Forgiveness is not something you simply do with words. It is not some kind of "technique" with which you can effect some quick fix. Forgiveness is more the result of an inner process of ripening. When there is a genuine intention to release and to be released from a negative spiral, a fitting lingual form can provide direction and power to this inner strength. It is my experience and profound conviction that appropriate use of language can have a huge influence.

In the East, this knowledge of the power of language is still applied. From time immemorial great importance was placed on mantras. Power was not only attributed to spoken and sung language, but also to the written word. Think of the Buddhist prayer mills, where written prayers are turned in a ritual setting.

The power of language is slowly being recognised in the West. However, in contrast to the East, this awareness is not so much the result of the old esoteric tradition, but due to new scientific approaches. In this regard, the experiments with spoken and written languages, performed in the last few decennia are interesting. These experiments show that language has a far-reaching creative effect: Words with a positive meaning seem to be able to work in a healing manner whereas words with a neutral or negative meaning can limit or destroy.

An article I read explains the effect of the AUM on loose material, sand as I remember, in which a beautiful pattern arises. The Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto even claims that water has a memory of spoken words. It is my own experience that there is a difference in power between the diverse languages. When a language is more authentic, the inner meaning and the outer form correspond better with one another than is the case with all kinds of modern words with man-made deformities.

I am going into this to some depth as it brings me to my experience with the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic. Aramaic was the language spoken in the Middle East in Jesus' time. This prayer would therefore have originally been recited in Aramaic. Being a spiritual healer, I conducted a series of energetic experiments with this prayer over a period of some months. I was impressed by its huge real influence. The uplifting of the energies in the room where I was and in the environment far beyond was amazing.

The line that speaks of forgiveness is as follows: "Washboqlan khaubayn wakhtahayn aykana daph khan shbwoqan l' khayyabayn" (this is a kind of phonetic rendering). It is the merit of Neil Douglas-Klotz, an American Professor of comparative religious sciences, musician and dancer, who did an extensive study of the Aramaic language, that gave us a wider perspective on this deeply esoteric prayer in general and by extension also on this sentence in particular.

Aramaic, he says, is a language connecting Heaven and Earth. It does not embody the separation between material and spiritual matters as we see it. The word for spirit for example – ROECHA – simultaneously also means breath and wind. There are therefore several layers of interpretation contained in a single word. A translation from the original Aramaic into a western language with a different worldview, is therefore no simple matter.

Douglas-Klotz indicates that the above sentence, rendered in English as: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us", is about "recognising and accepting our entanglement in the darkness before we can unravel it". Further: "The sound of the sentence brings us back to the feeling of the heart, flowing and streaming with the question to let go of all undesirable matters, just as our blood carries waste matter from throughout the body to the lungs in order to be exhaled".

Another possible translation he gives us is: "Release us from our restricted behaviour as we release others from the bonds with which we hold them".

Washboqlan khaubayn wakhtahayn aykana daph khnan shwoqan l'khayyabayn. Perhaps this explanation will enable you to imagine the powerful help that this sentence, from the original Aramaic Our Father, can provide in the desire to come to Forgiveness.

Not only have I often expressed this sentence with the spoken word, but I have also experienced it frequently both in song and dance. This because Neil Douglas-Klotz did not restrict himself to merely the translation but also, after studying prayer attitudes in the Mid East, found fitting music and movement for its expression. The complete human being is touched in this manner – body, soul and spirit.

In staying with the theme of Forgiveness, I would like to mention another outstanding example given by Neil Douglas-Klotz. It is about the translation of the phrase, which we know as: "a good tree brings forth good fruit and a bad tree brings forth bad fruit." If we were to know that the Aramaic word, here translated as good, also means ripe and similarly that the Aramaic word translated as bad also means unripe, then we may interpret this phrase in a totally different light.

Paraphrasing: The tree isn't bad in a moral sense but rather not yet ripe; time and place are not yet suitable for the bearing of fruits. Aramaic ears might have heard Jesus saying something like: "A ripe tree brings forth ripe fruits, an unripe tree unripe fruits". When you are able to see the world in this manner, by seeing things at the right time and in the right place, you stop judging. For how can you condemn the orange because it is still small and green? How can you say to the nut tree in spring that it is bad, as its nuts are not yet fully grown? How can you judge a person who says nasty things to you, a person whose soul is still young and who cannot oversee what he or she is doing? How can you condemn yourself if you haven't yet had sufficient learning time to obtain the necessary experience? If you stop judging, if you understand that good and bad mean ripe and unripe, then you can forgive.

