Victory of the Soul

Nature Mandala

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:03:27 GMT

Today, let’s get centred and make a nature mandala. Lately, I am feeling out of sorts, as though I have been carrying too much for too long with no relief in sight, holding my footing against an undertow of melancholy as best as I can. In times like this, of uncertainty and sadness, I sometimes like to make a mandala to provide my psyche with a sense of containment and order. I prefer a nature mandala over drawing, because it is a whole body experience and includes all the benefits of forest bathing, if a forest is where you choose to create.

You likely know what a mandala is, but I will tell you a little about it anyway.

A mandala is a structured geometric design composed of symbolic elements, often featuring a circle surrounding a square. Found in spiritual traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, mandalas serve as representations of the cosmos, frameworks for organizing deities, and tools for meditation and contemplation. The term derives from Sanskrit and is commonly translated as “circle” or “center.” In the twentieth century, psychologist Carl Jung introduced the concept to many Western audiences. He interpreted mandalas as universal symbols that reflect psychological wholeness and the process of integrating different aspects of the self.

The nature mandala we are making today is relatively modest in its objective: to make a pleasing circular design using natural elements in order to calm and steady ourselves.

If I were to offer instructions, I would tell you the following:

When you are making your mandala, it is important that you start with the outermost circle first, and move gradually toward the center.

Give yourself more time than you think you need. Gather more of each element than you think you need. Get into it. Take time to explore and see what strike your fancy. Some items are obvious, like bright woodland flowers, but if you look closely, you may also find tiny little pinecones hiding on the forest floor.

You may make a mandala spontaneously, but I like to be equipped. Useful items include a small tote bag for foraged items, a little pair of scissors in case you need to cut a few branches, and a water bottle with a mist spray nozzle if you plan on working with flowers. Delicate blooms wilt quite quickly, and a little spray helps to keep them perky. And of course, I always carry an essential oil spray to help repel bugs. I have included my recipe below.

Now that you know what you need and what to do, you are ready to create. I wish you a beautiful mandala, and a day that brings you peace.

Atmanjeet’s Forest Bathing Spray

In a 2oz spray bottle made of blue or amber glass or metal combine:

1 tablespoon of witch hazel

½ teaspoon of jojoba or almond oil

20 drops of cedarwood essential oil

5 drops lemon teatree essential oil

15 drops lavender or geranium essential oil

Top off the rest of the bottle with distilled water, shake, and enjoy!

On Forgiveness - the complete series

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:58:05 GMT

Over the past year here at Victory of the Soul, we have been exploring the concept of forgiveness. I became interested in forgiveness in the course of writing about grief, and thought I would write a single essay about it. I did not set out intentionally to write such a long series. The subject is a big one, yes, but I also found that holding a long arc was a kind of contemplative practice as much as it was an intellectual inquiry, and a useful antidote for the sort of short-form creation and consumption to which we are currently prone. I will admit, too, that this endeavour has worked on me as much as I have on it, in its slow and subtle way, and helped my psyche to untangle knots borne of complicated family dynamics.

While the essays will continue to be available on Substack through a paid subscription, I have also collected them in a single PDF volume. Because the writing is conceptually dense and deliberately restrained, I have supplemented the essays with a Reading Companion and a set of visual schemas designed to orient attention and support immersion in the material, as well as audio voiceovers of each essay.

Readers engaged in reflective or relational work, including therapists, counsellors, teachers, and those with established meditative practices may find these essays useful. Those drawn to philosophical or psychological inquiry who are willing to follow the development of ideas across multiple domains may also find them interesting. This work does not aim to provide immediate guidance or resolution. It is written for those who are comfortable working through conceptual difficulty, remaining with unresolved questions, and examining forgiveness from moral, spiritual, psychological, and relational perspectives at once.

I offer these essays with belief in the power of forgiveness, and in the hope that they may be of some use when forgiveness is difficult. Forgiving is one of the soul’s great victories, and being forgiven one of its great graces.

- Atmanjeet

The essays, audios, Reading Companion, and visual schemas are available for $29 at https://www.victoryofthesoul.life/forgiveness

On Forgiveness - part 9

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 21 May 2026 15:23:57 GMT

Our inquiry into the nature of forgiveness has thus far traced its development across historical, philosophical, religious, and psychological contexts. Taken together, these perspectives reveal forgiveness not merely as an internal disposition, but as a practice concerned with responsibility, reconciliation, and the restoration of human bonds, embedded in moral life and relational existence, and, in many traditions, situated within a broader spiritual horizon of meaning and belonging. Yet in its contemporary psychological formulation, forgiveness is increasingly understood as an intrapsychic process: a shift in emotion, cognition, and motivation within the individual, oriented toward the reduction of distress and the promotion of well-being. This reframing introduces both clarity and limitation. By locating forgiveness within the self, psychology renders it measurable, clinically tractable, and responsive to the complexities of trauma and grief, where forgiveness may be inaccessible, inappropriate, or unnecessary. At the same time, this risks obscuring what earlier traditions treated as essential, the idea that forgiveness concerns not only how one feels, but what one owes and how one stands in relation to others, whether one remains a member of a moral community, and how one stands within a larger spiritual order. What is at stake, then, is not only how forgiveness is experienced, but how it is understood: whether as an internal adjustment or as a process situated within these broader dimensions. The concept of moral injury, emerging at the intersection of trauma, ethics, and meaning, brings this tension into sharp relief, revealing both the limits of purely intrapsychic accounts and the need for a broader framework of moral and spiritual repair.

