Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.
Thích Nhất Hạnh was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism. Known as the "father of mindfulness", Nhất Hạnh was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism.
Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may have felt initially wronged, victimized, harmed or hurt goes through a process in changing feelings and attitude regarding a given offender for his/her actions, and overcomes the impact of the offense, flaw or mistake including negative emotions such as resentment or a desire for vengeance. Theorists differ in the extent to which they believe forgiveness also implies replacing the negative emotions with positive attitudes, or requires reconciliation with the offender. In certain legal contexts, forgiveness is a term for absolving someone of debt, loan, obligation, or other claims. Such legal usage can also be thought of as mercy, being distinct from forgiveness.
Tawba is the Islamic concept of repenting to God due to performing any sins and misdeeds. It is a direct matter between a person and God, so there is no intercession. There is no original sin in Islam. It is the act of leaving what God has prohibited and returning to what he has commanded. The word denotes the act of being repentant for one's misdeeds, atoning for those misdeeds, and having a strong determination to forsake those misdeeds. If someone sins against another person, restitution is required.
Matthew 6:14–15 are the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. These verses come just after the Lord's Prayer and explain one of the statements in that prayer.
The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is a Buddhist scripture that is considered by Buddhists to be a record of the first sermon given by Gautama Buddha, the Sermon in the Deer Park at Sarnath. The main topic of this sutta is the Four Noble Truths, which refer to and express the basic orientation of Buddhism in a formulaic expression. This sutta also refers to the Buddhist concepts of the Middle Way, impermanence, and dependent origination.
Chân Không is an expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist Bhikkhunī (nun) and peace activist who has worked closely with Thích Nhất Hạnh in starting the Plum Village Tradition and helping conduct spiritual retreats internationally.
"God Sees the Truth, But Waits" is a short story by Russian author Leo Tolstoy first published in 1872. The story, about a man sent to prison for a murder he did not commit, takes the form of a parable of forgiveness. English translations were also published under titles "The Confessed Crime", "Exiled to Siberia", and "The Long Exile". The concept of the story of a man wrongfully accused of murder and banished to Siberia also appears in one of Tolstoy's previous works, War and Peace, during a philosophical discussion between two characters who relate the story and argue how the protagonist of their story deals with injustice and fate. Along with his story The Prisoner of the Caucasus, Tolstoy personally considered this work to be his only great artistic achievement.
On Being is a podcast and a former public radio program. Hosted by Krista Tippett, it examines what it calls the "animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live?" This podcast should not be confused with the Australian magazine of the same name.
Azim Khamisa is a speaker, author, and advocate for restorative justice and youth services.
Flower in the Gun Barrel is a 2008 documentary film focusing on the process of reconciliation and forgiveness in post-genocide Rwanda. The film depicts both the current conditions in Rwanda and the buildup to the genocide in 1994. It is unique in that it illustrates the complex challenges of average citizens attempting to forgive the neighbors who slaughtered their families. It is a testament to what human beings are capable of. The topic of forgiveness, and the difficulty of coming to terms with those who have killed one's parents, siblings, children and neighbors, is a universal theme that comes to life through the example of Rwanda.
The Trial of God is a play by Elie Wiesel about a fictional trial calling God as the defendant. Though the setting itself is fictional, and the play's notes indicate that it "should be performed as a tragic farce", he based the story on events he witnessed first-hand as a teenager in Auschwitz. The play was reimagined for television in God on Trial by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
Zen was introduced in the United States at the end of the 19th century by Japanese teachers who went to America to serve groups of Japanese immigrants and become acquainted with the American culture. After World War II, interest from non-Asian Americans grew rapidly. This resulted in the commencement of an indigenous American Zen tradition which also influences the larger western (Zen) world.
Harry James Cargas was an American scholar and author best known for his writing and research on the Holocaust, Jewish–Catholic relations, and American literature. He was a professor at Webster University for nearly three decades, and his circle of friends and collaborators included the American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and sportscaster and humanitarian Bob Costas.
"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence", also referred as the Riverside Church speech, is an anti–Vietnam War and pro–social justice speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was assassinated. The major speech at Riverside Church in New York City, followed several interviews and several other public speeches in which King came out against the Vietnam War and the policies that created it. Some, like civil rights leader Ralph Bunche, the NAACP, and the editorial page writers of The Washington Post and The New York Times called the Riverside Church speech a mistake on King's part. The New York Times editorial suggested that conflating the civil rights movement with the Anti-war movement was an oversimplification that did justice to neither, stating that "linking these hard, complex problems will lead not to solutions but to deeper confusion." Others, including James Bevel, King's partner and strategist in the Civil Rights Movement, called it King's most important speech. It was written by activist and historian Vincent Harding.
Everett L. Worthington Jr. is a licensed clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). His research interests include forgiveness and other virtues, religion and spirituality in clinical practice, and the hope-focused approach to counseling couples. He has written over 30 books on topics including forgiveness of others, self-forgiveness, character strength, religion and psychology, and couples' therapy, and he has published over 350 scholarly articles and chapters. Worthington has been frequently cited as an expert on his topics of interest in the scientific literature and public media.
Han Frederik de Wit is a research psychologist at the University of Amsterdam in 1974. He moved to expanded outside the formal psychology field in search for guidance in his spirituality. De Wit became internationally acknowledged as one of the founders of Contemplative Psychology. Today he teaches meditation at the Shambhala centers in the Netherlands and instructs seminars in the psychology of Buddhism.
Atonement, atoning, or making amends is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other expression of feelings of remorse. Atonement "is closely associated to forgiveness, reconciliation, sorrow, remorse, repentance, reparation, and guilt". It can be seen as a necessary step on a path to redemption. Expiation is the related concept of removing guilt, particularly the undoing of sin or other transgressions in religious contexts.
A forgiveness scale is a psychological test that attempts to measure a person's willingness to forgive. A true definition of forgiveness is debated by many researchers, yet Hargrave suggests that forgiveness refers to releasing resentment towards an offender.
Martin Doblmeier is an American documentary filmmaker, known for directing films for Public Television including Bonhoffer (2003) The Power of Forgiveness (2007), An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story (2017), and Backs Against The Wall: The Howard Thurman Story (2019). Doblmeier is the founder of Journey Films Inc, a film and television production company focused creating content on religion, faith and spirituality based in Alexandria, Virginia. In addition to numerous awards for film, Doblmeier has three honorary degrees.
