COMMUNITY RESPONSES: PRACTICING FORGIVENESS (During October and November last year, we had requested our community members to share their experiences in practicing forgiveness. We thank all of those who sent in their responses. The goal was to bring more awareness towards this important teaching of Jain religion that helps us purify. By sharing such stories, we all assist each other in our spiritual journey. Although many of us don’t feel like sharing such stories, we encourage you to read stories included below and at the links listed at the end of this article; with the hope that these stories will enrich your spiritual lives.)
Asking for forgiveness in a work environment By Surendrasingh Singhvi I was hired by a Jewish company and the number two executive with a Harvard MBA was not very comfortable with me because I was PhD from Columbia university and I made recommendations to top management based on analysis and facts which did not support his ideas. Hence, he was very negative towards me. I talked with Acharya Sushilmuniji and he suggested that on the Samvatsari day I should visit him in his office and ask for forgiveness for hurting his feelings, knowingly or unknowingly. After I did that, he was very pleased and since then his attitude towards me changed considerably and he started appreciating my work. I feel forgiveness has helped me in my job. I have used this approach many times with my friends & relatives; and everyone has responded very positively. Comment: Michhami Dukkadam, forget and forgive is a great principle given to us by Lord Mahavir.
Unload your stress and come close to the people you love – By Mahendra B Shah I am 75 years old. After my marriage in 1971, I behaved as a macho guy because I was the bread winner. I had developed a few bad habits to behave as a macho person. After several years I learned from the books by Dada Bhagwan and Shrimad Rajchandra to look at your own faults if you want to achieve Mukti and make spiritual progress in life. I did ask for forgiveness to my wife for all the past years. I felt free. Since then whenever she reminded me of my past mistake, I asked for an apology with a statement that “You are correct, but I do not remember that mistake; but I will still say ‘I am sorry’. This made our relationship much healthier. FORGIVENESS MAKES YOU STRONG AND FREE. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Leading a happy and blissful life through Forgiveness - By Ramesh C Shah One of the basic tenets of Jainism is Ahimsa or non-violence. When I was young I did give importance to nonviolence in action by practicing vegetarianism, but did not give importance to non-violence in thoughts and speech. I used to get upset easily with people who did not agree with me. This led to arguments causing feelings of anger in me leading to unhappiness. Later in my life I started the practice of forgiving others. I will give you an example. About four years ago I decided to write a book about my memoirs. I had prepared a rough draft of about 200 pages. I was looking for an experienced editor to edit my book. I found such a person on the internet and met with him in a nearby restaurant. He impressed with his English and editorial talents. I signed an agreement with him after talking with two of his references and gave him a check of $1000. After that he stopped calling me. In the past I would have been very angry with him for cheating me. I did not try to find him or harass him. But I forgave and forgot about him. I found another good editor and published my book named “A Journey Through Time and Culture” available on Amazon Books. This shows the importance of observing the Jain teaching of forgiveness in leading a happy and blissful life.
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