Dr. Chopra's 7 points are brilliant. Thanks Conrad for Dr. Guinan's thoughts: 1 to 7 and 12 are excellent, but I would consider 8,9,10,11 with caution. "Not judging others or oneself" and "avoiding conflict" does not mean that one should close eyes to the atrocities committed by others or oneself, for to do that makes one an accomplice to the crime. In fact, a hero is someone who is willing to risk his/her own life/ reputation to stand up against what is wrong.
I struggled with the concepts of non-judgment and forgiveness for a long, long time. Until I read something by the Dalai Llama: He said that one must CONDEMN WRONG ACTIONS BUT NOT THE PERSON committing the wrong.
That's it! Forgiveness, then, is the willingness to engage the wrong doer in shedding light on wrong actions, to help prevent further wrongdoing...
I hope that if I committ wrong acts, that someone would lovingly guide me away from darkness before its too late and not just avoid me. We ARE our brothers/sisters keepers: This is what it means to be ONE and to be egoless. The pain, the darkness, the joys, the light of others is part of each one's consciousness and wouldn't it be lovely to awaken to that reality and reach out to all.
I say the above because I have seen too many people, particularly in the Bay area misuse Eastern philosophies and the concept of Non-judgmentalism and Forgiveness to mean "anything goes".
On Apr 2, 2007 Sudha wrote :