Yoga Nidra for the Afternoon

Victory of the Soul — Fri, 08 May 2026 21:02:59 GMT

Today, let’s relax with a Yoga Nidra practice. On days when a nap feels like just the thing my body is calling for, I often turn to yoga nidra, a practice of conscious rest that is sometimes translated as “yogic sleep,” though it is not quite sleep, and not quite meditation in the usual sense either. Rather, it invites the body into deep relaxation while awareness remains present. For this practice, you will need a quiet place where you will not be disturbed and you may lie down, on a yoga mat or a bed, for about half an hour.

“i thank You God for most this amazing”

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-e. e. cummings

On Forgiveness - part 8

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 15:18:20 GMT

Forgiveness as an Embodied Event

Under ordinary conditions, forgiveness is most reliably recognized not through cognitive declaration or moral reasoning, but through a quiet, tangible shift in the body. If forgiveness is understood in psychology as a reorganization of the self in relation to injury, it must also be understood as an embodied event. Focusing on forgiveness under the ordinary conditions of everyday interpersonal injuries, relational slights, accumulated grudges, or minor betrayals in non-traumatic, non-grief contexts, we see it is most reliably recognized through its somatic markers. A weight long carried in the chest lightens. Shoulders that held unspoken tension ease. Breath, once constrained by background vigilance, deepens into fuller presence. The grievance, formerly a low hum of muscular holding or constriction, loses its physiological charge. What follows is a subtle softening: muscles release, the ribcage opens, attention expands beyond the narrow orbit of injury. People frequently realize they have forgiven only retrospectively, when a persistent somatic burden has already begun to lift.

City Walk

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:21:45 GMT

Today, let’s go for a city walk, and do a psychomagic act inspired by the work of the avant-garde filmmaker and mystic Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Psychomagic is a healing art developed by Jodorowsky that draws on the power of dreams, theatre, and poetry to heal unresolved mental, emotional and even physical issues. It consists of performing carefully prescribed symbolic or poetic acts in daily life that speak directly to the unconscious mind, creating transformation through concrete gestures rather than analysis or words. Normally, these acts are carefully tailored to a person’s unique story and often involve the participation of others. What I’m offering today is a non-personalized but deeply individual act, a city walk that invites the unconscious to reveal itself through the living poetry of the streets.

For this psychomagic act, you will need to be in a city that is made for walking. The weather and your footwear should be such that you may stroll comfortably for a minimum of one hour, and possibly an entire afternoon. You will not need a destination or an itinerary. You may enter a shop or two, or get a little snack, but know that this is not a shopping or sightseeing or errand running expedition. You will walk without objective, without hurry, with no fixed route. Somewhere along your travels is an object that is meant for you. You are not on a quest to find it, yet you will know it when it presents itself. Simply begin walking slowly, with no goal and no agenda. Stay open and present to the streets, the atmospheres, the sounds, and the small details around you. There is nothing to seek or hunt for. The object will appear when it appears, you only need to recognize it when the city offers it to you.

Once you encounter the object, pick it up. No need to analyze or understand it. Continue walking as before, carrying the object, perhaps for another twenty minutes or more. Let yourself feel its presence as you move through the streets and notice how it subtly changes the experience of the city around you.

Just as the object appeared on its own, so will come the place where you will leave it, or possibly offer it to someone. If it is a place, leave it there without concealment or display. If it is a person, allow the transfer to occur in a way that remains ordinary and unremarked. Do not explain the gesture. Trust the instinctive knowing of where and how. You will know intuitively when the moment is right. Once you have released the object, the psychomagic act may feel complete. You may continue to drift through the city, or choose to make your way home.

On Forgiveness - part 7

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 14:29:04 GMT

Trauma and the Collapse of the Conditions for Forgiveness

Trauma fundamentally alters the psychological conditions under which forgiveness can be meaningfully considered. Defined by overwhelming threat, powerlessness, and nervous-system reorganization around survival rather than meaning or coherence, trauma disrupts safety, agency, reflective distance, and affect tolerance, the very capacities that contemporary models of forgiveness presume. The term trauma here encompasses both acute trauma (discrete, time-limited events such as assaults or accidents) and complex trauma (prolonged, repeated harm often within dependency relationships marked by power imbalance or coercion). The distinction is critical: acute trauma typically leaves a recoverable pre-trauma baseline of relative safety and self-continuity, whereas complex trauma developmentally compromises those very foundations. In both forms, however, forgiveness cannot be assumed to function as it does in ordinary relational injury or grief and is neither an expected outcome of recovery nor a universal therapeutic aim. In the context of trauma, the question is less a matter of how forgiveness is done than it is about whether, when, and under what conditions it might arise without undermining safety, agency, or truth.

