BEYOND FORGIVENESS: Reflections on Atonement--Healing the Past, Making Amends, Restoring Balance in Our Lives and World
As indispensable as forgiveness has been to the healing process throughout history, there is another equally profound action that is needed for ultimate reconciliation, which Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas Gandhi, calls “the other side of the coin.” Turning over the coin of forgiveness, we discover atonement, the half-hidden, much-overlooked other half of the reconciliation process. BEYOND FORGIVENESS, a new book edited by Phil Cousineau, shows how acts of atonement-—making amends, providing restitution, restoring balance—-can relieve us of the pain of the past and give us a hopeful future.
This rich and powerful book includes 15 thoughtful contributions by high-profile thinkers and activists including Huston Smith, Michael Bernard Beckwith, Azim Khamisa, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Jacob Needleman, Michael Nagler, Diane Hennacy Powell, James O’Dea, Arun Gandhi, Kate Dahlstedt, Ed Tick, Richard J. Meyer, Rev. Heng Sure, Douglas George-Kanentiio and Katharine Dever. Atonement is a process that we must all learn to practice—from individuals to nations—if we are to heal our wounds and move forward.
ADVANCE PRAISE for BEYOND FORGIVENESS:
“If we harbor thoughts of violence or hatred, or seek revenge or retribution, we are contributing to the wounding of the world; if we transform those thoughts into forgiveness and compassion, and then move beyond them to actually make amends or restitution, we are contributing to the healing of the world. This timely, powerful and compassionate book helps show us the way.” ~Deepak Chopra