Carlos Santana has found forgiveness for the man who sexually abused him as a child.
The Mexican-American music icon opened up about finding peace and acceptance while reflecting on his childhood trauma in an interview with People magazine published Thursday.
"I learned to look at everyone who ever went out of their way to hurt me, demean me or make me feel like less, like they're five or six years old, and I'm able to look at them with understanding and compassion," he told the publication.
"For example, this person who abused me sexually, instead of sending him to hell forever, I visualized him like a child, and behind him there was a lot of light," he added.
"So I can send him to the light or send him to hell knowing that if I send him to hell, I'm going to go with him. But if I send him to the light, then I'm going to go with him also."
Santana first spoke about his childhood trauma in a 2000 interview with Rolling Stone, saying that an American man would cross the border and bring him gifts. He abused him "almost every day" between the ages of 10 and 12. It ended when Santana met a girl and his abuser got jealous.
"I looked at him for the first time for who he was: a very sick person," he said at the time.
"You want to get angry with yourself for not knowing better. The mind has a very insidious way of making you feel guilty: You're the guilty party, shame on you, you're the one who brought this on yourself."
Speaking with People, Santana said that he discovered the path of forgiveness by changing how he viewed the situation.
"There's this saying, 'Hurt people hurt people.' It's my pain. It did happen to me," he said. "But if you open your hands, and you let it go, then you don't feel that anymore."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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