The Lighthouse

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:41:54 GMT

Today’s activity is a short mental imagery to help us orient and find our way in times of uncertainty or obscurity. I was given this exercise many years ago by one of my teachers, and later learned that it originates in the work of the renowned healer and pioneer of guided imagery Colette Aboulker–Muscat. This style of imagery is purposely brief and meant to be practised daily for a given period of time. My recommendation is that you do the Lighthouse daily for one week, in the morning before you begin your day or in the evening when you have wound down, or both. You might then decide if you would like to continue for another week or two. You may listen to the guided audio each time you do this visualization, or you may find that after a few repetitions, you can move through it on your own. You will not need to think too much or to try very hard, simply allow the images to come in their own way.

The imagery starts at the 1:25 mark of the audio.

Once you have done the audio a few times, you will be able to do the Lighthouse on your own in about 30 seconds. Here are written instructions for the mental imagery:

Sit upright with your feet flat on the ground. Rest your arms either on your chair’s armrests or on top of your thighs. The palms may face up or down, as you prefer.

Close your eyes and state mentally: “The intention is discernment.”

Let the breath settle. Allow the exhale to become longer than the inhale.

In your mind’s eye, notice the darkness all around you.

Breathe out three times, counting back from 3…2…1.

See the lighthouse.

See your way.

Breathe out one last time, and open your eyes.

On Forgiveness - part 6

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:20:11 GMT

Grief, Attachment, and the Conditions for Forgiveness

Grief arises from any profound loss that disrupts attachment, meaning, or identity, whether through death, estrangement, chronic illness, relational rupture, or irreversible change. In contexts of finality, as in bereavement, or ongoing ambiguity, as in nonfinite loss, forgiveness may emerge as one mode of intrapsychic integration, reshaping how the lost object, self, or circumstances are held internally. Across these varied forms of grief, forgiveness is neither a moral obligation nor a required step toward healing. It appears under specific conditions, shaped by timing, regulatory capacity, relational history, and belief systems, and may arise early, late, intermittently, or not at all.

Winter Walk

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 23:52:27 GMT

Today, let’s cultivate steadiness, endurance, and quiet recognition with a Winter Walk. Here is a guided imagery journey that may be practised any time, in a quiet and comfortable indoor setting where you will not be disturbed for about twenty minutes. You might find it interesting to journal for a few minutes after this exercise, and it may be handy to have some paper and a pen nearby. Enjoy.

On Forgiveness - part 5

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:54:22 GMT

In contrast to the long histories of forgiveness as virtue, moral imperative, and redemptive act in religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions, psychology’s engagement with the concept is recent, empirical, and pragmatic. Emerging as a distinct object of study and intervention only in the late twentieth century, forgiveness is approached not as a moral virtue or redemptive obligation but as a measurable intrapersonal prosocial motivational shift, a reduction in retaliatory and avoidant impulses often accompanied by the gradual emergence of benevolent regard toward the offender. Contemporary models distinguish decisional forgiveness, a deliberate commitment to forswear revenge or hostility, from emotional forgiveness, a slower affective reorganization in which resentment and bitterness lose their centrality. Crucially, this process is voluntary, phased, and capacity-dependent, and requires neither forgetting the harm, excusing or condoning wrongdoing, nor restoring the damaged relationship. Forgiveness, in psychological terms, constitutes a reorganization of the self in relation to injury that includes diminished threat-based responding, reduced chronic stress activation, and restored agency and and forward orientation, a shift away from past-focused rumination toward renewed purpose, possibility, and movement into the future.

For much of its early history, psychology had little conceptual space for forgiveness as a distinct object of study. Classical psychoanalytic theory, centred on intrapsychic conflict, repression, guilt, and repetition compulsion, typically interpreted forgiveness as a moralized defense mechanism, denial of aggression, or premature resolution that bypassed genuine working-through. Forgiveness was thus regarded with suspicion as submission, displacement, or avoidance of insight rather than a true prosocial transformation.

