Please Forgive Me – the unexpected benefits of forgiveness!!!

Infinite Bliss Podcast – Episode 10

Please forgive me listeners for I have sinned. It’s been 6 weeks since my last episode. This is the perfect setup to talk about some of the benefits of forgiveness and how it applies to your spiritual journey.

Forgiving others and forgiving yourself have tremendous power when it comes to silencing your mind. Stop reliving, ranting or plotting revenge. Forgive, forget and move on.

I really hope you’re enjoying these episodes. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you’d like me to talk about a specific subject.

Thanks for listening.

Mat Robinson ~ The Gregarious Hermit

Show Notes and links – coming soon

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#InnerPeace #SpiritualAwakening #SpiritualJourney #Enlightenment #SpiritualAwakeningPodcast #Forgiveness

Episode Recources and Links

I want to make a big deal and do a shout out to Darren Lucas, “Higher Universal Man”. Thank you so much for allowing me to use your amazing creations on my podcast and specifically for the opening intro. I am so incredibly grateful. Check out Darren’s wonderful meditation music and guided meditations on spotify – ⁠https://open.spotify.com/artist/1y9o8vMHoReFx2SxV4qxBP⁠ or on Youtube – ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@higheruniversalmanguidedme2726⁠

And if you want to check out Mike and AJ’s podcast, “Don’t Write that Book”, you can give it a listen here – ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2r07COpHp5c03KzMvy9CdY⁠ or check out their website – ⁠http://www.dwtbpodcast.com/

Use the embedded player above or click here to play this episode directly on Spotify

Transcript

You’re listening to The Infinite Bliss. I’m your host, Mat Robinson, the gregarious hermit. Join me each week as I take you on a journey of inner exploration to uncover the subtle connections between mind, body, and spirit. I want to teach you how to regain control of your mind, so you can let go of the drama in your life and experience deep inner peace and infinite bliss.

Hi, everybody. Welcome and thank you for joining me.

It seems to be a common belief in our modern society that you should never apologize for anything, but I strongly disagree with that philosophy. Sure, some people might view it as a sign of weakness or an admission of guilt that potentially opens you up to a lawsuit. But I have never, ever regretted apologizing.

Apologizing for something you did wrong has a calming effect on the situation. Not in all cases, obviously, but in most situations. It instantly removes the defensiveness and aggression of the other party, and that opens up a channel for dialog and discussion. We can talk it through. A lot of the time, apologizing to the other person actually elicits a shared sympathy. Instead of being the idiot that just scratched my car, you become the guy that made an honest mistake.

So why am I talking about apologies now? Well, I’m not Catholic, but I do feel like I’m in a confessional here. Please forgive me, listeners, for I have sinned. It’s been six weeks since my last episode.

Wow. Six weeks behind already. What happened?

Well, the good news is, it’s nothing bad. I’ve just been really busy working on a couple of exciting projects with tight deadlines. And I just haven’t had time to get down here into the hermit cave to record something. I’ll tell you more about it in a little while, because it’ll help me grow as a podcaster, and that’s a win win for all of us.

Anyway, this awkward gap in the playlist gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about forgiveness.

Forgiveness is one of the greatest tools we have to silence a mind that just can’t let go of the past. If I forgive somebody else, my mind will stop replaying the incident. Whatever it was that happened. It’ll stop looking for ways it could have done things differently. It’ll stop your mind, thinking of ways that make you feel superior or even plotting revenge.

So the act of forgiving somebody else tells your mind that you’re cool with what happened, so it can stop thinking about it endlessly. Now, conversely, if I forgive myself, then I stop all the feelings of guilt where my mind keeps visualizing how I affected somebody else or let them down.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, could literally be forget about our trespasses as we forget about those who trespass against us.

Basically, forget the past and move on. Stop the story in your head and silence your mind.

So the old phrase “forgive and forget” really rings true. Forgive and stop worrying. Forgive and stop feeling guilty. It’s a simple acknowledgment and acceptance of what is or what was that restores your inner peace and removes a ton of things that your mind would otherwise chew on endlessly, while ever you hold on to what happened.

The negative consequences of not forgiving and letting go might not be so obvious. If you don’t forgive, your mind will be restless, so your mind won’t be at peace. As a result, your body will not be at peace and will experience tension. And instead of being at ease, you will open yourself up to dis-ease. You can literally make yourself sick.

