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36 BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS

punishment inflicted by others. Every act of unforgiveness entails upon the doer of that act these
five sufferings; whereas every act of forgiveness brings to the doer five kinds of blessedness — the
blessedness of love; the blessedness of increased communion and fellowship; the blessedness of a
calm and peaceful mind; the blessedness of passion stilled and pride overcome; and the
blessedness and kindness and good-will bestowed by others.
Numbers of people are today suffering the fiery torments of an unforgiving spirit, and only
when they make an effort to overcome that spirit can they know what a cruel and exacting
taskmaster they are serving. Only those who have abandoned the service of such a master for that
of the nobler master of forgiveness can realise and know how grievous a service is the one, how
sweet the other.
Let a man contemplate the strife of the world: how individuals and communities, neighbours

and nations, live in continual retaliations towards each other; let him realise the heartaches, the
bitter tears, the grievous partings and misunderstandings — yea, even the blood-shed and woe
which spring from that strife — and, thus realising, he will never again yield to ignoble thoughts of
resentment, never again take offence at the actions of others, never again live in unforgiveness
towards any being.
“Have good-will
To all that lives, letting unkindness die
And greed and wrath; so that your lives be made
Like soft airs passing by.”

When a man abandons retaliation for forgiveness he passes from darkness to light. So dark and
ignorant is unforgiveness that no being who is at all wise or enlightened could descend to it; but
its darkness is not understood and known until it is left behind, and the better and nobler course
of conduct is sought and practised. Man is blinded and deluded only by his own dark and sinful
tendencies; and the giving up of all unforgiveness means the giving up of pride and certain forms
of passion, the abandonment of the deeply-rooted idea of the importance of one-self and of the
necessity for protecting and defending that self; and when that is done the higher life, greater
wisdom, and pure enlightenment, which pride and passion completely obscured, are revealed in

all their light and beauty.
Then there are petty offences, little spites and passing slights, which, while of a less serious
nature than deep-seated hatreds and revenges, dwarf the character and cramp the soul. They are
due to the sin of self and self-importance and thrive on vanity. Whosoever is blinded and deluded
by vanity will continually see something in the actions and the attitudes of others towards him at
which to take offence, and the more there is of vanity the more greatly will the imaginary slight or
wrong be exaggerated. Moreover, to live in the frequent indulgence of petty resentments increase
the spirit of hatred, and leads gradually downward to greater darkness, suffering, and self-
delusion. Don’t take offence or allow your feelings to be hurt, which means — get rid of pride and
vanity. Don’t give occasion for offence or hurt the feelings of others, which means — be gently
considerate, forgiving, and charitable towards all.