Beach Walk

Victory of the Soul — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 14:02:05 GMT

Today, let’s go for a beach walk to promote a wider perspective, divergent thinking, and the generation of novel ideas. Coastal environments offer a distinctive form of multisensory immersion that shifts cognition toward broad, exploratory modes rather than narrow, focused ones. From a neuroaesthetic perspective, the perception of vastness and openness offered by beach and horizon scenes is closely linked to experiences of awe and contemplative engagement. Expansive visual fields tend to activate the brain’s reward systems while quieting self-focused mental chatter, allowing attention to widen and thinking to become more fluid. The blue tones and gentle gradients of the seascape, often associated with calm and spatial depth, work together with sound and bodily sensation to support a more regulated, parasympathetic state. Repetitive but not perfectly predictable, the rhythmic sound of ocean waves lowers vigilance demands and reduces novelty processing, encouraging perceptual settling rather than active scanning. The frequency distribution of wave sound is similar to pink noise, which has been shown to promote a calm, sustained mode of attention. Although the cadence of ocean waves does not correspond directly to the alpha range of 8–12 Hz, it can entrain slower bodily rhythms and thereby support the emergence of alpha activity, a brain state associated with relaxed wakefulness, soft fascination, and insight generation. Embodied attention, adaptive motor control, and psychological regulation are supported by the somatic experience of walking on sand, particularly barefoot, which engages proprioceptive and somatosensory systems more intensely than firm-ground walking. Taken together, the visual, aural, and somatic sensory conditions of the beach distinguish it from more enclosed natural settings that prioritize attentional restoration, making it particularly well suited to expansive cognition, creative ideation, and the quiet incubation of insight.

This type of walk is best practiced in the morning or late afternoon, on a beach that is sparsely populated enough to allow for an even walking pace for at least forty minutes. I prefer warmer temperatures, when it’s possible to walk barefoot along the shoreline where the sand is damp and slightly firmer. In any season, sun protection is worth considering. The particular walk I’m offering today follows a simple to-and-fro, and I often find that sunglasses or a sun hat are useful when walking more toward the sun.

Now, you have two options. One is simply to take a long beach walk, about twenty minutes out and twenty minutes back, and let the environment do the work on its own. The other is to join me in this audio, where I offer minimal guidance designed to support reflection on a relational or ethical matter, something involving how you’re relating to another person, or how you’re holding a situation, without trying to analyze or resolve it.

Let's Expand

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 16:43:52 GMT

Dear Everyone,

I have made a little holiday gift for us.

It’s called Expand and it is a single-session interactive chatgpt experience that shifts attention when things feel narrow or stuck. Non-directive, non-advice-giving, intentionally brief (about 5-7 minutes,) it can be useful when focus gets caught on a single concern or a crowded set of demands. Yo…

On Forgiveness - part 4

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:03:48 GMT

In this fourth instalment of a series on forgiveness, let’s look at the concept in the context of philosophy.

Forgiveness presents a profound philosophical paradox: in validating the victim’s resentment, it acknowledges a moral wrong, yet simultaneously relinquishes the perpetrator’s debt, releasing its claim on justice. While previous accounts i…

Prayers, Mantras, and Meditations of Forgiveness

Victory of the Soul — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 16:12:08 GMT

We have recently explored forgiveness across major world religions. Today’s presentation is a small collection of common prayers of forgiveness drawn from each tradition.

Selichah (ברכת הסליחה - Blessing for Forgiveness) from the Amidah

סְלַח לָנוּ אָבִינוּ כִּי חָטָאנוּ,

מְחַל לָנוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ כִּי פָשַׁעְנוּ,

כִּי אֵל טוֹב וְסַלָּח אָתָּה.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, חַנּוּן הַמַּרְבֶּה לִסְלֹחַ.

Selach lanu Avinu ki chatanu, mechal lanu Malkeinu ki pasha‘nu, ki El tov ve-sallach Atah. Baruch Atah Adonai, chanun ha-marbeh lisloach.

Forgive us, our Father, for we have sinned; pardon us, our King, for we have transgressed; for You are a good and forgiving God. Blessed are You, Lord, gracious One who abundantly forgives.

Psalm 51 (“Have Mercy on Me, O God”) - A Prayer of Repentance

1-4 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

10 - 12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your spirit of holiness from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [Amen.]

Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. [Amen.]

Sayyid al-Istighfār (سَيِّدُ الْاِسْتِغْفَارِ - The Master Supplication for Forgiveness)

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ، وَأَنَا عَلَىٰ عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ، أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ، وَأَبُوءُ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ.

Allāhumma anta rabbī, lā ilāha illā anta, khalaqtanī wa ana ʿabduka, wa ana ʿalā ʿahdika wa waʿdika mā istaṭaʿtu. Aʿūdhu bika min sharri mā ṣanaʿtu, abūʾu laka bi-niʿmatika ʿalayya, wa abūʾu bi-dhanbī, fa-ghfir lī, fa-innahu lā yaghfiru al-dhunūba illā anta.

O Allah, You are my Lord; there is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant, and I uphold Your covenant and [my] promise to You as much as I am able. I seek refuge in You from the evil I have done. I acknowledge Your blessings upon me, and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for there is none who forgives sins except You.