So even if you don’t truly believe that the person should be forgiven, or that you should forgive yourself, then just purely from a health perspective, you’re so much better off getting into the habit of forgiving.

We shower our bodies to get clean, and forgiveness is a little bit like a shower for your mind.

It’s the ultimate letting go. And that’s one of the hardest things we can do as a human being is give up any notion of control. And I’m not talking about becoming your higher self and letting go of attachment to your mind and body, but just letting go in everyday life to accept what is and just go with the flow.

Why do we feel like we need to be the one steering the ship all the time? And why are we always surprised when things don’t go according to our plan?

Even though I really wanted to work on my podcast this past month or so. There’s a reason why I wasn’t able to. Rather than getting upset and allowing my mind to rant and complain, I can look for the lesson.

There’s always a lesson.

Even in situations you might think are miserable and negative when you’re in the middle of it, the universe is usually trying to steer you somewhere else. So instead of agonizing over what you’d rather be doing and resisting what is, just enjoy doing what you’re currently doing wholeheartedly.

And once you let go of this notion of being able to control your life, your experience of life changes tremendously.

The frustration stops and the heartache stops. The constant chatter of your mind stops. And instead, you’re filled with a tremendous joy that just spontaneously arises.

Just let go of what “could” be and enjoy what you’re actually doing right now.

Trust that the universe puts you where you need to be when you need to be there. Just trust in that idea.

This is in danger of becoming a religious episode, but trust in God. Give us this day our daily bread. That’s another pointer to stop worrying. To stop thinking you’re supposed to be somewhere else, doing something else. Trust that you will get your daily needs taken care of, and your mind will stop struggling and become silent.

If you keep your eyes open, you will meet people that have seemingly been sent to you. I meet people all the time that help me on my own journey. Little tips, little bits of advice. Significant people seem to come into your life when you need them most, but you have to be conscious and look for the little clues.

I’ve always been a very private person, not one to brag or boast about, my always preferring to work hard in the wings and let someone else stand in the spotlight.

But since my awakening, I have this drive to share and help other people. So obviously that’s a whole new skill set I have to learn. Being the noisy one in the room is not my natural inclination. I can’t just stand in the corner of the room and quietly observe. Now I have to stand at the front of the room with a microphone and a spotlight.

Those are skills I need to learn and I think I’m getting better. I hope I’m getting better. Even though it still feels unnatural to be the center of attention.

So the first person I want to acknowledge is the right person to teach me those skills right now. I said earlier that I would tell you why I didn’t have time to record my own podcast. Well, for the past few months, I’ve been building and setting up a professional podcast studio for one of my old photography clients. He’s actually the guy that inspired me and encouraged me to start my own podcast in the first place. A quick shout out to Mike Michalowicz, author of “Profit First” and “The Money Habit” and a bunch of other popular finance and entrepreneurial business books.

But not only is he a wonderful human being to be around. He’s an accomplished author, and he’s a beast when it comes to public speaking. I met Mike over a decade ago, but when I recently shared my story with him, he said, point blank, you have an obligation to share your story. It could help so many other people who are in a similar situation struggling with life.

Everything I worked on this last month and working with such a professional public speaker has taught me so much that will help me streamline my process and make this podcast so much better. Thank goodness I hear you all say.

Now, maybe this should be an episode on manifesting or maybe name dropping, but can you believe it, the podcast we’ve been recording in the new studio is all about the world of books, publishing and being an author.

I’m currently writing my second book, and I really wanted to avoid many of the pitfalls I made with my first book, and wouldn’t you believe it, almost every single episode of “Don’t Write That Book” has been about a subject that I needed guidance on. So not only have I been given a crash course in podcasting and public speaking, but I’ve also had the benefit of being in the same room and listening to AJ Harper speak about her craft.

Many of you may be familiar with her name in the publishing world. Normally, you have to go to the second page of search results to find the person you’re looking for. But if you Google AJ Harper, you have to go all the way to the second page to find a link or article that isn’t about her.

So I’ll reiterate the universe puts you where you need to be when you need to be there. You just have to pay attention. And you also need to learn how to ask the right questions so that the universe sends those connections to you.

I am incredibly grateful for all the people that have come and gone from my life and have walked with me on my journey. Some have quite clearly pushed me from behind. Some have pointed the way by walking ahead and some have walked alongside me, just sharing in the moment and being present. But they all brought a lesson.

