CAN I FORGIVE AND FORGET? Shall we forgive and forget, and should we innocently approach the person who has wronged us? It is so easy to forgive because after a deed has been done and one reflects upon the act that has been completed, something stirs within us. For within every one of us, there is this power of goodness. But most times, this power of goodness can be overshadowed by the experiences, especially by the bitter experiences of life. But why does a person forgive or want to forgive? Because the act perpetrated upon one could be of such an emotional character that the mind would dwell on the problem, and when the mind dwells on the issue, it makes one go into deeper recesses of the mind. One concludes that: why should I keep this in my heart? What benefit is it giving me or the other person? The best thing is to forgive. Forgive. That is one of the injunctions laid down by all the world’s theologies. But that is not the trouble. To forgive is easy, but the real problem lies in forgetting. You can forgive, but it is tough to ignore. What are the mechanisms as far as forgetting is concerned? The human mind has been patterned through all the various life experiences, and the present strengthens the impressions gained from those experiences. When that is strengthened, it is not only the present act of playing but all those similar experiences we have had. And when they bunch together in the mind, it becomes challenging to forget. It is not Auntie Mary saying a bad word to you that is so important in forgetting because if that were the only thing, then forgetting would become easy. But because Auntie Mary has said something to you, it automatically associates itself with past experiences of this life and perhaps of previous lives if you believe in that, and thereby, memories are awakened. You might not be aware of those past experiences because they are deep down in the various layers of the subconscious mind. But every happening to which you are attached must have its effect, and the effect is that it associates itself with previous experiences of like nature. So here you put in one ounce, and you gather to yourself in that realm five hundred pounds in weight. This becomes a burden when one has to forget. What is the solution? That is the crux of the question: how can we forget? Because this thought that has been activated has become so powerful that the seed planted so deeply within the subconscious mind is coming to the conscious mind, and the conscious mind translates all that is in the subconscious. The subconscious mind is a storehouse of memories. All the experiences you have gained in lifetimes are all there alive. In Sanskrit, they are called samskaras; a loose interpretation of the word would be impressions. All these impressions that are there in the subconscious mind cannot be destroyed. They are there. But they can be shed off like water on a duck’s back. You can get rid of them, but you cannot destroy them. Once you get rid of those impressions, they return and attach themselves to other conditions that are conducive or like nature. Birds of a feather flock together. But you become free of those impressions. THERE ARE MILLIONS OF IMPRESSIONS IN OUR MIND Like that, with millions and millions of impressions in your mind, how will you free them all? Do you want to struggle through that which is called life for millions of years, or do you want freedom in this lifetime? There is only one way, the royal way, and it is this: through a systematic process of meditation and spiritual practices, one can form a direct link from the conscious mind through the subconscious mind and then to the Superconscious mind. No amount of analysis could rid one of those impressions because the more you analyze them, the more you rationalize, and the more firmly planted those memories and thoughts are in the subconscious, which is the repository of all those impressions. In order to clean the dirt in the subconscious, one has to go even deeper, beyond the subconscious to the Superconscious. The conscious mind is at a gross level, and the Superconscious mind is at the subtlest level, the subtlest level of relativity. Being so slight, it is closest to the Divinity within us. Because of its very subtlety and clarity, greater force and more light could shine through the superconscious mind and into the subconscious mind. Through a systematic, individually designed practice of meditation, we can dive deep down into the subtlest forms of relativity, and by reaching the edge of the subtlest relative existence of the mind, one is in direct touch with that which is divine within man. By creating this direct channel, this hotline, to the Superconscious mind, you can draw from these universal energies within you and allow it to bypass all the impressions contained in the subconscious to the conscious mind. If done in a systematic, focused manner, you can forget. That is the only way. Most of you will remember many instances that have happened in your lives, and when that memory comes up, you even feel as if you are re-experiencing that happening again. This is because nothing has been done about it. The greatest gift given to man by God is forgetfulness. If you had to remember all the experiences of this lifetime or other lifetimes, you would become totally insane, and you would be taken away to the lunatic asylum. So, what a great gift Divinity has given us the ability to forget. But the tragedy is that we are not using this gift; that is our problem. As we dive deeper and deeper, we are causing a certain balance in the mind through spiritual practices. The universe is composed of what is known in Sanskrit