Duʿāʾ al-Maghfirah al-Shāmilah (دُعَاءُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ الشَّامِلَةِ - Dua of Comprehensive Forgiveness)

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي مَا قَدَّمْتُ وَمَا أَخَّرْتُ وَمَا أَسْرَرْتُ وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُ وَمَا أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ مِنِّي، أَنْتَ الْمُقَدِّمُ وَأَنْتَ الْمُؤَخِّرُ وَأَنْتَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Allahumma-ghfir lī mā qaddamtu wa mā akhkhartu wa mā asrartu wa mā aʿlantu wa mā anta aʿlamu bihi minnī, anta l-Muqaddimu wa anta l-Muʾakhkhiru wa anta ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr.

O Allah, forgive me for what I have done in the past and what I may do in the future, what I have concealed and what I have disclosed, and whatever You know about me better than I do. You are the One Who brings forward and puts back, and You have power over all things.

Kshama Prarthana (क्षमा प्रार्थना - Prayer Asking Forgiveness)

त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव

त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव ।

त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणं त्वमेव

त्वमेव सर्वं मम देवदेव ॥

क्षमस्व मां क्षमस्व मां क्षमस्व मां

ॐ क्षमस्व मां क्षमस्व मां क्षमस्व मां ॥

Tvameva mātā cha pitā tvameva Tvameva bandhuśh cha sakhā tvameva Tvameva vidyā draviṇaṃ tvameva Tvameva sarvaṃ mama devadeva Kṣhamasva māṃ kṣhamasva māṃ kṣhamasva māṃ Oṃ kṣhamasva māṃ kṣhamasva māṃ kṣhamasva māṃ

You alone are my mother and my father, You alone are my relative and my friend, You alone are my knowledge and my wealth, You alone are my everything, O God of gods. Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. Om, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me.

Kshama Yachana (क्षमायाचना - Prayer for Forgiveness)

ॐ यन्तुनो देवः सविता क्षमेत्

यद् विश्वे देवा जरसे नयन्ति ।

तस्मै विश्वायुर्देवाय नमो नमः ॥

ॐ क्षमस्व माम् ।

ॐ क्षमस्व माम् ॥

Oṃ yantuno devaḥ savitā kṣamet yad viśve devā jarase nayanti । tasmai viśvāyur-devāya namo namaḥ ॥ Oṃ kṣamasva mām । Oṃ kṣamasva mām । Oṃ kṣamasva mām ॥

Om, may the Divine Sun-God Savitā forgive us for whatever the gods of the universe lead us into through old age (or error). Salutations again and again to that God who grants universal life. Om, forgive me. Om, forgive me. Om, forgive me.

Threefold Forgiveness Meditation

If I have hurt or harmed anyone, knowingly or unknowingly, through body, speech, or mind, I sincerely ask their forgiveness. May I be forgiven.

If anyone has hurt or harmed me, knowingly or unknowingly, through body, speech, or mind, I freely and fully forgive them. May they be released from guilt and suffering.

For all the ways I have hurt or harmed myself, knowingly or unknowingly, out of fear, pain, or confusion, I now extend forgiveness to myself.

May I be at peace. May all beings be free from harm. May all beings be at peace.

Vajrasattva Purification Mantra (वज्रसत्त्व शोधन मन्त्र )

ॐ वज्रसत्त्व यभ समय मनुपालय

वज्रसत्त्व त्वेनोपतिष्ठ

दृढो मे भव

सुतोष्यो मे भव

सुपोष्यो मे भव

अनुरक्तो मे भव

सर्वसिद्धिं मे प्रयच्छ

सर्वकर्मसु च मे चित्तं श्रेयः कुरु हूँ

ह ह ह ह होः भगवन् सर्वतथागतवज्र मा मे मुञ्च

वज्री भव महासमयसत्त्व आः

Oṃ Vajrasattva samaya manupālaya Vajrasattva tvenopatiṣṭha Dṛḍho me bhava Sutoṣyo me bhava Supoṣyo me bhava Anurakto me bhava Sarva-siddhiṃ me prayaccha Sarva-karma-su ca me cittaṃ śreyaḥ kuru hūṃ Ha ha ha ha hoḥ Bhagavan sarva-tathāgata-vajra mā me muñca Vajrī bhava mahā-samaya-sattva āḥ

Om Diamond-Mind Being! Preserve the bond! Keep me steadfast in the commitment. Be pleased with me, be very pleased with me. Nourish and increase my devotion. Grant me all accomplishments. Make my mind virtuous in all actions. Hūṃ Ha ha ha ha hoḥ Blessed One, Indestructible Purity of all Buddhas, do not abandon me. Make me diamond-natured, O Great Being of the sacred bond! I am one with you.