So that leads me very nicely to introduce somebody else that just came into my life recently. I want to help promote the work of Darren Lucas, also known as the “Higher Universal Man” on YouTube. I’ll put links to his work in the comments below, so definitely check out his guided meditations and relaxing meditation music.

The intro jingle that I’ve been using for my podcast, I found on a royalty free website. After listening to hundreds of new age music options, meditation and yoga music, Reiki music, and relaxing spa music, pretty much every peaceful genre that I could think of, nothing even came close to what I was looking for.

I was getting quite despondent until I found Darren’s work. Not only was it exactly what I was looking for, but it dovetailed perfectly with the intro I’d already recorded. All the highs and lows of the music just nestled perfectly with the pauses and delays I had in my own narration. It was quite literally meant to be, without question.

It was a free download, so the price was right. Royalty free, unlimited usage, perfect terms and conditions for what I needed. What’s not to like?

Then by about episode six, my podcast started getting flagged for copyright violation. Not by Darren, but by another third party company. Of course, that made me quite nervous. All the hard work I’d been putting into the podcast and it was potentially going to get banned.

Tracking somebody down on the internet should be pretty easy these days, you’d think. But after much googling and many website dead ends, I was unable to reach Darren. I’d conceded that maybe I should start looking for another jingle, but let me just try one more time. And lo and behold, Darren got back to me right away. He’s a busy guy like most of us these days, and just hadn’t had time to reply. But not only was he delighted to hear that I loved his music, he was also very gracious in letting me use his work.

So thank you so much, Darren. I’ll be making you a sponsor of the show and I’ll help share and promote your work in any way that I can.

Now, the other thing that I find quite tricky, and I have a hard time wrapping my head around, is social media. I’m told constantly that I need to be posting more and keeping up with my “socials”, but that just seems so counter to an egoless existence.

I also come from the era of personal experiences where if I jumped over a flaming trashcan on my BMX, the only people that got to witness it were me and my friends who were actually there at the time. There was no recording, no Instagram or GoPro footage. We did things for ourselves, not for the follows or the likes. We didn’t do things for statistics. We did them purely for the experience.

One interesting observation I can make is that I doing things in isolation where nobody knew about it except you, actually led to greater social interaction. And what I mean by that is that it led to great conversations when you met other people. It meant you had to try to describe and explain to others exactly what you did. You had to set the scene and do some storytelling. You had to paint a picture for them. And conversely, they had to build a mental image of what you’re describing. Both of which are great mental skills.

But now you just share your experience with a picture or a video clip, and the world knows what you did. So your message goes out to a larger audience, but you lose so much of that intimate social interaction.

Could you imagine talking with someone face to face, telling them an amazing story about your weekend adventure, and all they did was take out a notecard from their back pocket with a thumbs up symbol or a heart emoji on it. That’s what social media feels like to me. It feels so alien to share your life like that. And I feel like social media really skews our experience of life in many ways. I’m definitely going to do a deep dive on the horrors of social media another time.

So now, having just said that, I don’t understand social media and my egoless existence, I don’t crave attention. At the risk of sounding hypocritical. I am going to get excited and share some news about some great milestones. We’re not talking viral numbers here, but I recently hit 150 downloads on Spotify. And that’s all thanks to you guys. And I also need just one more subscriber on YouTube to hit 250 subscribers. And that could be you. Go on, hit that subscribe button. You’ll make a hermit very happy and you’ll be helping share some great information with other people.

There you go. See? I can do it. Blowing my own trumpet like that. I can feel my ego growing already.

Alright, so remember, the universe has your back. Ask the questions you need answering, and then keep your eyes open for the answer.

Practice forgiveness. Forgive other people, even if your initial reaction is to criticize, judge, and condemn. Forgive them anyway and let it go. And don’t forget to forgive yourself. Don’t hold on to that old baggage, especially if you feel like it’s holding you back in life. It’s the ultimate letting go. If you can do that, then you’ll start to experience deep inner peace and infinite bliss.

All right. Thank you so much for listening. Don’t forget to check out Darren’s work. And don’t forget to like and subscribe so we can keep this information expanding outwards to reach more and more people. This is a pretty quick episode, just to get me back into the habit of coming down here and recording. Hopefully I can get the next episode out in a little bit more of a timely manner, but until then, I’ll catch you on the next episode.

Bye for now.

Mat Robinson ~ The Gregarious Hermit

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