Last Updated on January 25, 2025 by
“So many people live under the weight of intense guilt. Sometimes the guilt is rooted in the religious teachings the person has received. Sometimes it’s rooted in social or familial teachings. Often people suffer from feelings of guilt over situations they couldn’t have controlled.
How is the phenomenon the West calls “guilt” described in our tradition? What is the Sanskrit word for it? What does our tradition teach about guilty feelings, both those which seem justified by circumstance and those which don’t?
Are there ways for earnest seekers to reallocate their energy consumed by morbid guilt into better uses for the energy? What role does karma play in the context of these questions?”
First, let us look at verse #4 of the Kshama Prathana:
“One who commits a hundred faults, yet calls for the Mother of the Perceivable Universe, neither Brahma nor the other Gods can rise to the upliftment that is received.”
Here the Sanskrit word for faults is aparadha. We also use Pap for sins; Dosha for faults; there are many ways to describe the mistakes of our former lives.
Verses 5 and 6 of that same prayer continue:
– 5 –
Oh Mother of the Universe, I am guilty of error, and I take refuge in you. I am worthy of compassion. Do as you will.
– 6 –
Oh Goddess, whatever performance that was committed through ignorance, forgetfulness, or confusion, all of that, Oh Supreme Goddess, please forgive, oh may you be so gracious!
If we can focus our attention on our present lives instead of our former lives, we can see that we are in good places, doing good things with good people, and no longer need we apologize for what we became.
The laws of Karma dictate that every action performed in our past assisted in bringing us to our present. And now that we recognize our beautiful present and project to an even more exciting and enhanced version in our future, we want to turn to our pasts and say: THANK YOU! All of those mistakes, errors for which I was guilty, have brought me to this present for which I am proud!
I must apologize to all those who felt injury because of my guilty actions, and appreciate them for all the contributions to my ecstatic present!
The first step to come out of guilt and the past:-
- Always do a reality check! Is it an important step towards self-forgiveness? Guilt can mislead the perception of yourself, your situations, and your view of others. Before that guilt can be eliminated, you must first determine whether your guilt is valid.
- The best way I can atone for my guilt in the past is to live with my innocence in the present. Let me share my love and devotion, which will demonstrate the sincerity of my reform. I am a changed individual, and I appreciate that what you considered as an injury, was actually an investment in creating a person of truth, the person that I have become!
Check out the topic from Birth to Death: Sixteen Initiations Class to understand the role which we play in our life.:- https://shreemaa.org/shree-maa-birth-to-death-video/