Guided Embodied Mettā Meditation

Victory of the Soul — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 17:22:41 GMT

Today, let’s cultivate loving-kindness with a guided embodied mettā meditation. The purpose of this practice is to generate a felt sense of compassion and goodwill toward oneself and others. Traditionally, this is done by sitting quietly and mentally repeating a short series of phrases wishing wellness, peace, happiness, and the like, first toward oneself, then toward another for whom we feel affection, then a person toward whom we feel neutral, then toward someone with whom we have difficulty, and eventually to all beings everywhere. Before we begin, I will tell you the story of the origin of mettā meditation, recounted in the Paramatthajotikā I, a 5th century commentary on early Buddhist essential teachings and chants.

A group of monks, eager for solitude and deep meditation, approached the Buddha and asked where they might practice during the rainy season. The Buddha, sensing their sincerity, directed them to a forest at the foot of the Himalayas, serene and well-suited for meditation. Unbeknownst to them, the grove was home to powerful yakkhas, territorial forest spirits who felt displaced by the monks’ presence. Resentful, the spirits filled the nights with dreadful sounds, smells, and apparitions, until the monks, exhausted and terrified, abandoned their retreat and returned to the Buddha. They explained that they could not stay there due to the constant disturbances. The Buddha listened and replied: “Monks, you should not return empty-handed to the place where you sought refuge. Take with you a safeguard, a protection that no spirit can overcome. I will give you a weapon not of iron or fire, but of loving-kindness. When you abide in mettā, no being, human or non-human, can wish you harm.” Then he taught them the Mettā Sutta, beginning with the words: ‘This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness…’ Armed with this radiant mind of kindness, the monks returned to the forest. As they sat in meditation and suffused their environment with feelings of goodwill, the yakkha’s sense of hostility abated. Instead, they felt warmth and peace. The spirits’ anger melted away, and they began to protect and support the monks. Freed from fear and disturbance, the monks’ minds grew tranquil and clear.

I have often heard it said that cultivating a sense of loving kindness toward oneself and others helps to calm the mind and body, and to ease knots of resentment. The story of how the mettā meditation came to be provides insight into the power of loving-kindness to act as a protective shield against fear, anger, and harm, both from within and without. Fear is dissolved by love, and the mind’s radiance transforms the outer circumstance. What is boundless in kindness may make the world itself safer and more peaceful. Mettā meditation is a practice of compassion, and it may also be protective at times when the mind is experiencing disturbances related to fear.

The guided meditation starts at the 3:30 mark of the audio.

On Forgiveness - part 3

Victory of the Soul — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 16:02:38 GMT

In today’s instalment of this series on forgiveness, let’s explore the concept in the context of the major religious traditions.

Across religious traditions, forgiveness is a moral imperative, a spiritual discipline, and often a divine command that restores relationships with God, others, and oneself. As it engages profound questions of sin, reconcilia…

On Forgiveness - part 2

Victory of the Soul — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 18:19:54 GMT

In this second part of a series on forgiveness, let’s explore its evolution across historical periods.

The concept of forgiveness has never been static. It has undergone a profound evolution across cultures and historical epochs, shaped by diverse religious, philosophical, political, and psychological frameworks. What began in antiquity as a pragmatic …

On Forgiveness - part 1

Victory of the Soul — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 19:29:39 GMT

I have written recently about grief. Forgiveness occupies a central place to the grieving process, and as I delved into the subject, its breadth soon revealed itself to be greater than might be contained in a single article. Here, then, is the first of a series on forgiveness.

A basic definition of forgiveness is to cease feeling anger or resentment toward someone for an offense, flaw, or mistake, to absolve them and to cancel or relinquish any claim to requital, such as a debt or obligation. Forgiving, then, implies a wrongdoing or an indebtedness, which may include moral obligations, emotional grievances, or tangible debts such as monetary ones. Forgiveness does not always imply guilt, though it always involves the release of a burden. In some cases, that burden is moral: a wrong has been committed, blame assigned, and forgiveness cancels the claim to retribution or punishment. In other cases, the burden is purely transactional: a loan taken freely and lawfully, a contractual duty, or a debt of service. Here no guilt exists, only obligation, and forgiveness consists in releasing the debtor from repayment or performance. Whether moral, emotional, or material, forgiveness is the relinquishment of a claim, a decision to no longer hold another accountable for what they owe, whether it may involve atonement, amends, consequences, or repayment.

From an institutional and administrative point of view, forgiveness often takes the form of releasing obligations or remitting penalties. A debt may be canceled, a fine reduced, or a prison sentence commuted. In such contexts, forgiveness is primarily administrative, operating within systems of law, governance, or commerce. Here the logic is one of balance; a wrong or obligation is acknowledged and then either fulfilled or released, allowing social and economic life to continue without the burden of unfinished accounts. This dimension of forgiveness emphasizes order and continuity rather than inner transformation. From the standpoint of the offending party, forgiveness is not assumed but sought. A debtor petitions for remission, a prisoner appeals for clemency, an offender pleads for pardon. In each case, forgiveness must be requested through acknowledgment of obligation or guilt and, often, through gestures of reparation or contrition. The offender recognizes the claim against them and appeals for its removal, sometimes through legal process, sometimes through interpersonal recompense. The power to forgive lies with the one wronged, or with an authority empowered to represent them, and thus forgiveness is a dialogue wherein one party holds the claim, the other seeks its release.