Understanding can therefore lead to Forgiveness. But understanding alone is unable to remove the negative results from the past, results due to non-forgiveness and lack of understanding. More is needed for that to occur. What I actually mean to say is that Forgiveness is more than what we ordinarily understand by that term nowadays, more than no longer blaming another (or oneself!) for the manner in which he or she behaved. It is also more than making peace after a conflict. In my opinion it is additionally and especially the cleansing and the letting go of the emotions encountered, as in fact already pointed out in Neil Douglas-Klotz' explanation: "The sound of the sentence brings us back to the feeling of the heart, flowing and streaming with the question to let go of all undesirable matters, just as our blood carries waste matter from throughout the body to the lungs in order to be exhaled".

Since everybody has had unpleasant experiences in his or her life, almost everybody has built up emotional blockages, small or large. It does not help to pour a popular Forgiveness-sauce of no longer blaming over these blockages. A way needs yet to be found to discharge the pent-up anger or pain in such a manner that it does not harm our immediate environment. If not, our unconscious projects these blockages on the current environment, thereby clouding it once more, whereby a new cycle of pain and anger is initiated.

Several methods to dissolve blockages are offered nowadays. The choice as to which method to use is very personal. Irrespective of the method, I find it is essential to start by clarifying the matter in order to obtain insight. I see no gain in discharging without insight. That which is discharged will soon soil the cleansed environment if it is done without understanding. I believe an objective aid is necessary to bring to light our own share in the matter and especially the protection of real Light Power (or whatever you wish to call it) is also necessary to guard the process into transformation.

Working with dreams has been very beneficial for me along my own personal way, both with respect to gaining insight and as regards discharging. I realise that this method is not directly applicable to everyone. To be able to work with this you would first have had to develop the capability to remember your dreams clearly and be prepared to view them honestly. To mention an example, during a phase in which several issues about my childhood came up, I once dreamed of my mother, who appeared in my dream as an enormously huge, wicked witch, standing next to my bed where tiny little me was lying. In reality my mother was a dear woman who did her best to do the right thing. The dream had its origin in the things that she could not understand, could not handle. On awakening I saw to it that I, still half-dreaming, held on to these images. I immediately grabbed a sheet of paper and sketched the just encountered scene – stroke, stroke – in rapid pencil lines: my mother as a huge, wicked witch and tiny little me. With great rapidity red zigzag lines and thick black stripes appeared on the sheet of paper as energies made visible. Well, that was a load off my chest. Then I turned the sheet of paper around and intuitively drew the reverse situation: me, very big and angry with my mother, she small – stroke, stroke – lots of red and black lines. Well, that was an even bigger load off my chest.

The understanding of what exactly was the matter had already filtered into my adult consciousness. This had preceded the dream. The dream I have just described was especially one of discharge. Other types of dreams provided me with much information about structures in the present and in the past.

It is not everyone’s manner to do this on his or her own, or to even think of a creative way to resolve such a situation. I have also from time to time needed hints from others. After all, aren't we all still on this place of learning that we call Earth? Surely we are allowed to ask for help along our path of learning? It is such a pity when misplaced pride, the keeping up of appearances, a feeling of shame, stands in someone's way to ask for help. An uncluttered life is so much more pleasant.

The most difficult situation in which to be able to come to profound Forgiveness, is when you have been physically damaged. I know what it is like when someone threatens you with a knife. I know what it is like to be left alone when in serious physical need. I know what it is like when one's children are threatened – that is even worse. The body has its own body-consciousness. It is a natural, instinctive reaction to see those who intend to kill you as your enemy. Your body will want to move itself out of the way or to attack - fight or flight.

Perhaps, even if you are really able to forgive in your heart, the Forgiveness will have difficulty in penetrating the cells of your body. The epitome of Forgiveness is the symbol of Jesus hanging on the Cross and saying: "Father forgive them, as they know not what they do". So great a form of Forgiveness as in this example can only be reached once the divine powers fully penetrate matter, when the body knows that it is a part of a larger whole. Then only it is able to transcend its instincts. A loving attitude toward matter, the physical body and the Earth lays the foundation for this awareness. So much could be said at this point about bringing the body into resonance with the great rhythm of Nature. It is a condition demanded of us in the current age. It is a prerequisite for a new divine revelation in which not one lone enlightened individual, but many free individuals will know themselves as interconnected in Circles of Light.

Note
The style in which this article has evolved and the examples with which I have chosen to illustrate matters exude a certain Christian flavour. This by no means implies that I think that Forgiveness is solely a Christian affair. It only means that I find the examples I have mentioned particularly inspiring. To give expression to my wider view on Religion, I would like to conclude this article with the inspiring words of the Dalai Lama, in which the theme of Forgiveness may also discovered:

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk…

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson…

3. Follow the three R's:
             - Respect for self,
             - Respect for others and
             - Responsibility for all your actions

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7. When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.