Is the Key to Forgiveness of Others...?

This is a great question Arujuna. I agree that 'forgive others by seeing that we have committed innumerable instances of every possible atrocity in past lives, ourselves' would help. It's a good idea.

I guess there's no absolute answer to your question though. My thought on 'key to forgiveness' is 1) to think of the others the same as us, no superior, no inferior. We make mistakes, other do too. 2) See others as the reflection of our own thoughts and behaviors. This way there's no point in blaming on others.

My homeland was invaded by its neighboring country during WWII, and our people suffered from tremendous pains/humiliation. At that time, people of my city especially, went through hell. You would understand that it is hard for a lot of people to forget about history and forgive the cruel invaders. I admit that i don't like our neighboring country very much. However, I would never allow myself to hate on them. I tell myself if i did that, I would lose my faith in the original goodness of human nature. No i don't want that to happen.

Hatred will not make history any better, hatred will not make my country more prosperous in the future, and it will not make me feel good right now. Then why would I keep it? This is actually logical. Once we realize that hatred is not of any good to anyone, we should throw it away. I think this will help us to be more accepting and compassionate towards people who did harm to us.

I'm still learning and hoping to broaden my perspective of thought process on this topic.

i do not feel qualified to generalise on what others believe so will leave this to others who feel better qualified.

Is the key to forgiveness of others not to judge them 'in the first instance' as ''others'' and not to judge ones-self as separate?

No man is an island un to himself!

If you rely upon others to be consistent with your image of morality, then your state of mind rests upon their actions as a sailing boat rests upon the winds. If you like the image they have of morality and the concepts they have of life, you're going to put that person upon a pedestal. Conversely, anyone who has directly opposing bias to yours is bound to trigger your judgment. Can humanity be reliant upon no morality, to be free from all bias? Can humanity not follow the map of their own biases?

When there is the forgiver and the forgiven, there is no relationship between them. The 'forgiver' has his position, and the 'forgiven' has their position. Both positions will be utterly consistent with their own framework of thoughts, fears and desires. Therefore, they cannot be consistent with one another's position, only consistent with 'an image they have translated into thought' concerning one another's position. The more that framework of thoughts swells, the less relationship one actually has with others (actuality is action in the moment).

Actions define relationship 'in the moment'; thought as memory defines relationships in the past. The past is not the moment. I am not the person I was 10 years ago, literally. Most of my bodies cells have replicated: most of my thoughts differ. Anything I give weight to, limits me to my past. If I want to be in relationship with the present, I must let go of my thinking: can you let go of "all your biases"?

You could say: this is my thumb! It is not your thumb, you are your thumb.There is not 'your eyes as separate from you', that you could call them your own! You could say: "I think this or that", but when you think, you are that thinking! There is not you doing the thinking, there is only the act of thinking, which thought itself defines as "me separate from the thinking going on".

If you say: one of my thoughts is for this approach, and another of my thoughts is for that approach, then even within your own mind, there is conflict. You are your brain cells, so you are fighting yourself. Your brain draws the limits of "self" and calls it my conception of me; this thinking is abstracted from ones experiences, it is an abstraction stuck in the past.

Whilst you could say that all cells in your brain are yours; so many of them can have opposite opinions with one another.

The only difference between yours and another persons brain is that you can't see the physical connection, because you discern differences by identifying physical barrier. When the brain operates in the same way (through the movement of thought), there is no difference in approach, just in content. There is difference in content in your own brain, yet you call yourself one person! With thinking: everybody is in the same maze, albeit in different positions.

Committing to ideas about right and wrong provides you with a framework for which to judge. Thought is a divisive process consisting of comparing and contrasting (seeing what is similar and what is different), and then biasing for or against. So in that you can only move consistently with your own position in the maze of your own thoughts. That is why you are looking for escape. Looking for escape from your own thoughts, gives them power.

As you quote Jesus, there is a passage in the Thomas Gospel:

"A man said to him, 'Tell my brothers to divide my fathers possessions with me. Jesus said to him, 'O man, who has made me a divider?' He turned to his disciples and said to them, 'I am not a divider, am I?"

no.

you can never "out-grow" sin. Jesus forgives you (if he is truly i your heart).

i love that quote from Jesus though :)