FORGIVING IS A GREAT VIRTUE

November 19, 2009

Here is a very useful quote for all of us.

SB 11.23.5:

TRANSLATION
Once a certain sannyasi was insulted in many ways by impious men. However, with determination he remembered that he was suffering the fruit of his own previous karma. I will narrate to you his story and that which he spoke.

PURPORT
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura comments as follows. "Often those who give up the materialistic path and devote themselves to renunciation are attacked by impious persons. This analysis, however, is superficial, since the punishment is actually the cumulative result of one's past karma. Some renunciants show lack of tolerance when presented with the remnants of their previous sins and thus are forced to enter again onto the path of impious life. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore instructs that one should become as tolerant as a tree. If a neophyte on the path of devotional service to the Lord's pure devotees is attacked by envious persons, he must accept it as a consequence of his previous fruitive activities. One should be intelligent and avoid future unhappiness by rejecting the ethic of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If one refuses to enter into enmity with envious men, they will automatically leave him alone."

From this quote we can understand that if we become angry upon being insulted, we should know that our anger should be directed at the actual cause of the problem, and that cause is not the person who offended us. Nor is it Krsna, for that matter, who is sanctioning and enabling that person's actions. Rather, the cause is none other than our very selves. It is certainly not easy to see things in that way, especially when we are feeling the pain of another's words or actions and when we have been steeped in illusory thought patterns for a very long time. Thus, it takes training and purification to develop the proper vision, and we have, therefore, been given guru, sadhu, and sastra to saturate our conditioned consciousness with the truth.

But, if we can come to the point of allowing ourselves to see that we are in fact to blame for our miseries, is there value in being angry with ourselves? And should we spend our time lamenting and thinking of ourselves in a negative way? Prabhupada does tell us it is indeed proper to feel shame for our past transgressions, but only up to a practical point. We should mainly focus on forgiving ourselves, just as we know how important it is to forgive others. We can then put aside our pain and self anger and have the strength go forward in our service with a posititve attitude and unburdened heart.

Our false egos struggle against our putting all of the above into action, but there is no limit to the amount we can benefit by doing so. Forgiving is a great virtue that no true devotee can live without.