Forgiveness is the renunciation or cessation of resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offence, disagreement, or mistake. The concept and benefits of forgiveness have been explored in religious thought, the social sciences and medicine. In most contexts, forgiveness is granted without any expectation. In practical terms, it may be necessary for the offender to offer some form of acknowledgment, an apology or even just ask for forgiveness, in order for the wronged person to believe herself or himself able to forgive. Most world religions include teachings on the nature of forgiveness, and many of these teachings provide an underlying basis for many varying modern day traditions and practices of forgiveness. Some religious doctrines or philosophies place greater emphasis on the need for humans to find some sort of divine forgiveness for their own shortcomings, others place greater emphasis on the need for humans to practice forgiveness of one another, yet others make little or no distinction between human and divine forgiveness.
In Judaism, if a person causes harm, but then sincerely and honestly apologizes to the wronged individual and tries to rectify the wrong, the wronged individual is religiously required to grant forgiveness. In Judaism, one must go to those he or she has harmed in order to be entitled to forgiveness.
In Christianity, Jesus speaks of the importance of Christians forgiving or showing mercy towards others. Forgiveness is not an option to a Christian, rather one must Forgive to be a Christian.
Islam teaches that forgiveness often requires the repentance of those being forgiven. Repentance is the activity of reviewing one's actions and feeling sincere regret for past wrongs. It generally involves a commitment to personal change and resolving to live a more responsible and humane life.
In Buddhism, forgiveness is seen as a practice to prevent harmful thoughts from causing havoc on one’s mental well-being. Buddhism recognizes that feelings of hatred and ill-will leave a lasting effect on our mind karma. Instead, Buddhism encourages the cultivation of thoughts that leave a wholesome effect. When resentments have already arisen, the Buddhist view is to calmly proceed to release them by going back to their roots. Buddhism centers on release from delusion and suffering through meditation and receiving insight into the nature of reality. Buddhism questions the reality of the passions that make forgiveness necessary as well as the reality of the objects of those passions."If we haven’t forgiven, we keep creating an identity around our pain, and that is what is reborn. That is what suffers." Buddhism places much emphasis on the concepts of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity as a means to avoiding resentments in the first place. These reflections are used to understand the context of suffering in the world, both our own and the suffering of others.
In Hinduism, the concept of performing atonement from one's wrongdoing and asking for forgiveness is very much a part of the practice, as is karma. Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The effects of those deeds and these deeds actively create present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain in others. An even more authoritative statement about forgiveness is espoused by Krishna, who is considered to be a Supreme Being by Hindus. Krishna said that forgiveness is one of the characteristics of one born for a divine state. It is noteworthy that he distinguishes those good traits from those he considered to be demoniac, such as pride, self-conceit and anger.
In Jainism, forgiveness is one of the main virtues that needs to be cultivated by the Jains who repeatedly seek forgiveness from various creatures—even plants and microorganisms that they may have harmed while eating and doing routine activities. Forgiveness is asked by uttering the phrase "may all the evil that has been done be fruitless." As a matter of ritual, they personally greet their friends and relatives seeking their forgiveness. No private quarrel or dispute may be carried beyond Samvatsari, the holiest day of the Jain calendar and letters and telephone calls are made to the outstation friends and relatives asking their forgiveness.
The need to forgive is widely recognized by the public, but they are often at a loss for ways to accomplish it. For example, in a large representative sampling of American people on various religious topics in 1988, the Gallup Organization found that 94% said it was important to forgive, but 85% said they needed some outside help to be able to forgive. However, not even regular prayer was found to be effective. Akin to forgiveness is mercy, so even if a person is not able to complete the forgiveness process he or she can still show mercy, especially when so many wrongs are done out of weakness rather than malice. The Gallup poll revealed that the only thing that was effective was "meditative prayer".
~ from Wikipedia
