When we do self-forgiveness, the channel that opens up
is inside. We initiate a channel from the basic self through the high-self.
Through that channel, we stand in the light and reconcile our belief with the
truth of self. In essence, we align with the Holy Spirit and declare to the
basic self that the limiting belief or separation is discontinued and replaced
with essence of virtue it was blocking. For example, you may forgive yourself
for believing you are unlovable. By so doing, you tell the basic self to align
with your innate loving as an internal and transcendental source.
The sense that the energy is outside comes from the awareness that the source
of transformation is outside the system of the belief, which is the
self-concept, or status-quo. The transformative energy is embedded in our depth.
In quantum fashion, when we forgive ourselves the inner and outer source act as
one. The self-forgiveness tells the basic self to change and invites the
high-self to transform the limitation. This action communicates a change in our
relationship to the unconditional love that is God. This changes the way we are
nested in the personal and universal field. The self-forgiveness changes how our
consciousness is nested in the One. So the transformational energy is outside
and inside of us. A simple movement of the heart, like kindness, has a similar
effect. It is a technique. It is also a remembrance of self. We re-place our
selves into the givingness of self that preceded the taking from self.
©Copywrite, Robert D. Waterman, 2004

The following discussion focuses
on self-forgiveness as one of the acts of life that fills experience with
purpose. It brings love to a place where it wasn't before and transforms the
spot by bringing a different fulfillment
The first section is extracted from Robert D. Waterman's book Self-forgiveness,
an Act of Life (1976).
Though the temptation is there to think of self-forgiveness as a
technique, it does not function so in practical application. The concept will be
developed by elaborating on fifteen qualities of self-forgiveness.
1. The deepest tendency within
humankind is toward balance and growth. All urges, needs, desires, and
accomplishments somehow stem from our own archetype seeking to fulfill
itself.
2. Whether the individual works
with or against those deepest tendencies is a matter of choice. Humankind rules his life by
choice and in experience man dramatizes who he is. Regardless of age he will
meet situations and subdue or be subdued by them according to the meaning
structure through which he perceives the events. He may alter what was already
known in order to adapt, or move blindly in the face of his own darkness. The
choice is an expression of love and will.
3. Situations in themselves are
not imbalancing; our response, the meaning we impute, the choice we make, can
imbalance. Any experience represents an
opportunity for growth and any situation we encounter has the potential to
integrate or dissociate our ability to live from our inner vitality.
4. Though we may not be able to
change past situations, we can change the meaning we carry within us regarding
those events. Although an experience is in the
past, we can relive the experience in the present and change the meaning we made
out of the experience. Recall, in itself, is not enough. The interrupting
experience must be transformed. We can change our mind and as we do, the pain evoked
reactivates the inducing mental-emotional judgment, releasing both as the
pattern becomes conscious. As these patterns are systematically released, the
natural flow of life-force through the body is reestablished, as well as mental,
physical, and emotional well-being.
5. Choice always involves three
components: thought, emotion, and action : symbol, energy, and direction : love,
will, and consequence. We cannot avoid choice.
Abdication of choice is a choice. As we cannot avoid choice, we cannot avoid
responsibility. The understanding of the self is acquired through experience.
The process of acquiring is perfect in the
beginning and always will be. The step called mistake is in a sequence which is
a perfect process of experimental discovery. If we attach our identity to the
mistake, we are in effect a mistake. After a while our identification as mistake
rather than a maker-of-mistakes leads us to the philosophical conclusion that we
have no power to alter that conclusion. Our ability to create is blurred by
identifying with the mistake. We lose the ability to recycle our mistakes
through the "purifying fires" of the Higher Mind. To fear to act
because we may be wrong is the greatest wrong because we abdicate our
"dominion" and our "inward kingdom" which results in our
outward domain falling to external forces and controls. We narrow our conscious
awareness to a small realm of threatening shadows.
6. Cause and effect have in each
life a historical pattern of connectedness and are woven and re-woven through
individual understanding of its symbol, energy and direction.
7. The reference, or locus, for
the natural tendency within humankind for balance and growth is within.
