Forgiveness (Posted Originally on MySpace)

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With Love, Gratitude & Respect to: WhiteRavenCould you say something about forgiveness?It

is one of the most fundamental things to understand. People ordinarily

think that forgiveness is for those who are worthy of it, who deserve

it. But if somebody deserves, is worthy of forgiveness, it is not much

of a forgiveness. You are not doing anything on your part; he deserves

it. You are not really being love and compassion. Your forgiveness will

be authentic only when even those who don't deserve it receive it.It is not a question of whether a person is worthy or not. The question is whether your heart is ready or not.I

am reminded of one of the most significant woman mystics, Rabiya

al-Adabiya, a Sufi woman who was known for her very eccentric behavior.

But in all her eccentric behavior there was a great insight. Once,

another Sufi mystic Hasan was staying with Rabiya. Because he was going

to stay with Rabiya, he had not brought his own holy Koran, which he

used to read every morning as part of his discipline. He thought he

could borrow Rabiya's holy Koran, so he had not brought his own copy

with him.In the morning he asked Rabiya, and she gave him her

copy. He could not believe his eyes. When he opened the Koran he saw

something which no Mohammedan could believe: in many places Rabiya had

corrected it. It is the greatest sin as far as Mohammedans are

concerned; the Koran is the word of God according to them. How can you

change it? How can you even think that you can make something better?

Not only has she changed it, she has simply cut out a few words, a few

lines — removed them.Hasan said to her, "Rabiya, somebody has

destroyed your Koran!" Rabiya said, "Don't be stupid, nobody can touch

my Koran. What you are looking at is my doing." Hasan said, "But how

could you do such a thing?" She said, "I had to do it, there was no way

out. For example, look here: the Koran says, "When you see the devil,

hate him." Since I have become awakened I cannot find any hate within

me. Even if the devil stands in front of me I can only shower him with

my love, because I don't have anything else left. It does not matter

whether God stands in front of me, or the devil; both will receive the

same love. All that I have is love; hate has disappeared. The moment

hate disappeared from me I had to make changes in my book of the holy

Koran. If you have not changed it, that simply means you have not

arrived to the space where only love remains."I will say to

you, the people who don't deserve, the people who are unworthy, don't

make any difference to the man who has come to the space of

forgiveness. He will forgive, irrespective of who receives it. He

cannot be so miserly that only the worthy should receive it. And from

where is he going to find unforgiveness? This is a totally different

perspective. It does not concern itself with the other. Who are you to

make the judgment whether the other is worthy or unworthy? The very

judgment is ugly and mean.I know Rudolph Hess is certainly one

of the greatest criminals. And his crime becomes even a millionfold

bigger, because in the Nuremburg trial with the remaining companions of

Adolf Hitler — who killed almost eight million people in the second

world war — he said in front of the court, "I don't repent anything!"

Not only that, he also said, "And if I could start from the very

beginning, I would do the same thing again." It is very natural to

think this man is not worthy of forgiveness; that will be the common

understanding. Everybody will agree with you.But I cannot agree

with you. It does not matter what Rudolf Hess has done, what he is

saying. What matters is that you are capable of forgiving even him.

