The Srimad Bhagavatam speaks of King Ajamila, a man of many vices. Yet, in his final moments, when he called out to his son, named 鈥楴arayan鈥, that one utterance of the divine name at the time of death is said to have liberated him. This story gives us hope. No matter how dark the past may seem, redemption is always possible. One doesn鈥檛 need to spend another moment entangled in guilt or resentment.
Mistakes are born out of lack of awareness. The very moment you recognise a mistake, you are already out of it. Right now, at this moment, you are innocent. So instead of brooding over the past, simply wake up to it. Acknowledge the mistake, and let that awareness itself be the cleansing.
Once you鈥檝e realised the misstep, take responsibility and move forward. Don鈥檛 get stuck in blaming yourself or others. Blame is like sitting with a garbage bin and playing volleyball with it, throwing waste back and forth. There鈥檚 no end to it. The only way out is to see the mistake clearly, take corrective steps, and walk ahead with the innocence of the present.
It is only human to make mistakes but what we often do is swing between extremes. We either keep repenting 鈥 鈥淥h! I made such a mistake鈥 鈥 and drown in guilt, or we deny the mistake altogether and start defending it. Both are detrimental to our growth and blossoming on the path.
Often, you are either in complete denial of your mistake or you keep reeling in guilt so much so that even you fall ill. The middle path is to recognise the mistake, learn from it, and then move on. Neither wallow in guilt, nor brush it under the carpet.
Often, people justify their actions to avoid guilt. But justification doesn鈥檛 truly free you. Guilt lingers, festers, and distorts your behaviour from deep within. It鈥檚 better to stop resisting the guilt. Instead, be fully present with the pain or the pinch a mistake causes you. Let that pain become a meditation. It dissolves the guilt and sets you free.
And how should we deal with someone else鈥檚 mistake? Don鈥檛 point out a mistake they already know they鈥檝e made. That only breeds guilt, defensiveness, or resentment. It distances people from you. Bring up a mistake only when the person is unaware of it and is open to hearing it. Even then, ask yourself, will your words bring harmony, love, and a shift?
Don鈥檛 rush to find an intention behind another鈥檚 wrongdoing. When someone errs, we often feel it was deliberate. But step back and you鈥檒l see, every culprit is also a victim. They may be a victim of ignorance, of stress, of narrowness of vision. A mistake doesn鈥檛 always come from malice.
A wise person notices the mistake, but helps the other rise from it, with compassion. A fool, however, waits for others to falter, only to pounce. Wisdom aims to uplift the others. It sees what is good and strengthens it. When you鈥檙e centred, your very presence becomes a source of upliftment for those around you.
And finally, save your own mind. When you don鈥檛 assign intention to others鈥 actions, you preserve your peace of mind. A centred mind does not slip, even if it tries. With self-knowledge, all the burdens of fear, guilt, anger, and sorrow simply fade away.
The author is a humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher and an ambassador of peace. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18鈥檚 views.