The cultivation of loving-kindness made it increasingly clear that I could not let go of anything I did not accept.

Forgiveness finishes unfunished business.

"I ask the forgiveness of anyone or anything that I may have caused pain, intentionally or otherwise."

Forgiveness was essential to the uncovering of my original nature. It was a primary letting go of the hindrances to seeing, such as identification with self-congratulating pride and shaming self-judgment.

To let myself be forgiven was like sandblasting away my armor.

Somedays it exposed the heart for hours. Sometimes it didn't last to the end of the sitting.  Sometimes I felt like I was wrestling with alligators. Sometimes I was eaten alive in identification with the wound, trying too hard or not hard enough.