In the private sphere, forgiveness is a moral practice that acknowledges wrongdoing while choosing not to enforce its full cost. At its most fundamental, it entails the cessation of negative emotions toward someone who has caused harm, releasing them from blame and relinquishing any claim to punishment, repayment, or retribution. To forgive is to cancel that debt, whether moral, emotional, or material, to release the other from obligation, and to set down the ledger of injury and response. This act can be pragmatic, as in canceling a monetary debt, or transformative, as in releasing deep-seated resentment to achieve inner tranquility. In either case, forgiveness represents both justice and mercy, a decision to close the account of grievance.

Forgiveness must be carefully distinguished from related concepts to clarify its unique character. Unlike an excuse, which removes blame by deeming an action involuntary or justified, forgiveness presupposes responsibility and arises only where blame is appropriate. For example, excusing a colleague’s tardiness due to unforeseen circumstances negates the need for forgiveness, whereas forgiving their intentional neglect requires acknowledging their fault. Similarly, justification denies the moral wrongness of an act, rendering forgiveness unnecessary, as the action is deemed permissible. Forgiveness, by contrast, confronts the wrong directly, choosing to release resentment despite its validity.

Pardon is another distinct concept, typically involving a formal act by a third party, such as a judge or governor, acting on behalf of a community rather than as the direct victim. A governor may pardon a convicted individual, lifting legal consequences. Forgiveness, on the other hand, belongs to the one who has suffered the injury, the person with standing to resent and therefore to release resentment. I may forgive someone for embezzling my money, but I cannot claim to forgive crimes committed against others to whom I bear no direct relation. Forgiveness requires that the wrong be mine to release, rooted, as a concept, in the subjective experience of injury.

Reconciliation, while often a desired outcome, is not synonymous with forgiveness. One may forgive without resuming a relationship, as when forgiving an estranged friend without renewing contact. Conversely, reconciliation may occur without forgiveness, as in practical social arrangements that lack emotional release. At its essence, forgiveness is an internal disposition, the relinquishment of hostility, malice, or vengeful impulses that naturally arise in response to being wronged, though it may be expressed outwardly through words or actions.

Philosophical perspectives further elucidate forgiveness’s complexity. Minimalist views hold that it requires only the overcoming of hostile and vengeful impulses, often contingent on the offender’s repentance to preserve the forgiver’s self-respect. More expansive accounts argue that one must also temper anger itself, achieved through narrative reframing and motivated by moral reasons, such as remorse or shared humanity. Others emphasize the performative dimension of forgiveness, noting that uttering “I forgive you” enacts a moral shift, altering the relationship between parties, even if negative emotions persist. On all accounts, forgiveness is understood not merely as an emotional release but as an emotional transformation, not a singular event but an ongoing process, requiring sustained commitment as feelings of resentment may recur.

Finally, forgiveness is not limited to social or interpersonal wrongs, but extends to the intrapersonal and transpersonal dimensions. Individuals often speak of forgiving themselves, whether for harms inflicted on others or for failures of self-discipline, such as breaking a promise or abandoning a commitment. In such cases, forgiveness functions as a release from self-directed hostility, an act of restoring good will toward oneself. In theological contexts, divine forgiveness is often conceived as God’s forbearance of the penalty that justice would otherwise demand for transgressions of a moral or spiritual nature, such as the breaking of sacred vows, neglect of the pillars of practice, or the disregard of ethical precepts.

Forgiveness, therefore, is a transformative act that bridges justice and mercy, personal and communal, pragmatic and moral. It releases the wronged from the burden of resentment, of imposing guilt, or retribution, while offering the wrongdoer a chance for redemption or freedom from obligation. As subsequent essays in this series will explore, forgiveness’s significance extends across historical, religious, philosophical, and therapeutic contexts, shaping human relationships and individual well-being. Understanding its conceptual foundations and distinctions lays the groundwork for appreciating its broader applications in personal and societal healing.

We have been a little academic here, so let’s complete with a poem, Forgiveness by Maria Popova:

May the tide

never tire of its tender toil

how over and over

it forgives the Moon

the daily exile

and returns to turn

mountains into sand

as if to say,

you too can have

this homecoming

you too possess

this elemental power

of turning

the stone in the heart

into golden dust.

On Walking

Victory of the Soul — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 15:40:50 GMT

Like art and comedy, walking is a human thing to do. Long before language, cities, or writing, our ancestors rose from all fours to stand upright and, around four to six million years ago, began to walk on two feet across the African savannah and eventually to spread across the globe. Moving upright, their eyes were free to scan the horizon, their hands could grasp tools, carry food, and cradle children. Nomadic walking patterns laid the foundation for trade routes, seasonal migrations, and relational networks. Over generations, this mobility led to the settlement of new lands, cultural diversification, and adaptation to different climates and ecologies. The simple act of walking side by side helped structure early social interaction and storytelling, as conversations often happened in motion.

