I, Too, Have Been Flooded
Ajahn Sucitto:
“We pick up that our hearts will probably quite easily come into the wish for the welfare of others:
“May they be happy.
“May they be cherished.
“May they be free from harm and suffering.
“May their practice bear fruit.
“Bring this to mind.
“Then bring into that field: the people one is spending time with, one’s relatives, and associates — with all the difficult bits —
“I just wish them well, that’s all.
“I’m not expecting them to be fantastic. Or for everything to be really swinging along between us. I just wish them freedom from harm.
“I can do that.
“And then:
“I, too, have been flooded with behaviors and actions that were inappropriate, not worthy, not welcome, wrong time…
“I ask for forgiveness.
“There’s the flush that one gets, the grandiosity that can come out of feeling one is right; the lack of straightforwardness that can come out of feeling one is wrong, so one never dares say the truth, and how confusing that is; the confusion that can arise from thinking one can know what someone else is thinking, what they’re up to, and then having an opinion about it….
“Haven’t we all done this?
“This — is forgiveness.”
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(from the last few minutes of Ajahn Sucitto’s talk: Body — the Last Outpost of Sanity. Click here to listen.)