One of my teachers had each of us bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes. For every person in our life that we refuse to forgive, we chose a potato, wrote on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of our bags were quite heavy.
We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere we went for one week – we had to put it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving, next to our desk at work, and so on. The hassle of lugging this bag of potatoes around made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually (and emotionally).
Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty slime. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for keeping our pain and heavy negativity! Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, when clearly it is a gift for ourselves...
From an unsigned posting on a web discussion group,
Published in The New York Kokoro Newsletter Oct 2006
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