It is hard to imagine the
potential for creative human influence when individuals recognize the degree of
inner authority that can be exercised. The locus of intellect and love within us
is far deeper than we perform -- it is at the depth that we are a Being that is
one with the Father-Mother principle, and yet still deeper, the unmanifested
Source. In this Higher Self reference we so loved the possibility of ourselves
that we created a begotten personality as an instrument of growth and change so
that we might understand our eternality, and thus live consciously in our
eternal perception as co-creators with the Divine.
8. Each choice, large or small,
has an effect (a consequence) of either moving a personality closer to his or
her deeper being or further away.
9. Self-forgiveness is a choice
with an outcome of greater cooperation with the inherent, internal tendency
toward balance and growth. When in response to circumstances
we create self-pity, injury, fear, grudges, etc, we deny to ourselves the use of
a great resource, presence intellect and power from within us. Divine love
is unconditional and ever forgiving and is available to us directly through the
Higher Consciousness. When we attach ourselves to an external reference through
judgment, we block the consciousness of redeeming love and super-conscious
wisdom from our use. When we relive the energy and symbol that blocked us and
forgive ourselves, the Divine Balance is allowed to enter our personality and
establish the same condition in our personality world that exists in our higher
consciousness world.
10. The activation of
self-forgiveness is enhanced or impeded by group-process.
11. Self-forgiveness is as
effective as it is sincere; yet, is activated according to the individual
ability level. Sincerity is a skill. You may be
at a level of sincerity and tell me that you will do this or that, yet in ten
minutes you may have grown in sincerity and discover that in reference to now
you lied, yet it seemed true then. If you take on guilt or try to justify the
discrepancy you will lose the gain you made. However, if you confront your lie
and take action to fully utilize the gain, the lie becomes a positive action and
moves into a corrective law. We may re-experience a distorted moment and forgive
ourselves and release much.
12. Self-forgiveness is a
conscious choice, a subconscious realization and a higher -consciousness
acceptance (It is not a belief). Self-forgiveness is not a belief
-- it is a knowing and as such our choice and statement places it as an active
element within us. When we re-experience the past and choose consciously to
change, corollary patterns occur subconsciously and super-consciously. There is
a realization of the impact of the conscious choice: the experience of release
and change of meaning is recorded in place of the old interpretation.
Super-consciously new vistas present themselves to the conscious mind. Reprogramming can change patterns in the subconscious mind through repetitious
affirmation -- but self-forgiveness changes the patters in the subconscious mind
through direct intervention of the Higher Self.
13. Self-forgiveness is
spontaneous in people who have gained the ability to relate to the unity of life
with the entirety of their being. Even though we may be self-realized
beings and all our conscious levels are highly synthesized, we are still here,
still growing, and still confronted with choices and mistaken choices. The
difference is that when our growth is more progressive than evolutionary,
realization of the mistakenly applied energy is sufficient to release it.
Release and understanding, both act and consequence, become spontaneous.
14. Self-forgiveness carries the
implication that all events are purposeful and ultimately worthwhile.
If
self-forgiveness allows us to claim an understanding that we did not possess
before, then the purpose of difficulty is to solve that difficulty, to
understand, to extend and expand the ability level of our Soul -- it seems that
all souls are equal in their perfection but not in their ability level. In this
context, we conceive that we have never done anything that was not worthwhile.
We were always worthy in in ourselves; it was the belief in attachment to error
that created a sensation of unworthiness. When the sense of inherent worthiness
returns, growth accelerates and balance is enhanced. Our quest is to learn to
use our inherent worth to master life.
15. Self-forgiveness is
economical - the best use of human energy that can be made out of any event, for
experience is only wasteful when it is not used for growth, for greater
understanding; we are wasteful to the degree we are ego-attached to our
mistakes. There is a moral imperative in the understanding of energy
and its exchange and perhaps the only moral imperative: "Unto thyself be
true"; THYSELF -- not the belief patterns of the mind that masquerade as self. The personality is a garment, a vehicle by which our Being
might enter the real of Earth to gain the wisdom thereof. It is to the Being
that we are true. There is no dogma to re-alignment of the personality -- mind,
emotion, and body -- with the Soul and Spirit, only self-forgiveness. We hold
within us a vision of what we could be and an image of what we are -- how we
handle this discrepancy is crucial.