At the Mercy of Conditioning

 Forgive them for they know not what they do...Luke 23:34

Forgive them...whoever it was that hurt you, for at the time of the "doing, the speaking, the thinking" they did not know what they were doing. They were, as Tolle describes, "a victim of their own conditioning."

I love these words: 

You cannot demand that a human being should act beyond their level of consciousness. They can't help it. They are completely at the mercy of their conditioning...they themselves are the victims of their own conditioning....with that realization comes a certain compassion and forgiveness

This understanding, of course, must also be directed towards ourselves when we suddenly realize what we have done or failed to do as a result of our conditioning. We forgive others; we forgive ourselves.

As I think of the unconscious behaviour of others that was directed towards my loved one or myself over the years, I immediately and almost simultaneously think of what I have done to others , or not done, as a result of my own conditioned brokenness. It is an automatic thing that happens to me now. When I think of the so called "wrong-doing" of others, I automatically think of my own "wrong-doings" over the years.  I am brought down , rather quickly, from any high horse of moral superiority I might have crawled up on. Anger towards others, I see now,  leads, to anger towards myself. Hmm!

That, I believe, is a part of our evolution and awakening...to see that humanity is not a finished product. Both the other and ourselves are interconnected parts of that humanity. We are evolving together. To hurt the other, it to hurt ourselves. To forgive the other, is to forgive ourselves. 

It is our purpose to evolve and awaken out of the egoic consciousness.  And if you do not awaken, while you are unconscious, you create suffering for yourself and others. 

Let's end the suffering once and for all. Forgive your brother; forgive yourself. Let's awaken together. 

All is well. 

Eckhart Tolle (March, 2026) If You Grew Up in Chaos, Watch This!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpbQ-X_-Cig