by Dreama Vance

“Love, Forgiveness, and Kindness.” With those three words the Qigong Master roped me into his teaching. “The source of qigong healing power is unconditional love, forgiveness, and kindness,” he said. Having studied qigong with two other Qigong Masters and two other teachers over the years and never hearing any use of those words in their teachings, I was immediately captivated by this radiant, small Chinese man. I knew I had finally found the Qigong Master for me.

These three words, love, kindness and forgiveness are a guideline for a happy, joyful life. The further I go on my own spiritual journey, the more I see how the actions of these three words, love, kindness, and forgiveness directly parallel the results obtained from the actions: happiness and joy.

Most of us have been taught these principles as children, but something happens as we mature and discover, as Scott Peck tells us in The Road Less Traveled, “Life is difficult.”

Every spiritual seeker can cultivate these actions. As we go into our quiet space, we can contemplate these words. As we live our daily life, we can put these words into action. As we put these words into action, we manifest the joy and happiness we seek and want to experience in this lifetime.

Most of humanity practices conditional love. It is, in fact, pretty easy to practice conditional love! It is unconditional love where we sometimes struggle. However, unconditional love is something, I have discovered, that comes from the Divine.

Unconditional love flows through you. It is always there. We don’t really need to struggle to experience it. We just need to tap into it. We only need to remember it. We need to connect with it…and when we do… the power of this energy will bring us to our knees. Honestly, when you begin to practice this way of being, it is difficult not to grab people off the street and hug them. You will feel such love for everything… for all of humanity. You will love the Earth. You will see her. You will see beauty as if you had never seen the world.

I still remember a raw food teacher talking about returning to Russia when her mother was dying. As she sat by the bedside, her mother was going in and out of consciousness. Just as she thought her mother had drawn her last breath, her mother opened her eyes and looked at her and said, “I have wasted my entire life. It is all about love.”

Now, the mother was a very successful woman. She was a college professor and had reared a family of well-adjusted and successful children. How could she have thought she had wasted her life? And yet, it is obvious from her last words… “it is all about love” that she had in the end, seen that light of understanding that can only come from Spirit. Life, is indeed, all about love.

Forgiveness is a major player in both our emotional and our physical well being. Unbalanced emotions themselves play a big role in creating physical problems in the body. It is pretty easy to forgive small matters. What about big issues? Is there something someone did that is unforgivable? Stop and think. Are you still carrying that baggage around with you?

If you find it impossible to let go of the hurt and anger, pretend. You know you need to forgive for your own sake. So set the intention that you will forgive and then pretend you are forgiving that person. Practice pretending to forgive over and over in your quiet space, chanting, “I forgive you.” Watch as the miracle of forgiveness opens within you. Forgiveness opens the doors to freedom of the spirit.

Kindness is, I find, the most actionable of the three words in our daily life. Out of the three words, kindness is the word that we do (or don’t do) as we go about living our life. We become, as the Wizard of Oz says, good-deed-doers. Overt acts of kindness are easily recognizable. You hold open the door at a store for someone using a walker. You volunteer at the hospital or a nursing home. You adopt a pet from the Humane Society. These are acts of kindness.

There are, however, deeper, more subtle levels of this energy. It expresses through our very nature as we mature in our spiritual growth. We begin to be aware of our words and thoughts. Are we throwing pebbles (okay, some people actually throw stones) with our words? Are we critical in any way when we speak to others? Are we critical when we speak about others? Is our own self-talk negative? Constructive criticism is an oxymoron. Our words should be rose petals of kindness. We want to uplift with our words.

As this energy deepens, it becomes even more subtle. Now we find, not only do we want our words to be love in action, but even our very thoughts are being overtaken by this energy of kindness. This energy begins to grow more conscious in our awareness. It begins to evolve within us, kindly demanding to be expressed in our very thoughts and words of expression.

It is amazing to me how this energy of kindness develops. Now, instead of “trying to be nice” we find this energy is living and expressing through us. It feels almost like an Angel of Kindness has taken up residence in our being. This energy is very connected to a peaceful spirit. I find that the more kindness is expressed, the stronger peace settles into our being.

So, scatter rose petals wherever you go, spreading love, kindness, and forgiveness into the world. Experience a life of happiness and joy!

Tell a friend…