Summary: Before we can incline the heart out of hiding, we have to tend to the areas of our lives that still foster a lingering believe in our personal narrative. Any mental and emotional logic that traps us inside our story has to be examined thoroughly because that state holds us within form. One area that keeps us stuck within our mental history is in our lack of forgiveness. Something in the past either happened to us or we did something that we were unable to forgive, and the story may still haunt us to this day. How do we break the hold the past has on us and free ourselves from this mental bondage? We apply the same practice to this area as we do to any mental disturbance. We simple hold it within awareness as it is and allow it to burn itself out. We have to be careful not to add any additional mental rationale or excuse, which will occur when the energy of the story overwhelms us. Simply face whatever occurred without alterations until the emotions and story become less intense and burdensome. Be careful not to infuse the story with additional guilt or shame. This practice does not apply to traumatic events which are better handle under professional supervision, but it does apply to those many smaller transgressions that we carry with us throughout our lives. This talk is also presented in video here: http://seattleinsight.org/Talks/BrowseTalks/DharmaTalk/tabid/90/TalkID/666/Default.aspx
