How does it feel when something is weighing on our mind – be it regret over what we have done, or not done, a missed opportunity, or an unpleasant experience?
Memories of painful experiences haunt our present, making us feel heavy, low and, sometimes, unworthy. Such memories and the unhappy feelings they bring are one of the ways in which our past impinges on our present. They are the fruit of the seeds we planted with our past actions. The consequences of what we have done in the past, whether in the present life or earlier, are unavoidable. When faced with them, we need to learn our lessons 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 more 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 repercussions, how can we make amends for our mistakes? Is there no way to make up for our errors, or are we condemned to suffer for every transgression, even the ones committed in ignorance?
The effect of past wrongs can be neutralised 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 experience their positive results. As with a pair of scales, in which the heavier side moves down and the lighter one automatically rises, the burden of our past errors becomes proportionately smaller when our stock of good deeds increases. As we keep doing good, the past gradually becomes insignificant and no longer weighs 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 impels us to do more good. Any past traits of wrongdoing become dormant and no longer influence us. This is the process by which self-transformation occurs.
This fact is recognised in legal systems where the punishment of convicts is commuted following good behaviour.
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 becomes. Soon, a time 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 realised the error of their ways, decided to change and went about it with sincerity and determination, sometimes in the face of great challenges and temptations. 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 differently. Once we take control of the present, we are no longer hostage to the past, which may rear its head now and then, but will eventually vanish when we steadily look ahead and chart a new course for our life. B.K. Geeta is a Rajyoga teacher at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Abu Road, Rajasthan.
