Soften the Heart & Forgive

Forgiveness unleashes the light of the soul.

— Celia Roberts

Soften the heart and forgive.
When we forgive the other, we also forgive ourselves.
Everyday, I have been practicing forgiveness, writing a letter before sleep.

Here is the Spiritual Practice by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Writing a Love Letter

If you have difficulties with someone in your life, you might spend some time alone and write that person a real letter. You can write the letter to someone you see every day or, just as effectively, to someone you haven’t seen for years, or even to someone who is no longer living. It is never too late to bring peace and healing into a relationship. Even if we no longer see that person, we can reconcile inside ourselves, and the relationship can heal.

Give yourself a couple of hours to write a letter using loving speech. While you write the letter, practice looking deeply into the nature of your relationship. Why has communication been difficult? Why has happiness not been possible? Here is an example:

My dear,

I know you have suffered a lot over the past many years. I have not been able to help you — in fact, I have made the situation worse. It is not my intention to make you suffer. Maybe I’m not skillful enough. Maybe I tried to impose my ideas on you. In the past I thought you made me suffer. Now I realize that I have been responsible for my own suffering.

I promise to do my best to refrain from saying things or doing things that make you suffer. Please tell me what is in your heart. You need to help me; otherwise it is not possible for me to do it. I can’t do it alone.

You have nothing to risk by writing this letter. You can even decide later whether to send it. But whether you send it or not, you will find that the person who finishes writing the letter is not the same person who began it — peace, understanding, and compassion have transformed you.

— Thich Nhat Hanh in The Art of Communicating