{jargon inline|date=July 2023}} friends and relatives asking their forgiveness.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hastings|first=James|year=2003|title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics|volume=10|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=978-0-7661-3682-3|page=876}}</ref> {{transliteration|sa|Pratikraman}} also contains the following prayer:<ref>{{cite book | last =Jaini | first =Padmanabh | title =Collected Papers on Jaina Studies | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publ. | year =2000 | location =Delhi | isbn =978-81-208-1691-6 |pages=18 and 224}}</ref> <blockquote> {{transliteration|pra|Khāmemi savva-jīve savvë jive khamantu me / <br /> metti me savva-bhūesu, veraṃ mejjha na keṇavi //}} (I ask pardon of all creatures, may all creatures pardon me.<br /> May I have friendship with all beings and enmity with none.) </blockquote> In their daily prayers and {{transliteration|sa|[[samayika]]}}, Jains recite {{transliteration|pra|Iryavahi sutra}}, seeking forgiveness from all creatures while involved in routine activities:<ref>{{cite book|translator-first=Nagin J.|translator-last=Shah|translator-first2=Madhu|translator-last2=Sen|year=1993|title=Concept of Pratikramana|location=Ahmedabad|publisher=Gujarat Vidyapith|pages=25–26}}</ref> <blockquote> May you, O Revered One! Voluntarily permit me. I would like to confess my sinful acts committed while walking. I honour your permission. I desire to absolve myself of the sinful acts by confessing them. I seek forgiveness from all those living beings which I may have tortured while walking, coming and going, treading on living organism, seeds, green grass, dew drops, ant hills, moss, live water, live earth, spider web and others. I seek forgiveness from all these living beings, be they — one sensed, two sensed, three sensed, four sensed or five sensed. Which I may have kicked, covered with dust, rubbed with ground, collided with other, turned upside down, tormented, frightened, shifted from one place to another or killed and deprived them of their lives. (By confessing) may I be absolved of all these sins. </blockquote> Jain texts quote [[Mahavira|Māhavīra]] on forgiveness:<ref>{{cite book | translator-last =Jacobi | translator-first =Hermann | translator-link =Hermann Jacobi | editor =[[Max Müller|F. Max Müller]] | title =The Uttarādhyayana Sūtra | publisher =The Clarendon Press | year =1895 | location =Oxford | language =en | url =https://www.sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe45/index.htm | series =[[Sacred Books of the East|Sacred Books of the East vol.45, Part 2]] | isbn =978-0-7007-1538-1 | url-status =live | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090704214930/http://www.sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe45/index.htm | archive-date =2009-07-04 }} ''Note: ISBN refers to the UK:Routledge (2001) reprint. URL is the scan version of the original 1895 reprint.''</ref> {{quote|By practicing {{transliteration|sa|[[Prāyaścitta|prāyaṣcitta]]}} (repentance), a soul gets rid of sins, and commits no transgressions; he who correctly practises {{transliteration|sa|prāyaṣcitta}} gains the road and the reward of the road, he wins the reward of good conduct. By begging forgiveness he obtains happiness of mind; thereby he acquires a kind disposition towards all kinds of living beings; by this kind disposition he obtains purity of character and freedom from fear.|Māhavīra in '' [[Uttaradhyayana|Uttarādhyayana Sūtra]]'' 29:17–18}} The code of conduct among [[Jain monasticism|monks]] requires them to ask forgiveness for all transgressions:<ref>{{cite book | last =Jacobi | first =Hermann | author-link =Hermann Jacobi | editor =[[Max Müller|F. Max Müller]] | title =The Kalpa Sūtra | publisher =The Clarendon Press | year =1884 | location =Oxford | language =en | url =https://www.sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe22/sbe2200.htm | series =[[Sacred Books of the East]] | volume=22, Part 1| isbn =978-0-7007-1538-1 | url-status =live | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070929151006/http://www.sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe22/sbe2200.htm | archive-date =2007-09-29 }} ''Note: ISBN refers to the UK:Routledge (2001) reprint. URL is the scan version of the original 1884'' reprint.</ref> {{quote|If among monks or nuns occurs a quarrel or dispute or dissension, the young monk should ask forgiveness of the superior, and the superior of the young monk. They should forgive and ask forgiveness, appease and be appeased, and converse without restraint. For him who is appeased, there will be success (in control); for him who is not appeased, there will be no success; therefore one should appease one's self. "Why has this been said, Sir? Peace is the essence of monasticism."|''Kalpa Sūtra'' 8:59}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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