When the mind beats us for doing wrong, how is that different from repentance?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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See, the mind sometimes goes wrong, sometimes beats us up for doing wrong, sometimes goes right.
Just keep moving around. So, what does repentance do in this case? If it is going wrong, that is repentance only. If the mind repents, you know, why I did this.
Okay. So, when the mind is itself saying that beats us up, why did you do this? How is that related to repentance? See, there is first of all atonement or prayaschitta that refers to external activity that is done. It is not so much an internal feeling.
This internal feeling should be there, but prayaschitta is primarily some physical activity is done which is to where we voluntarily accept suffering. That is prayaschitta. In English that is atonement.
Whereas remorse or repentance that refers more to paschata. That is more an inner feeling. Oh, I did something wrong.
I should not have done this. So, now when the mind is beating us up, why did you do this? The mind is saying this is such a foolish thing to do. The focus is quite often not Krishna at that time.
That means, I did this wrong. Why did I do this? I am so foolish. The focus is, oh, I did this to get pleasure.
I did not get pleasure. The focus is not that this is something which I should not have done because Krishna does not want me to do it. Because Guru does not want me to do it.
So, there is not much Krishna consciousness. Of course, it is always better for whatever reason we avoid doing wrong things and do right things. But the purification happens primarily by connection of our consciousness with Krishna.
And also there is an aspect of inner strength that is required. See, as long as we are conscious of the mind, that conscious of the mind means whatever the mind is saying we are doing it. Then basically we are in the mind’s territory.
And when we are in the mind’s territory, the mind can make us move this way, that way, whichever way it wants. The process of bhakti means that we should rise out of the mind’s territory. So, when mind says do something wrong, we do wrong.
And the mind says this is very bad, we beat ourselves up, we beat ourselves up for that. In both cases we are staying largely in the mind’s territory. Now the fact is we cannot get entirely out of the mind’s territory.
Because the mind is inside us and very close to us. But there are things which the mind likes and there are activities of bhakti. And there is an intersection among the two.
Something which we like to do also and something by which we are able to practice bhakti also nicely. So, largely our main service and our main life needs to be situated in this zone of the intersection between what the mind likes and what we do in bhakti. So, everything that the mind likes is not bad.
In the sense that what we call as our pravrtti or proclivity pravrtti is the word. Or in Varanasi there is a brahminical nature, there is a kshatriya nature. That is also a part of the mind.
Where is our nature situated? It is situated in the subtle body. It is not situated in the soul. It is situated in the subtle body.
So, that is also something which is a part of our conditioning. But that is something which is dovetailable. So, we have to make sure that we are moving towards Krishna.
When the mind is beating me up for saying you did wrong, you did wrong. Okay, I did wrong, but what? If I am supposed to be chanting or chanting at that time saying why did I do that? Why did I overeat? Why did I oversleep? Why did I do this? Why did I do that? Well, what is that? I am not going closer towards Krishna. I should not have over eaten.
I should not have overslept. I should not have done this. I should not have done that.
Why? Because that is obstructing me in going towards Krishna. So, our focus is not just to avoid doing wrong. Our focus and our purpose is to move closer towards Krishna.
And that’s why if we are just conscious of the mind, then that may not really help us move closer towards Krishna. So, the difference between the mind beating us up and repentance is in that sense twofold. One is that the mind is beating us up primarily from a very self-centered perspective.
Not from a Krishna centered perspective. And secondly, when the mind is beating us up, we are not thinking of Krishna. So, we are not spiritually strengthening ourselves.
And that’s why next time when the mind pushes us, we will not be equipped to resist it. So, when we are Krishna conscious, when we remember Shastra, when we remember from a scriptural point of view why this is wrong and why this should not be done, and are consciously sheltered in Krishna, then even that feeling of wrong inspires us to do the right.