The Miracle of Forgiving (70 Remarkable Stories of Love and Forgiveness)

The Miracle of Forgiving (70 Remarkable Stories of Love and Forgiveness)

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Book Specification

Item Code: NAF417
Author: J.P.Vaswani
Publisher: Gita Publishing House, Pune
Language: English
Edition: 2012
ISBN: 9789380743707
Pages: 136
Cover: Paperback
Other Details 8.5 Inch X 5.5 Inch
Weight 160 gm

Book Description

About the Book

Forgive-and be free! This is the message that comes to us clearly and loudly from the latest collection of stories by Dada J. P. Vaswani.

This collection is special, for all the stories in this book revolve around the theme of Forgiveness, that as always been very close to Dada’s heart. This little volume is a special collection that is being brought out to celebrate the Moment of Calm-August 2, 2012, Dada J. P. Vaswani’s 94th Birthday.

Dada has always been a splendid story teller, choosing the right anecdote, the appropriate tale, the perfectly matched parable to drive home the point he is making: they make his writings and discourses memorable, combining precepts with practice, pure values with live, practical examples. His stories are so well chosen and narrated with just the right emphasis, that they leave us with plenty of food for thought.

We feel sure you will enjoy these stories that have been specially chosen for you.

Introduction

There is no easy or simple way to define forgiveness. Forgiveness is a bridge that all of us need to cross at one time or another in our lives. It needs to be experienced. Forgiveness is an attitude of compassion and understanding with which de choose to react to the world. Forgiveness is not a one-off action-it is a process in which we evolve towards tolerance and acceptance. Forgiveness is not a series of incidents-it is a way of life that we choose. Forgiveness is self-restraint, self-control, self-discipline, through which we transcend our lower selves. Above all, forgiveness is an effort on our part to bring out the divine that is in all of us.

Forgiveness is not always easy. How can parents forgive the murderer of their children? How can mothers forgive the rapists of their daughters? How can anyone forgive hose who have massacred their family and friends?

I am the first to admit it is not easy. But the alternative is to become like those offenders-intransigent, cruel and unfeeling. Forgiveness releases you from the fetters of hatred, and frees you from the pain, shame and humiliation of the past which is thankfully dead and gone!

Are there no limits to forgiveness? Would forgiveness not mean exonerating, excusing, or condoning evil actions? Would this not be immoral, not to speak of it being unethical and unjust?

The writer and poet C. S. Lewis argues that forgiveness transcends the idea of human fairness: it sometimes involves pardoning those things that can’t be pardoned at all. It is much more than excusing. When we excuse someone, we simply brush their mistakes aside. As he puts it, “if one was not really to blame, then there is nothing to forgive. In that sense forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites.” He concludes:

Real forgiveness means looking steadily at the sin, the sin that is left over without any excuse after all allowances have been made, and seeing it in all its horror dirt meanness and malice, and nevertheless being wholly reconciled to the person who has done it. That, and only that is forgiveness.

Even when reconciliation is not possible, forgiveness can play a vital role. George Macdonald writes:

It may be infinitely worse to refuse to forgive than to murder because the latter may be the impulse of a moment of heart.

Forgiveness need not be a struggle-if we realise that it is also a great gift and a blessing. It is a choice that we make – either to love or hate, to punish or pardon, to heal or hurt. We choose to tread the path of peace and reconciliation, rather than succumb to bitterness. To quote the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude.”

Forgiveness is above justice. Justice seeks to punish, forgiveness seeks reconciliation. As Shakespeare puts it so beautifully,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this-

That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for, mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.

Forgiveness is not for saints and sages. How often have we not come across people, who, when urged to forgive and forget, retort with passion, “I am not a Mahatma…I am not a saint…I am only human!”

So many of us believe that we cannot forgive; that it is too difficult, that it is prerogative of saints and other evolved souls-not for the likes of us.

Forgiveness need not be a feat of supernatural power. It is just a way of putting the past behind you-once and for all. It is a way of moving on. It is a way of seeing things differently; looking at life from a new perspective. It is the realisation that we cannot stay bitter and angry for the rest of our lives.