That will raise your consciousness to the ultimate heights. If you

cannot forgive Rudolf Hess you will remain just an ordinary human

being, with all kinds of judgments of worthiness, of unworthiness. But

basically you cannot forgive him because your forgiveness is not big

enough.I can forgive the whole world for the simple reason that

my forgiveness is absolute; it is nonjudgmental. I will tell you a

small Tibetan story which will make the point absolutely clear to you.A

great old master, worshiped by millions of people, refused to initiate

anyone into disciplehood. His whole life, consistently, he was asked by

kings, he was asked by very rich people, he was asked by great

ascetics, saints, to be initiated as his disciples, and he went on

refusing. He would always say, "Unless I find a man who deserves it,

unless I find a man who is worthy of it...I am not going to initiate

any Tom, Dick, Harry."He had a small young boy who used to cook

food for him, wash his clothes, fetch vegetables from the market. The

boy himself had become slowly, slowly old and for his whole life he had

been listening to the old man, who had lived almost one hundred years,

and without exception the denial: nobody is worthy! "I will die," he

said, "without initiating anyone, but I will not initiate anyone who is

nondeserving."People became tired, frustrated. They loved the

man, the man had immense qualities, but they could not understand his

very stubborn attitude — no kindness, no compassion.But one

morning the old man woke up his companion, who himself had become old,

and said to him, "Run immediately down the hills to the marketplace and

tell everybody that whoever wants to be initiated must come soon,

because this evening as the sun sets I am going to die."His companion said, "But what about worthiness? I don't know who is worthy and who is not worthy. Who have I to bring?"The

old man said, "Don't worry at all. It was only a device, because I

myself was not worthy to initiate anyone, but it was against my dignity

to say so. So I chose the other way round. I was saying, 'Unless I find

somebody worthy enough, deserving enough, I am not going to initiate.'

The truth is, I was not worthy to be a master. Now I am, but the time

is very short. Only this morning as the sun was rising, my own

consciousness has also risen to the ultimate peak. Now I am ready. Now

it does not matter who is worthy and who is unworthy. What matters now

is that I am worthy. Just go and fetch anybody! Just go and make the

whole village aware that this is the last day of my life, and anybody

who wants to be initiated should come immediately. Bring as many people

as you can."The companion of the old man was at a loss, but

there was no time to argue. He ran down the hill, reached the

marketplace and shouted all over the village, "Anybody who wants to

become a disciple, the old man is ready now."People could not

believe it. But out of curiosity a few thought, "There is no harm at

least to see what is going on." The man had refused his whole life, and

on the last day of his life suddenly such a great change. Somebody's

wife had died and he was feeling very lonely, so he thought, "It is

good. If he is going to initiate everybody, no question of

worthiness..." Somebody was released from jail just the night before;

he thought, "Nobody is going to give me employment; this is a good

chance to become a saint."All kinds of strange people went to

the cave of the old man, and his companion was feeling so embarrassed

at the kind of people he had brought: one is a criminal, one's wife is

dead, that's why he thinks, "It is better...now, what else to do?"

Somebody has gone bankrupt and was thinking to commit suicide; now he

thinks that this is better than suicide.A few had come just out

of curiosity. They had no other work; they were playing jazz and they

thought, "We can play jazz tomorrow, but today there is no harm, let us

see what this initiation is. Anyway, that man is going to die by the

evening so we will be free to remain disciples or not. We can play jazz

tomorrow — there is no harm."The companion of the old man was

feeling very embarrassed, "How will I present this strange lot when

that old man has refused kings, saints, sages, who have come with deep

earnestness to be initiated? And now he is going to initiate this

gang!" He was even feeling ashamed, but he entered and asked, "Should I

call the people? — eleven have come."The old man said, "Call

them quickly, because it is already afternoon. You took so much time

and you could fetch just eleven people?"His companion said,

"What can I do? It is a working day; it is not a holiday. I could only

get these. All are absolutely useless; even I could not initiate them.

Not only that they are not worthy — they are absolutely UNworthy. But

you insisted to bring somebody; nobody else was available."The

old man said, "There is no problem. Just bring them in." And he

initiated them all. Even they were shocked. And they said to the old

man, "This is strange behavior. All your life you have insisted that

one has to deserve to be a disciple. What happened to your principle?"The

old man laughed. He said, "That was not a principle, that was only to

hide my own unworthiness. I was not yet in the position to be a master.

