Forgiveness as the Catholic yoga

“The aim is to make person-to-person forgiveness a norm in the church,” he said, with sermons organized around the idea and laity engaged in studying it. Perhaps the hierarchy might consider 'studying' the topic also? It's a top down institution right? My bottom line is that I don't let any of those 'holy' people anywhere near my head. Talk about forgiveness all you want, give me a break! Two thousand years of it and you're claiming some sort of new 'nero-science' spin on it. I don't think so. Repressive,abusive religion produces psychopathology, just read any one of the myriad biographies of Stalin.

Abuse survivors have come to refer to "forgiveness" as "The F-word." Why? Because so often it is used as a sort of spiritual "club" to get them to stop being such and "inconvenience" to the person who utters the word.

As a result, there is a great deal of suspicion cast upon someone who would exhort abuse survivors to "forgive" the abusers and the abusers' enablers.

"Jesus forgave his tormentors" the abuse survivor is told.

Therefore, what? The survivor should be "a good victim" and eschew restorative justice through the courts, having been previously denied satisfaction by the Church?

Forgiveness is properly an intensely personal, perhaps entirely internal process.

It seems to me that by following Robert Enright, we could cut through, and dispense with, so much superfluous dogma and get back to what Christianity is supposed to be about.

Why is it (always) so important that the Catholic Church have somethinng "equivalent" to anything that is useful in the secular world or in particular with other forms of religion or spirituality.

For the sake of and in the name of Christ, celebrate what is good in creation and in civilization. Be Christ don't simply "appropriate" or replicate.+

This is a good article. Truly justice and mercy cannot exist without the other. If the bishops which to be merciful then they in justice must atone for their failures. This is true whether they are forgiven or not. This the bishops must do whether they are forgiven or not. The bishops and there self-appointed defenders may not say, imply, are act as if forgiveness of them is their entitlement and everyone has to get over the episcopal failures and harm and the harm these caused.

A little fact correction from the first paragraph. Trancendental Meditation (TM) was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a Hindu, not a Buddhist. Havinging know some practitioners over the years, I can tell you it is a thoroughly Hindu form of meditation.

Benedicite,

Br. Cuthbert, OSB

Good article, John. At it's most basic, forgiveness is renouncing revenge. After one has done that, all else in Enright's "Forgiveness therapy" falls into place.

I am sure that Buddhism has its own version of forgiveness therapy, perhaps cloaked inside the term "compassion". But Forgiveness Therapy sounds like a very good idea that deserves to be taught and applied widely. And perhaps the Catholic approach to Christianity has a closer affinity to it than do other Christian expressions of faith. I would not want to bet a lot of money on that, however.

I think you'll find TM and Buddhism are very different, not really related. TM comes from Hinduism too.

The world is certainly angry and also sprouting seeds of hatred. Hatred accomplishes nothing unless one wants to held captive. So many documented cases of people who have gone to visit and forgive the killer of someone they loved dearly so that they would be free to "live" as God had intended. There was and is nothing to gain but yet at the same time this does not come easily and professional help may needed. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a wonderful and powerful Sacrament of Healing.

Good article John, but Buddhism isn't a religion, it is a philosophy.

John, I usually really appreciate your insights and I'm not sure I see the connection between yoga, TM Meditation and Enright's forgiveness therapy. It strikes me that this "forgiveness therapy" does not differ in any specific Christian or Catholic way from similar practices in the Eastern traditions. I appreciate the empirical evidence that suggests the efficacy of this approach, but wouldn't it be the same if approached from an Eastern perspective? I'm just wondering. Perhaps the real question here is why are we so compelled to draw lines of separation between what is Christian and what is "Eastern"? I believe that the future of world peace and harmony lies in our ability to pierce through the veil of separation to see the Oneness that exists between us all. I practice Catholic along with "Eastern" practices (including yoga) and only see a variety of pathways to the same place - and that is compassion and love.

Lauri Lumby
Authentic Freedom Ministries
http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Paul Knitter---It is surprising that there's no mention of Paul Knitter and his excellent book "Without Buddha I could not be a Christian" (Oneworld Publications)---Knitter is a well-known theologian (Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary in New York City). He is a practicing Catholic and a Buddhist.

