Letter # 26: "A Simple 'Thank You Technique' For Forgiveness"

Does forgiveness work? For the scientific minds here's an article from the Journal of Clinical Psychology (Pubmed PMID: 17457850). Click on the link below.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17457850&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.P
Most of us prefer less onerous reading material. Recently a kind friend gave me a copy of the "40-Day Forgiveness Prayer" (first described by the now deceased J. Everett irion and re-printed in Venture Inward Nov-Dec 2007 issue - see http://edgarcayce.org/).

The "40-Day Forgiveness Prayer" can help in repairing damaged relationships, current and past, and with family members, friends, or workmates. Because the problem is in the the relationship between two people, God is left out of the prayer. You can even pray to yourself, putting your own name in.

It goes like this: "(Name of the person that your having problems with) I am praying to you. Thank you (name) for doing to me all that you have done. Forgive me (name) for all that I have done to you."

It can be hard to say thank-you to someone that you see as hurtful or inimical but many people have reported remarkable positive results when they have dared to try the prayer. Irion writes: "One woman emphatically refused to try it when I first suggested it, but a year later said, 'Why did I wait a whole year to try that prayer? As soon as I did the 40 days, my 'ex' came to me and asked if we could just be friends. Now we are closer friends than ever before."

Here are some important tips:
1. After doing the prayer put it out of mind so that it can do its work.
2. The best thing to do is to get on with your life and to not expect any results.
3. Don't tell that person that you are praying to them in this manner. Talking about it disturbs the process at a deeply unconscious level.
4. Keep a calendar and mark off a check mark for each day you have said the prayer, for 40-days. If you miss a day,you must start a new 40-day cycle.
5. In a crisis you can shorten the 40-day cycle to 40 hours, or 40 minutes (The "40" concept comes from Jesus' 40 days in the desert, Moses 40 years to reach the Promised Land, and 40 days of the Flood).

The prayer costs nothing except humility. The pay-off is in the immense potential for healing, self and other. irion attests that many persons have been helped by the prayer. So, see if you can muster the courage to try it.



God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.

Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2008"
“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
Tel: 604 273 6641 (also for fax on request)

http://jasbhopal.com/

References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" as translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN 0-89213-268-X; The Srimad Bhagavatum as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN0-89213-259-0; "I Am That. Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.