Forgiveness is the noblest virtue. Here is a story to illustrate its. A rich old man divided all his property equally among his sons. However, he withheld an expensive diamond ring, which was a family heirloom. His sons were sent out to travel and take on the world. When they returned on a certain specified day, the diamond ring would go o him who had done the noblest deed.

On the appointed day the sons returned home. They were asked to report on what they considered to be their noblest deed.

This first son said, “A wealthy banker handed over all his money to me for investment. I could have kept it all – but I served him honestly, and restored every pie of his to him, with interest.”

“That was indeed well done – but you only did what you should do,” said the father.

The second son said, “As I was walking along the seashore, I saw a little child who was about to drown. At the risk of my life, I rushed into the roaring waves and rescued the child.”

“That was a brave deed – but not worthy enough to deserve the priceless ring!” was the father’s response.

It was the youngest son’s turn. “I was tending my sheep on the mountains, when I saw my bitterest enemy stumble on the edge of a precipice and fall. He hung on to the edge of the cliff in terror – I rushed to his aid and saved his life!”

“You are my pride and joy,” said the father. “Returning good for evil is the noblest deed. The ring shall be yours!”

Contents

Compiler's Note 9
Introduction 13
1 The Conversion of Bennjamin 17
2 The Way to Peace 18
3 I Will Forgive You! 19
4 A Story of Two Story-Tellers 20
5 Thus Spake The Buddha 21
6 Forgiveness Restores Relationships 25
7 Carlyle's Compassion 27
8 The Best Way to Tke Eevenge 29
9 The Suggestion Worked 31
10 Unforgiving Spirit 32
11 A Father's Dilemma 35
12 Avenged! 37
13 A Crucial Test 39
14 Children Will Teach Us 42
15 The Healing Balm of Forgiveness 43
16 A Touching Story 44
17 This It Is To Forgive 49
18 The Past Does Not Bind Us 51
19 The Witness of Mahatma Gandhi 52
20 Hatred Ceaseth by Love 53
21 Forgiveness Hath Its Gains 54
22 The Only Solution 55
23 Two Lane Highway 56
24 Heights of Forgiveness 57
25 The Crown of Greatness 58
26 The Secret of St. Teresa 59
27 The Magnanimityof the Maharishi 61
28 The Alchemy of Forgiveness 63
29 Return of the Prodigal 65
30 The Witnes of St. Vincent de Paul 66
31 Tear Anger into Bits 67
32 Forgiveness in Action 68
33 The Burde of Guilt 70
34 The Infallible Cure 72
35 Seventy times Seven 73
36 Forgive And Be Free 74
37 The Right to Pardon 76
38 The Way of The Quakers 77
39 The Story of Leo Beck 78
40 Forgiveness Worked 79
41 True Forgiveness 80
42 Better, Not Bitter 82
43 The Way of The Buddha 83
44 Conditional Forgiveness 85
45 Forgiveness Hath No Price 86
46 Forgiven but Not Forgotten 87
47 A Divine Act 88
48 Blend Forgiveness with Compassion 90
49 An Enemy Becomes a Friend 91
50 Building Bridges 92
51 A Great Forgiver 94
52 Forgive thy Foes 96
53 Forgiveness has No Barriers 97
54 Abhor No One: Forgive All 99
55 A Model of Forgiveness 101
56 Forgive, Forget and Move On! 102
57 The Buddha's Infinite Compassion 104
58 The Impossible Becomes I'am Possible 107
59 Rishi Aruni and the Leopard 110
60 Truth Is Stronger Than Fiction 112
61 Paradise Belongs to Those who Forgive 116
62 Sri Krishna and Radha 117
63 Untiring Patience 121
64 The Transforming Power of Love 123
65 Healing Power of Forgiveness 124
66 Friends Become Foes 125
67 Time Tends to Fly 127
68 The Ways of Holiness 128
69 The Forgiveness fo Prophet Mohammed 130
70 Forgiveness Has No Limits 133

Sample Pages










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