When you forgive you heal, when you let go, you grow
Thirty years ago, if you were to buy fresh fruit or vegetables in a Thai market, you would probably take your purchases home in bags made from stapled newspaper.
One young mother in Bangkok arrived home from such a shopping trip, mind obsessed with anger towards her unfaithful and absent husband, plotting all kinds of revenge.
Something on the kitchen table caught her eye.
She pulled one of the newspaper bags apart and started to read.
The column gave a summary of a Dhamma talk given at the Ministry of Industry by a Western monk, Ajahn Jayasaro.
She read that the monk had said that indulging in the desire for revenge does more long-term harm to our well-being than the actions of the person who hurt us.
Every sentence made sense.
Tears started to fall down her cheeks.
She cried and cried.
Finally the tears stopped and she felt as if a great weight had fallen away.
She had forgiven her husband, and was now determined to make the best of her life without him.
Some time later she sent me one of the most beautiful and memorable thank you letters that I have ever received.
Ajahn Jayasāro
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