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PRABUDDH JEEVAN
MAY 2017
life turned to a tragedy when at the age of 39, she was Frank at the prison and heard his story of how he was sent to Terezin concentration camp along with her 5 broken in the wake of thousands killed on 9/11 and a year old son. Earlier her mother was captured and killed passive regret for Balbir's death without taking personal in the concentration camp and later on her husband responsibility for taking a life. Rana told him of the time met the same fate. She slept on a frozen dirt floor, was he had accidently run into his wife and daughter, inviting threatened every day of her life and that of her son, them for dinner at his home. Frank remembered his and was given very little food to eat. But she never daughter telling him the story and was profoundly moved developed a feeling of hatred towards Nazis, always that Rana showed compassion to his daughter. Even laughed, and gave her son so much love that in such a after knowing that Frank had not truly come to terms gruesome environment of the concentration camp, he with enormity of his crime, Rana told Frank that he had felt secure and unafraid.
already forgiven him and thus began the process of Alice believed that "hatred eats the soul of the hater healing for both parties. and not the hated", and chose never to hate anyone no J ust as there are no mountain peaks that cannot matter what. As Lord Buddha once said, "To be angry be scaled, there is nothing that cannot be forgiven and at someone is to drink a glass of poison and expect there is no one undeserving of forgiveness. Human the person you are angry at to die". Alice learned to be beings possess a divine gift - Power to Forgive! thankful for everything in her life. She treated everything in her life as a gift from God.
You can read many stories like this of ordinary Alice was pragmatic and knew that we all make people that have shown extra-ordinary courage, mistakes and we need to learn from our mistakes. But compassion and love, in various books and on Internet. instead people complain a lot and the complaining, One such resource is a website of "The Forgiveness according to her, does not change anything. "I know Project" (http://theforgivenessproject.com) about the bad things but I look only for the good things" The Forgiveness Project was founded in 2004 in - this mantra of Alice was at the foundation of her response to the invasion of Iraq and as a way of optimism and positivity until her death at the age of countering the rhetoric of retaliation so prominent at 110 in February 2014.
that time. Journalist, Marina Cantacuzino, set out to
collect stories from victims and perpetrators who had Rana Sodhi commemorates his brother's death in chosen to resolve conflict through dialogue and a memorial service every year on the 15th September restorative means. It is an award-winning, secular with family, friends and neighbours at the corner of a organization that collects and shares real stories of gas station in Arizona. Four days after 9/11 attacks, forgiveness to build understanding, encourage Rana's brother Balbir Singh was shot dead while reflection and enable people to reconcile with the pain planting flowers in front of his store on September 15, and move forward from the trauma in their own lives. 2001. His murderer, Frank Roque was caught, tried The stories of forgiveness on their website and sentenced to life term in prison. Balbir was the first of demonstrate that forgiveness is first and foremost a dozens of people killed in hate crimes against Sikhs and personal journey: a visceral process with no set rules Muslims after 9/11. His murder turned a generation of or time limits. It is not dependent on faith and it is often young people, like family friend Valarie Kaur into activists, just as mysterious as love". who began helping communities organize against racism T he book, "The Forgiveness Project", explores and violence. For the past 15 years Rana has been themes of forgiveness, reconciliation and conflict travelling the country with message of love and transformation. It brings together the personal compassion, holding yearly prayer meetings.
testimonies of both survivors and perpetrators of crime But after this year's memorial, Kaur and Rana and violence and asks the question whether realized that despite the passage of 15 years of activism, forgiveness may have more currency than revenge in their communities were still trapped in a cycle of an age, which seems locked into the cycle of conflict. violence and hate. So one night they decided to end their exhibitions, events, and programs use the suffering by doing something unthinkable. A week narrative learning techniques to present alternatives to after 2016 memorial service for his brother, he called cycles of conflict, violence, crime and injustice. ***