Forgiving another person is the most liberating act in the world. It is at the heart of Christ's message. Jesus may not have invented forgiveness but he certainly championed it. We can see how to this day Judaism for all its many virutes is still stuck in the Old Testament mindset of an 'eye for eye' and it is no coincdiecne that the Arab-Israeli conflict has got worse rather than better. This is an excellent article and one which I will keep with me for many months to come

Lauri Lumby wonders what is specifically "Christian" about "forgiveness therapy." I would point to the petition in the Lord's Prayer in which we ask God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Our faith thus tells us that our reconciliation and ultimate union with God depends upon our forgiving others. That's a pretty powerful message.

All that Mr. Enright says is also in "The Shack", in truly "novel" form. Since that book has sold around 10 million copies, these two men are indeed on to a "core content" of the message Jesus brought. He himself, in the very act of being executed, forgave outright his executioners AND those Jews who were actually insulting him at the moment of His greatest agony. Forgiveness does NOT require the offender's acceptance. Its greatest benefit is for the one who suffers from an offense.
Fr. Tom Francis

Envy and Resentment can cause physical symptoms in the person harboring them, such as high blood pressure. Go to Reconciliation, confess whichever (envy, e.g.) and ask the Lord Jesus to take it out of your heart. If the priest suggests psychological counseling, tell him that you are seeking Grace from the Sacrament - the encounter with Christ - not a papering over of destructive emotions. Certain emotions tend to destroy the person harboring them, and leave the object of them unaffected. I am not suggesting that a victim of a crime should not seek justice; I am saying that retaining an attitude of bitterness can cause illness.
TeaPot562

This is a gift from the Holy Spirit, who heals our spirit. Dr. Enright's "forgiveness therapy" had my spirit sailing. This is so right on, so true, so relevant for today, so human yet so divine. I will pray for the continued success of this work and for it's speedy advancement so many more can be healed. May the Holy Angels protect and carry this blessed healing therapy speedily throughout the world. Blessed are the Merciful for they shall obtain Mercy. Divine Mercy. Archbishop Burke's seal of approval is the sign of great blessings for all. To a previous comment, Buddhism is a religion of it's own admission. Philosophys don't use the body to channel spiritual entities to the person. Buddhism does.

This world would be in a better place if we learned the human heart of peacemaking. Seventy Times Seven by Doris Donnelly-Pax Christi USA shows us how to make peace. To forgive takes a lot of courage. When someone close to you hurts with words only the grace of God permits peace.

It's very concise but I think the prayer the Our Father says it all. Christians need daily courage when they follow Jesus.

Oh, I get it now -it's really okay to be an enabler. Rome will love that. Oh will these psychologists ever cease making the world a better place?

Thank you for sharing this good news about "forgiveness therapy". This helps those who have chosen to forgive with the will to bring the body and mind to healing and wholeness. How great is that! It is no surprise that many are receiving life-changing healings. Yoga is very popular today to try to achieve inner peace and relaxation. But, since it is not compatible with the Catholic Faith, herein lies the problem. Now, herein lies the solution, "forgiveness therapy". Praise God. Those who have been victimized by sexual abuse can have a real solution to their pain, that all the money in the world can't buy.

Raymond Burke, the famous proponent of excommunication, as a key author on forgiveness? There is something very wrong here.

This is the man who prepared a notice of excommunication in advance of women being ordained in St. Louis so that it could be delivered to them as they processed out of the ordination service.

This is the man who announced that politicians who were not even in his diocese were not to be given communion because they disagreed with him over, not abortion, but how to legislate about abortion.

This is a man who has shown much greater capacity to condemn than forgive.

Let us not even get into his propensity for gaudy display and for being in Rome when he was archbishop of St. Louis.

I find it hard to take seriously anything coming from Raymond Burke unless it is about the minutiae of Canon Law.

Stick to Catholicism, John. Spare us the gnosticism of Eastern spiritualities.

I have found that the regular and long-term practice of Centering Prayer (meditation with a Christian focus)seems to produce a forgiving heart almost automatically. Several others have pointed out that the practices of meditation and forgiveness are complementary, not in opposition to one another. There is no need to "compete" and try to "sell" Catholic practices, and it would be good for more Catholics and Christians to realize that the east has much to teach the west.

