What is the difference between repentence and self-blame?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
What is the difference between repentance and blaming ourselves? Again it is the center of our consciousness.
Ajamu, when he repented, the result was that he became more intense in his practice of bhakti. Whereas when we are blaming ourselves, we become self-conscious. So we have to see what is it that we are thinking about more and more.
A simple example on these standards is if I am deceased. Ok, I am deceased is a reality. But what should I do about it? The conclusion of the reality that I am deceased should make me want to take the treatment.
If I just was doing it, I am deceased, I am deceased, I am deceased, I am deceased, then without knowing it is all about it. So ok, I did something wrong. But what is the solution? I have to devote myself to Krishna.
So if our focus is on Krishna and he is striving to improve us, then that is repentance. If we are just lamenting about what is happening and finding in that, then that is self-blame which is undesirable. It can be psychologically damaging also.
From the philosophical perspective, repentance is a problem. Whereas self-blame is in the moment. And the difference again in the past philosophy is that in repentance, we have control over our mind.
We can calmly take our mind back and think that in this situation I have to do this. This was the temptation that came and this is how I succumbed to it. In the future if I come in such a situation, I will do like this, I will not do like this.
And that way we can deal with the situation. But when we are in a mode of self-blame, usually we are not in control. Our mind is in control.
Our mind goes back and just balloons in self-pity and self-loathing. So essentially if our focus is on Krishna and we are doing what we can in the current situation, that is repentance.