In the wake of my daughter’s passing, I found myself submerged in a long season of grief. Seeking a way through the heaviness, I turned to a Reiki practitioner for support. I didn’t realize at the time just how profound her intuition would be.
While she helped immensely with the immediate pain of loss, our sessions pivoted toward something unexpected: my spiritual ascension. She observed that while I was moving forward, I was being anchored by various “samskaras”—subtle impressions from the past that were entirely off my radar. These were unresolved fragments of life that still required processing and release.
One was a lingering resentment regarding my brother and the way he had judged my life decisions. Another was a dormant seed of guilt over a commitment I had once broken with a work associate, leaving him in a difficult position. A third involved a past relationship that had ended with words left unsaid and matters unresolved.
We all carry these buried weights in the unconscious. Because they belong to the past, we often assume they are static or powerless. Yet, unless a matter is resolved—whether through a greater understanding, the forgiveness of others, or the equally essential act of forgiving ourselves—it persists as a negative energetic presence. It remains a subtle impression in the unconscious mind that affects our current state of health and well-being.
Remember that these impressions were formed when we were doing the best we could with the tools and understanding we had at the time. We cannot hold our past selves hostage to the wisdom we only possess today. True resolution begins with a gentle heart.
However, the path to freedom does not require us to manually weed out every single psychic impression hidden in the subconscious. There is also the profound element of grace. Grace can reach us unsolicited, often as a ripening of our past good works or as a direct result of a sincere spiritual practice. We have all been touched by grace, whether or not we possessed the awareness to name it at the time.
As we grow in our understanding of the underlying oneness of all things—as we engage in spiritual practice, offer metta (lovingkindness) to all beings, perform simple acts of kindness, or bring joy to others—we thin the veil of our own conditioning. In doing so, we invite Grace into our lives to finish the work that effort alone cannot.
