Every Sinner Has a Future

 Every Sinner Has a Future

 

We know what it feels like when we have something weighing on our mind. It might be regret over something we have done, or not done, a missed opportunity, or an unpleasant experience.

          Memories of painful incidents of the past, hunt our present, making us feel heavy, low and perhaps, unworthy.

          Such memories and the unhappy feelings they bring are just one way in which our past impinges on our present. They are the fruit produced by the seeds we had planted in the form of past actions. The consequences of what we have done in the past , whether in the present life or in previous  ones , are unavoidable, be they to our liking or not. When faced with them, we need to learn our lesson from them and move on.

However if we are burdened by the past and it stops us from doing what we need to do in the present , we are setting ourselves up for further sorrow and disappointment Guilt , regret, fear and  grief cannot undo  what has happened. We can try to mitigate the consequences of our actions, but the actions cannot be erased – they have become an indelible part of our karmic record and will bear fruit sooner or later.

If the past cannot be changed and there is no escape from its repercussion, how can one make amends for one’s mistakes? Is there no way to make up for one’s errors, or is one condemned to suffer for every transgression, even if was committed in ignorance?   

The effect of past wrongs can be neutralized by doing good deeds. Just as misdeeds eventually cause suffering to the doer, charitable and noble actions bring joy, contentment, and an elevated sense of self-worth. If we busy ourselves with doing good deeds, we will constantly experience their happy consequences. As with a pair of scales, in which when one side becomes heavy and moves down the other automatically become lighter and rises when our stock doer, charitable and noble actions bring joy, contentment , and an elevated sense of self – worth . If we busy ourselves with doing good deeds, we will constantly experience their happy consequences. As with a pair of scales, in which when one side becomes heavy and moves down, the other automatically becomes lighter and rises, when our stock of good deeds increases, the burden of past errors becomes proportionately smaller. As we keep doing good, the past soon becomes insignificant, and no longer weigh on us.

This process not only makes us feel good, it also brings about deeper change. Good actions  performed repeatedly create the tendency , or sanskar ,’  of doing good , and this ‘sanskar ,’ of doing good , and this ‘sanskar’ keeps impelling us to do more goods. Any past traits of wrongdoing become dormant and no longer influence us. This is the process by which self –transformation occurs.

This fact is recognized even in legal systems where the punishment of convicts is commuted following good behavior.

The key is to focus on the present and make the best use of it, instead of constantly looking back at the past and feeling regret over something that cannot be changed . The better our present, the lighter the burden of the past become. Soon, a time comes when n trace of the past becomes. Soon , a times comes when no trace of the past remains, and the person experiences a new life . This has been the life story of many a saint. Today , those saints are remembered for their saintliness, not what they were before . They realized the error of their  ways, decided to change and went about it with sincerity and determination, sometimes  in the face of great challenges and temptation. In the end , those souls overcame their inner demons to become revered figures.

No matter what our life has been like until now , we can put it on another track and make it elevated by starting to think and act nobly from the present  moment. Once we take control of the present , we are no longer hostage to the present we are no longer hostage to the past , which will rear its head now and then , but eventually vanish when we keep looking ahead and chart a new course for our life.

                          

                     Good advice to Internalize

A human   can look within. He can also look at the world. Both ways he will see movement and change. He will see happiness and sorrow , disaster and triumphs. So, do not just look, for in mere looking you are victim. Instead look and create. And quietness is the greatest gift there is for a spirit that seeks freedom.

Go out towards the world and create good feelings. Create it in the place you work, the people you work with the tasks you are set. Make everything you touch lovely so that others find your footsteps comfortable and safe and dear.

Go inwards into your mind and create peace. Settle your worries as you settle a room unstudied by intruders. Restore and cherish your inner world. And when you learn something special , imprint it on that inner world so that it is there to return to at the end of the day.

So do not ask anymore: Where do I belong ? Do I belong out in the world or quietly away from it? You belong in both places- but both places in a special way. Not out in the world as a stranger , there only to  gather a few pennies and then leave. But as a friend to it . And no just inwards as a recluse, there only to enjoy your own treasure.

Instead live in both world . But live with love and understanding of time . Time  is the secret. Just as the tide turns on the exact moment it is meant to, so too set those moment in advance when your tide should turn from out to in

And for that you need to be very pure . Purity means you are stuck to nothing .If the sea were stuck to the stand it could not turn. If your mind is fixed on anything too hard , it cannot turn either. If  you are pure , you can live in many worlds at once. And that is mastery.