The theme of this essay was suggested to me by Piers Clement who has made this the subject of discussion of his forum page. I felt not only invited to send in a contribution, because the axioms on his Site are so inspiring and I wanted to respond to it, but it challenged me also. For it is a difficult subject to tackle, because there are different sides to this problem. The first thing that comes to our mind, if we consider this human virtue, is that we should forgive the wrongs of our fellow men at all times and at all costs. This is a very lofty and almost holy attitude. It surely is something worth striving at, because it is salutary not only for our social contacts (forgiveness always sustains friendships, which are in general so difficult to keep up), but also for our own emotional well fare. Forgiveness takes away our anger and our resentments and by doing so makes us peaceful and in harmony with our self again. So it is beneficial not only from the altruistic point of view but also from the egoistic. Forgiveness is an instance of love and love is always the right way to follow (according to the Augustinian maxim dilige et fac quod vis).
Though
this has always been the
view
of the saints through history and though everyone raised up in a
religious
tradition will see forgiveness as an important, be it not the most
important
goal of ethics, it will be worth considering if forgiveness is
beneficial
at all times and at all costs. Maybe there are
instances feasible
where it is better to postpone our forgiveness for a while.
This
surely is the case in day to day ethics. If someone commits a criminal
act,
jurisdiction does not forgive this
person
right away.
First he
has to pay his penalty before the law can forgive him. In these cases
forgiveness
seems to be some kind of a bonus offer, which is bestowed on
the
criminal, only after he has done a counteract which sets things even
again.
So it is rather surprising that law, although it often says it a has a
religious
basis, does not follow religion in this respect.
But also in our daily social intercourse we seem to forgive the harm done by others only piecemeal and reluctantly and after a considerable lapse of time. I think this not to be the result of our inborn egoism and our rancour, but it serves a purpose. If we forgive the harm done to us right away and without preconditions, there will be no time for the wrongdoer to learn from his tress passings. It is within the law of dharma that the wrongdoer gets the results of his own wrongdoings. He must find out that he loses all love and friendship and end up all miserable and left in solitude, if he goes on behaving the way he does. Doing wrong is always an act of egoism (this will do as a definition of injustice) and everyone has to loose his ego according to the law of dharma, also (and especially) the man who commits wrong acts. He will never be impelled to get rid of his ego and turn to the god/Brahman as the only solution and saviour of his life, if he does not 'reap what he sows'.
There is such a thing as justified indignation. Jesus felt angry at the bankers trading in the Holy Temple and he did not forgive them at the moment. They had to learn that a life so overtaken by money making that it did not leave room for silence, devotion and religion is a wrong path to follow. For their own salvation and happiness Jesus got angry. It is, I think, a great misunderstanding if people think that mystics can't get upset and that they forgive everything. Maybe at the contrary: mystics are full of indignation if they suffer injustice or if they see people doing injustice to others or to nature. They always stay young in their befitted indignation, like youngsters at school can get angry to the bottom of their souls if people eg. mess around with the environment.
Forgiveness can or in some cases must be postponed, but it must never be cancelled. At the end forgiveness is always due. It is the mystical view that there is good in every kind of evil (be it only that evil always brings about a learning process) and that there is in every evil doer an essence of godliness, debauched as he may be. The evil is only part of the crisis that can alter the life of a person and contact him again to its source. With forgiveness we help the person and we will direct him along the mystical path. Forgiveness is the very essence of the god/Brahman, because the god will always start anew. Man must be an image of this Brahman. He must let the force do its work and that can only be achieved as man will let go another man. Forgiveness is letting another man go, be himself, so that the force can do its work. Forgiveness is the holy way.
