A reader asks:

If I am to live in the now and set aside the past and the future, why am I told that I must go back and heal the past, I must reach my inner child and heal its pain and anger and resentments to be able to live now? Should I be working on past issues or is it enough to simply say the past is gone and cannot be changed and then move on from there?

Quado, do you have an answer to this question?

Ah, yes, of course, of course.

The answer is very individual, as each person deals with the past differently. It is possible to release it and move on without having to go back, dig though the debris and understand it. It is possible to transcend the past, to release it, let it be and move on. But whether it is possible for you is the question.

For some people, it is necessary to travel back, feel some of the old pain and actively release it through a process of healing. It is necessary to them because this is a type of purging, a signal to the mind and body to let go, to stop hiding and harboring the pain. Sometimes the harm which is done to you in the past is like a little ugly creature that can only live in the dark, and if you bring it out into the light, it cries out in pain, then shrivels up and dies.

What you do not want to do is to pretend that you have forgiven, to pretend that you are healed and healthy, and then harbor the old hurts and injuries, keeping them in your body as disease, keeping them in your emotional space as pain, hiding them away and suppressing the feelings.

What you also do not want to do is spend so much time revisiting the past pains and injuries that your entire life is about that, is all about the so-called inner child and not about your life now.

And it is not necessary, really, to understand the past, to understand the people and why they did what they did. It is entirely possible to forgive and move on, to release the past without truly understanding it. For understanding at the rational level is not a spiritual exercise; it is a mental process. The understanding you need is at the spiritual level, the level in which you accept things knowing that there are patterns greater than your meager understanding and have faith that things make sense in some way you cannot see.

If you have a particularly difficult past, it may do to give it a final completion in some way, either through seeking a spiritual healing or by giving yourself some type of ritual. You might, for example, take a little basket and put into it a collection of stones or crystals, each representing some period of your life or some event. And as you put each stone into the basket, feel the emotion which that event contained. Hold the stone and give it your anger, your pain, your hurt; wash it with your tears.

Then take your basket and make a ritual of going to a body of water, a lake, an ocean or a stream. Know this water as the great, unending love of the universe. And one by one, toss the stones into the water, releasing the pain within you as well as the anger and hatred. And then, when the basket is empty of these stones of the past, put in something beautiful from the present, perhaps some seashells that you pick up on the shore or some lovely new rocks from the bank of the stream. And as you put these into your basket, fill them with love and forgiveness, fill them with the presence of this moment, with all of the love you have in your heart for yourself, for life itself, enough love to overflow and wash you clear of pain and fear, enough love eventually to even reach out to those who once hurt you and fill them with love as well.

And then, every day in the morning, breathe in deeply and contemplate your basket of rocks and shells, release the past and let the love and joy and peace of the present fill your heart. And as you go through your day, when thoughts of the past enter, gently push them aside and bring yourself back to the present, to the now.

And at the end of your morning contemplation, go deep into your center, into your core and see if you have found a bit of peace there. See if you can feel a deep peaceful pool of the waters of love inside you. If you can, and if you feel that peace is growing, then you have done well and are ready to move on. If not, if you still feel rancor and hurt, if the pain is still too great for you to move on, then you should seek help to clear yourself of your past and heal what needs healing.

But if you do this, remember that the goal is to clear yourself, to move on, to be released. Take full responsibility for taking this journey and doing your part. And do not let the process go on too long. Do not fall in love with the process of exploring your past. Just dip down and heal what needs healing, and then move on. Yes, it may be in layers and you may need to revisit the process as new layers show themselves. But as long as it is a progression, as long as you are increasing that pool of peace inside, then it is good.

And if you do not feel right about the healing process, about the healer you are working with, if you are feeling manipulated or if you are full of fear or doubt, then simply move on. It is to be a loving process, a process of light and cleansing. The tears you cry should be tears of release.

You own this. It is your responsibility to release yourself of the past. You may do it yourself as described here or with any other method you prefer. There is no right or wrong way, just your way. Or you may seek help from someone you feel a connection to. But do release and move on. Do focus on it and let it happen in your life.

Do not expect overnight miracles. Expect instead a gradual releasing. Expect your body and mind to want to return to old patterns. Just keep in the process and one day you will notice a change. You will notice that you are thinking less about old hurts, and that your center has become calmer. You will notice that you have fewer triggers to anger, that people cannot just push your buttons and cause you to react emotionally any more. You will notice a deep pool of peace growing inside you and find that you can respond from that place.

This may take years. But along the way will be many moments of joy and peace. And it is well worth the journey.

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Quado is a spiritual entity channeled by Carrie Hart. Carrie is a singer, songwriter, poet, and healer. Quado first spoke to her on November 26, 1995. For more on Quado and on Carrie's work, please her web site at www.carriehart.com, where you can also find meditation CDs, healing services, music and more. To hear samples from the Quado Meditation on Self-Love, go directly to www.carriehart.com/meditations.html.