The sub-text here on the part of the hierarchy is 'enough already' as far as the child rape 'scandal'goes. The octogenarians who listen only to their scandal meister the senior citizen called 'holiness' will use the 'forgiveness as a therapeutic tool' approach I'm sure. But what about telling the truth at all cost? Something's screwy here! No, the pope will need to be continually vigilant, knowing what he knows. Twenty three years in the CDF and what do we get" A few boo hoo tears, and some Irish foot washing. I've watched a lot of liars in the media this year and Ratzinger is one of them. Obfuscation:Obfuscation is the concealment of intended meaning in communication, making communication confusing, intentionally ambiguous, and more difficult to interpret.Forget the smoke of satan in the sanctuary, that's easy to deal with, it's the smoke of Benedict that needs to be dealt with, and soon.PS, I wish he would stop talking about Jesus. Really, it's an insult and very confusing.Forgiveness is a PROCESS that begins by FEELING and TELLING the TRUTH.Something that Roman catholic clerics are by definition unable to do!

Of the four solicitations in the "Lord's Prayer", forgiveness comes in as a second priority after a request for sustenance to survive long enough to forgive: "...and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, . . ." So as a practical matter, forgiveness was a high priority in Jesus' teaching of how to pray. But there is an important quid pro quo element involved, which suggests that we will be forgiven to the extent that we forgive and thereby be released from our own offenses. So it is not surprising that professor Enright's research shows some relief for people who have learned to forgive, as arduous as it may be for some people to endure a "twenty-step process" to acquire the willingness to forgive: "The idea is to help patients express an unconditional 'act of mercy, rooted in self-giving love,. . .'"

That idea is central to what all spiritual masters (Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, Shankara, Moses, Jesus and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi taught. The major difference between what professor Enright teaches and what both Eastern and Western masters have professed is that there is an easy and simple way to acquire a life "rooted in self-giving love": Go within and it will come to you as easily, effortlessly, and assuredly as the rising of the morning sun.

In recent years, several spiritual revelations have come to us which inform and inspire those of us who seek a life rooted in self-giving love. These revelations clear up the confusion expressed in this article and some of the comments that have already been given.

The spiritual revelations, in sum, show us that the origins of organized religions have their roots in what the masters taught. Unfortunately, the founders of those religions bastardized the masters' core teachings. Eastern religions and spiritual practices teach contemplation of a life rooted in self-giving love . . . the end result (of what the masters taught) which comes to those who seek their their "salvation" by "going within". The Western, monotheistic religions were conceived by people who couldn't comprehend what the apostle Peter referred to as "strange ideas". But, recognizing the value of cherry-picking some of the ideas the masters expressed and using those ideas as a basis for creating institutions based on fear and terror, the founders of Judaism and Christianity had the perfect formulas to seduce humanity with their spurious ideas.

What are the recent revelations which expose current organized religions as mere, dark shadows of what the masters taught? For the Eastern religions, the expose` comes to us through the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement which was founded by Maharishi Maharishi Yogi in the middle of the last century. As John correctly points out, the TM meditation technique is one of those "gimme-something-that-works" techniques which releases stress and leads to a more relaxed and happy life. Like professor Enright's protocol, scientific research studies done by the TM movement show significant improvement in the quality of life for people who practice TM.

While TM was originally intended as the engine that would drive a world-wide Spiritual Regeneration Movement, the founder discovered that people were much more interested in a technique that would help them go to sleep than waking up to discover their divine, inner, spiritual Selves. So for fifty years the TM technique has been marketed as a way for people to solve their emotional and physical problems. Hundreds of scientific studies confirm the effectiveness of the technique. The good news is that the consequences for many people (who use the TM technique for "going within") are pleasently surprised by their waking up to their spiritual inner Selves, even if they weren't expecting that to happen; of course many start using the technique as a way to expand their awareness of their divine inner selves. The point here is to reiterate how the spiritual masters had their messages turned upside down by the founders of Eastern religions: instead of going within to EXPERIENCE a life "rooted in self-giving love", the Eastern religions teach, instead, CONTEMPLATING such a life. It's like choosing to go to China in a sampan instead of taking a jet plane.

For the Western religions, the expose` comes to us in several forms. First, out from their hiding places in the Egyptian desert, we have the Gnostic gospels which reveal to us what Jesus was really saying . . . sayings that were so threatening to the founders of the Roman Catholic Church that they persecuted, plundered and slaughtered (by the hundreds of thousands)people who chose to follow Jesus message of love and compassion as opposed to the Catholic Churh's message of fear and terror. The Gnostic Gospels show that Jesus was saying "Go within to find your salvation in this lifetime."

Secondly, we have at our disposal a recent revelation in the form of a book titled "Conversations with God" which is a 744 page expose` of how organized religions have corrupted the messages of the spiritual masters. The book provides us with a "New Spiritual Paradigm" which explains, in essence, what Maharishi had in mind for his Spiritual Regeneration Movement.