And I cannot cheat anyone, I cannot deceive anyone; hence I have taken

shelter behind a judgmental attitude, that unless you are worthy, you

will not get initiation."Obviously nobody is worthy.Everybody

has his own flaws, weaknesses; everybody has done things that he never

wanted to do. Everybody has gone astray. Nobody can say that he is

absolutely pure; everybody is polluted. So when the old man insisted,

"Unless you are worthy don't come back to me," nobody argued with him;

he was right. First they have to be worthy!On the last day, he

said to those eleven disciples, "I bless you and initiate you. It

doesn't matter whether you are worthy or not, but for the first time I

am worthy. And if I am really worthy, just my presence is going to

purify you. My worthiness of being a master is going to make you a

worthy disciple. Now I don't have to depend on your worthiness. My

worthiness is enough."I am just like a rain cloud; I will

shower all over the place — on the mountains, on the streets, on the

houses, in the farms, in the gardens. I will shower everywhere, because

I am too burdened with my rainwater. It does not matter whether the

garden deserves...I don't even make any distinction between the garden

and the rocks. I will simply shower out of my abundance."If

your meditations bring you to the state of a rain cloud, you will

forgive without any judgment out of your abundance, out of your love,

out of your compassion.In fact I would like to make the

statement that the man who is unworthy deserves more than the man who

is worthy. The man who does not deserve, deserves more, because he is

so poor; don't be hard upon him. Life has been hard upon him. He has

gone astray; he has suffered because of his wrong doings. Now don't you

be hard on him. He needs more love than those who are deserving; he

needs more forgiveness than those who are worthy. This should be the

only approach of a religious heart.Your question was raised

before Gautam Buddha, because he was going to initiate a murderer into

sannyas — and the murderer was no ordinary murderer. Rudolf Hess is

nothing compared to him. His name was Angulimal. Angulimal means a man

who wears a garland of human fingers.He had taken a vow that he

would kill one thousand people; from each single person he would take

one finger so that he could remember how many he had killed and he will

make a garland of all those fingers. In his garland of fingers he had

nine hundred and ninety-nine fingers — only one was missing. And that

one was missing because his road was closed; nobody was coming that

way. But Gautam Buddha entered that closed road. The king had put

guards on the road to prevent people, particularly strangers who didn't

know that a dangerous man lived behind the hills. The guards told

Gautam Buddha, "That is not the road to be used. You will have to take

a little longer route, but it is better to go a little longer than to

go into the mouth of death itself. This is the place where Angulimal

lives. Even the king has not the guts to go on this road. That man is

simply mad."His mother used to go to him. She was the only

person who used to go, once in a while, to see him, but even she

stopped. The last time she went there he told her, ..Now only one

finger is missing, and just because you happen to be my mother...I want

to warn you that if you come another time you will not go back. I need

one finger desperately. Up to now I have not killed you because other

people were available, but now nobody passes on this road except you.

So I want to make you aware that next time if you come it will be your

responsibility, not mine.' Since that time his mother has not come."The

guards said to Buddha, "Don't unnecessarily take the risk." And do you

know what Buddha said to them? Buddha said, "If I don't go then who

will go? Only two things are possible: either I will change him, and I

cannot miss this challenge; or I will provide him with one finger so

that his desire is fulfilled. Anyway I am going to die one day. Giving

my head to Angulimal will be at least of some use; otherwise one day I

will die and you will put me on the funeral pyre. I think that it is

better to fulfill somebody's desire and give him peace of mind. Either

he will kill me or I will kill him, but this encounter is going to

happen; you just lead the way."The people who used to follow

Gautam Buddha, his close companions who were always in competition to

be closer to him, started slowing down. Soon there were miles between

Gautam Buddha and his disciples. They all wanted to see what happened,

but they didn't want to be too close.Angulimal was sitting on

his rock watching. He could not believe his eyes. A very beautiful man

of such immense charisma was coming towards him. Who could this man be?

He had never heard of Gautam Buddha, but even this hard heart of

Angulimal started feeling a certain softness towards the man. He was

looking so beautiful, coming towards him. It was early morning...a cool

breeze, and the sun was rising...and the birds were singing and the

flowers had opened; and Buddha was coming closer and closer.Finally

Angulimal, with his naked sword in his hand, shouted, "Stop!" Gautam

Buddha was just a few feet away, and Angulimal said, "Don't take

another step because then the responsibility will not be mine. Perhaps

you don't know who I am!"Buddha said, "Do you know who you are?"Angulimal said, "This is not the point. Neither is it the place nor the time to discuss such things. Your life is in danger!"Buddha said, "I think otherwise — your life is in danger."That