As human societies emerged, walking remained the fundamental mode of travel, but it also took on new meanings. Ancient people walked the land not only to forage or migrate but also to seek the sacred. The winding patterns of labyrinths, carved into stone or laid out in temple floors, guided the faithful into meditative spirals of movement. In Greece, philosophers became known as Peripatetics, because Aristotle and his students reasoned best while walking. In the rhythm of their steps, thought itself seemed to find movement and clarity. Centuries later, Renaissance thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci and Erasmus of Rotterdam found in walking the best companion to invention. Da Vinci wandered to observe nature’s forms and to sketch the world in motion, while Erasmus noted that strolling through gardens or open fields cleared the mind and sparked scholarly insight, as the rhythm of steps often set the mind into its most fertile flow.

Through the Middle Ages, walking was as common as breathing. Kings might ride, merchants might travel by cart, but for ordinary people, the world was measured by what could be reached on foot. Pilgrimages flourished across Europe and Asia, seekers setting out on foot across deserts, mountains, and plains toward shrines and holy cities on quests of devotion, where each step was discipline and prayer. Walking was not just locomotion but a shared ritual: to set one’s body into motion across the landscape was to set one’s soul on a journey.

In the modern era, walking turned from necessity into a cultivated practice that bore poetry, philosophy, and memory itself. The Romantic poets discovered that the path beneath their feet opened equally onto one’s external and internal landscapes. Wordsworth, wandering the English Lake District, found in walking a form of poetry, a boundless dialogue between body and mind, between nature and imagination. Rousseau wrote that he could not meditate except when he was walking, Thoreau declared that he could not preserve his health and spirit unless he spent hours each day on foot. For Nietzsche, long walks in the Alps were inseparable from his philosophy, while Kierkegaard composed his reflections on existence by endlessly pacing the streets of Copenhagen. Proust wove the simple act of walking into his explorations of memory, where a single turn in the road or the cadence of footsteps could summon entire worlds of recollection. Meanwhile, in the cities, another figure emerged: the flâneur of 19th-century Paris. This urban stroller, half philosopher, half observer, embodied the modern spirit of watching, drifting, and reflecting amid the crowd.

Walking has also been a form of resistance. Gandhi’s Salt March in 1930 transformed the simple act of walking into a symbol of political will, showing that steps taken in solidarity could shake empires. Marches for freedom and justice in the 20th century, across Selma, Washington, or Cape Town, drew their power from the slow, relentless pace of human feet. Walking became not just a means of getting somewhere, but a way of making history.

Today, as walking continues to carry all the echoes of our human history, it is highlighted as a health practice, an antidote to sedentary life, medicine in motion. It is a therapeutic tool, used in ecotherapy and walk-and-talk counseling, where the natural rhythm of footsteps helps thoughts untangle and emotions find release. From a somatic therapy perspective, walking is a whole-body regulation practice that supports nervous system balance, embodiment, and psychological integration. Each step acts as a quiet regulator of the nervous system, its left–right rhythm gently harmonizing communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The contact of feet with the ground offers grounding in the most literal sense, reminding the body that it is supported. To walk is to orient, eyes scanning the environment, senses awakened, attention drawn outward in a way that interrupts cycles of rumination. For those carrying grief, anxiety, or trauma, the steady cadence of walking provides a safe mobilization of energy, a way to process what has been held too tightly within. Side by side with another, walking even softens the intensity of face-to-face dialogue, allowing conversation to flow more freely. Thus, what once carried us across landscapes now carries us back into ourselves, restoring balance, regulating emotion, and reuniting body and mind.

Pilgrimages, too, have not disappeared. They flourish anew, as thousands trace ancient routes like the Camino de Santiago, the Appalachian Trail, or the Kumano Kodo in search of meaning, healing, or renewal. In these long walks, the spiritual, cultural, and somatic dimensions of walking converge, each stride a gesture of dedication, resilience, and reflection. Beyond sacred trails, walking has become a modern practice of reclamation: moving through a city street, a forest path, or along the shore is a quiet rebellion against the speed and distraction of contemporary life. To walk in this way is to resist disembodiment, to recover a rhythm closer to the heartbeat and breath, and to reaffirm our presence in the world. Whether undertaken as ritual, protest, creative process, therapy, or simple pleasure, walking endures as both a communal and deeply personal act, linking us to our ancestors even as it helps us navigate the complexities of the present.

At every stage of human history, walking has been more than transportation. It is a practice of body and mind, of culture and spirit. To walk is to inhabit the world in rhythm, to be both journeyer and pilgrim, observer and creator. In the simple act of placing one foot before the other, humanity has carried itself through evolution, across continents, into civilizations, revolutions, poems and inventions and inner awakenings. Let’s walk.