Thirdly, we have very recent revelations about what Michelangelo was up to when he painted the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and sculpted the Moses statue for Pope Julius II's sarcophagus. For the latter, a PBS video was released a couple years ago, titled "Michelangelo Revealed" in which a couple Italian art historians show how the artist had altered the statue to turn Moses' head away from gazing at the altar in St. Peter's basilica, an indication that he had changed his mind over the years and didn't want Moses bringing any credibility to what the altar represented. That exposure of Michelangelo's antipathy for the popes and the religion they had foisted upon humanity is consistent with the revelations documented in Blech and Doliner's book, "Sistine Secrets" and my novel, "The Michelangelo Deception". Blech, a Jewish rabbi, and Doliner, a Sistine Chapel docent, show how Michelangelo embedded dozens of "secrets" in the chapel ceiling (and to a lesser extent in the "Last Judgment" fresco) secrets about the artist's love for Jewish mysticism, while making a plea to the Church hierarchy for a more humane religion. They have a couple putti (angelic-like figures) giving Pope Julius II the finger in the ceiling fresco, expressing the artist's contempt for the papacy and the religion they had foisted on humanity. The deceptions I found in my analysis of the "Last Judgment" indicate the same contempt, but also reveal that Michelangelo believed that there will be no "last judgment" because there is no need for one: God is a God of love and compassion, not one who would terrify humanity by threatening it with eternal punishment for perceived violations of laws, rules and regulations dreamed up by ignorant men. I also found a character in the Last Judgment flashing "the finger". In my research, I found evidence that Michelangelo had not only flirted with Protestantism in his later life but toward the end of his life he had longed for the kind of transcendent experience of a loving God before he died so he could be sure of his salvation rather than die with doubt about that question still unanswered.

I applaud professor Enright's research findings and his lifelong search to help others deal with their anger through forgiveness. As I point out in my novel, I question the idea that the Catholic Church can be reformed because it is an authoritarian institution which, like the Soviet Union, was founded on the basis of fear and terror. So I wonder about how professor Enright's very positive approach to helping others will fare in an institution that has--at the core of its doctrine and on the face of its practices--a religion with powerful tools that ensure a steady supply of stressed-out victims.

Raymond Burke, the famous proponent of excommunication, as a key author on forgiveness? There is something very wrong here.

This is the man who prepared a notice of excommunication in advance of women being ordained in St. Louis so that it could be delivered to them as they processed out of the ordination service.

This is the man who announced that politicians who were not even in his diocese were not to be given communion because they disagreed with him over, not abortion, but how to legislate about abortion.

This is a man who has shown much greater capacity to condemn than forgive.

Let us not even get into his propensity for gaudy display and for being in Rome when he was archbishop of St. Louis.

I find it hard to take seriously anything coming from Raymond Burke unless it is about the minutiae of Canon Law.

"Gimme something that works" as an aim behind a "forgiveness" initiative that is proposed by a hierarchy much in need of forgiveness--- John,think about it.
Have they no shame?

I am happy to respond affirmatively to Mr. Allen’s question “Does the Catholic church have something similar to put on the market – a practice which meets or exceeds imminently practical, secular standards of effectiveness, but which could also serve as a calling card for the broader Catholic tradition?”

Following almost 2000 years of the Catholic mystical contemplative tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Catholics in over 100 countries practice Christian Meditation twice daily. Undertaken primarily as a spiritual discipline, Christian Meditation also works as “divine therapy. ” In meditation, the egotistical false self falls away, and the meditator puts on the loving, forgiving mind of Christ. As Laurence Freeman OSB, the Spiritual Guide of The World Community for Christian Meditation (www.wccm.org), stated in Tom Fox’s December 14, 2007 article on The John Main Center for Meditation and Inter-Religious Dialogue at Georgetown University:

“In contemplative experience we pass beyond divisions into the common ground. Differences remain but they are no longer barriers to friendship. Meditation is a universal spiritual wisdom entered through silence, stillness and simplicity.”

There is no question that individuals who are severely emotionally traumatized should first seek psychological counseling in order to forgive and move on with their lives, before attempting a contemplative practice. But for those of us seeking to experience spiritual depth and meaning, and to show loving kindness to all as we suffer through the ordinary trials of daily human life, Christian Meditation is definitely a practice which to fits Mr. Allen’s criteria in that it “ meets or exceeds imminently practical, secular standards of effectiveness, but which could also serve as a calling card for the broader Catholic tradition.”