man said, "I used to think I was mad — you are simply mad. And you go

on moving closer. Then don't say that I killed an innocent man. You

look so innocent and so beautiful that I want you to go back. I will

find somebody else. I can wait; there is no hurry. If I can manage nine

hundred and ninety-nine...it is only a question of one more, but don't

force me to kill YOU."Buddha said, "You are absolutely blind. You can't see a simple thing: I am not moving towards you, you are moving towards me."Angulimal

said, "This is sheer craziness! Anybody can see that you are moving and

I am standing on my rock. I have not moved a single inch."Buddha

said, "Nonsense! The truth is, since the day I became enlightened I

have not moved a single inch. I am centered, utterly centered, no

movement. And your mind is continuously moving round and round in

circles...and you have the guts to tell to me to stop. You stop! I have

stopped long ago."Angulimal said, "It seems you are impossible,

you are incurable. You are bound to be killed. I will feel sorry, but

what can I do? I have never seen such a mad man."Buddha came

very close, and Angulimal's hands were trembling. The man was so

beautiful, so innocent, so childlike. He had already fallen in love. He

had killed so many people.... He had never felt this weakness; he had

never known what love is. For the first time he was full of love. So

there was a contradiction: the hand was holding the sword to kill the

person, and his heart was saying, "Put the sword back in the sheath."Buddha

said, "I am ready, but why is your hand shaking? — you are such a great

warrior, even kings are afraid of you, and I am just a poor beggar.

Except the begging bowl, I don't have anything. You can kill me, and I

will feel immensely satisfied that at least my death fulfills

somebody's desire; my life has been useful, my death has also been

useful. But before you cut my head I have a small desire, and I think

you will grant me a small desire before killing me."Before death even the hardest enemy is willing to fulfill any desire.Angulimal said, "What do you want?"Buddha

said, "I want you just to cut from the tree a branch which is full of

flowers. I will never see these flowers again; I want to see those

flowers closely, feel their fragrance and their beauty in this morning

sun, their glory."So Angulimal cut with his sword a whole

branch full of flowers. And before he could give it to Buddha, Buddha

said, "This was only half the desire; the other half is, please put the

branch back on the tree."Angulimal said, "I was thinking from

the very beginning that you are crazy. Now this is the craziest desire.

How can I put this branch back?"Buddha said, "If you cannot

create, you have no right to destroy. If you cannot give life, you

don't have the right to give death to any living thing."A

moment of silence and a moment of transformation...the sword fell down

from his hands. Angulimal fell down at the feet of Gautam Buddha, and

he said, "I don't know who you are, but whoever you are, take me to the

same space in which you are; initiate me."By that time the

followers of Gautam Buddha had come closer and closer. Seeing that now

Gautam Buddha was standing in front of Angulimal, there was no problem,

no fear, although he needed only one finger. They were all around and

when he fell at Buddha's feet they immediately came close. Somebody

raised the question, "Don't initiate this man, he is a murderer. And he

is not an ordinary murderer; he has murdered nine hundred and

ninety-nine people, all innocent, all strangers. They have not done any

wrong to him. He had not even seen them before!"Buddha said

again, "If I don't initiate him, who will initiate him? And I love the

man, I love his courage. And I can see tremendous possibility in him: a

single man fighting against the whole world. I want this kind of

people, who can stand against the whole world. Up to now he was

standing against the world with a sword; now he will stand against the

world with a consciousness which is far sharper than any sword. I told

you that murder was going to happen, but it was not certain who was

going to be murdered — either I was going to be murdered, or Angulimal.

Now you can see Angulimal is murdered. And who I am to judge?"He initiated Angulimal.The

question is not whether anybody is worthy or not. The question is

whether you have the consciousness, the abundance of love — then

forgiveness will come out of it spontaneously. It is not a calculation,

it is not arithmetic.Life is love, and living a life of love is

the only religious life, the only life of prayer, peace, the only life

of gratitude, grandeur, splendor. ~ OSHO ~ Deep Appreciation to:KAT the Grasshopper Tony ॠGentleSoul4Peace