Best tips to Practice Forgiveness to Live a Stress Free Life

Source: The Speaking Tree

Lord Rishabhdev, the first Jain tirthankar, gave us the mool mantra of living a peaceful and happy life Rishabhdev of krodh, Anger, maan, ego, maya, deceit and lobh, greed the biggest enemies of the soul we develop feelings of raag, attachment and dvesh, aversion, and get bound to the karmic particles. 

As a result, we can be reborn into one of the four gatis, destinies human beings animals and birds and infernal beings those living in hell, continuously suffering and something even as nigod invisible micro organisms. Rishabhdev prescribed that to enjoy inner bliss and to be free from karmic bondage, one should adopt kshama dharma- forgiveness. 

Ever since, Jains all over the world celebrate Prayushna Prava, starting from the fifth day of the Bhadrapada Shukla, till Purnima, full moon day, every year. The festival denotes 10 facets of dharma, qualities every soul possesses. They are kshma forgiveness maardav, humility, arjav, straightforwardness, shauch, cleanliness, satya, truth, sanyam. 

While most of us no longer value these virtues, the Western world, taking a cue from the teachings of the preceptor, has started organising workshops on kshama dharma, achieveing remarkable results. Most of the participants who attended these workshops have reported significant improvement in their blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol level's. 

Kshama lies deep within our soul. We need not import it from outside, rather develop and practice this virtue to relieve ourselves from stress and tension. It works like a panacea to wash off all inner evils and cleanse our souls. 

We find numerous references to kshama in our holy scriptures. Parshvanath the 23rd of the 24 tirthankars is an example of forgiveness of the highest order. His brother Kamath continuously tortured him and inflicted injuries, even causing death in 10 of his lifetime. However, showing extreme restraint, Parsvanath remained tranquil and pardoned his tor mentor every time. Ultimately, he attained kaivalya, omniscience and Kamath bowed down to him in reverence. 

In the Mahabharat, Draupadi too forgave Ashwatthama who killed her sons, as she did not want his mother to meet the same fate, suffer the same agony and loss as she did. 

It is not necessary that to forgive the person in question must come forward and seek kshama. Even without his asking, we can forgive him. After all it is us not the other person who has to be set free from the suffering resulting from anger. Similarly, to free ourselves from the discard our ego and seek forgiveness. 

Today the world seems to be sitting on a volcano ready to erupt. Even small countries are equipped woth nuclear arsenal and any indiscriminate use of such weapons by anyone could ignite a full fledged world war, resulting in mass destruction. Therefore, to save the world from such a catastrophe, avoid conflicts and controversies, enjoy inner bliss and live peaceful let us adopt kshama as a way of life.