What do we do when we hurt someone? We usually say ‘Sorry’ and ask for forgiveness. ‘Sorry’ might seem to be just a small word but, it has lot of importance in our life. Other than saying sorry, what else do we need to do to avoid repeating the same mistake again? Also, why is it so important to ask for forgiveness for our wrong-doings? Let’s find out…
Take the dropper and fill chai (tea) into it.
Put one drop of chai on the cloth.
Now put aside the dropper and spray some water from the spray bottle, on the stain. Try to scrub the stain.
Record your results. How many times did you have to spray water in order to remove the stain?
The stain gets removed by using three or more sprays of water.
Suppose that the chai (tea) stain represents our mistake.
The cloth represents the person whom we’ve hurt.
One spray of water represents alochana.
Two sprays of water represents pratikraman (asking for forgiveness).
Three sprays of water represents pratyakhyan (resolve not to repeat the mistake again).
How many trials were required to remove the stain from the cloth? Around 2-3. Isn’t it? After we say ‘Sorry’ and ask for forgiveness for our mistakes, do we repeat those mistakes again? Yes! It does happen with everyone. Then what is the way out of this? Dadaji has given us a 3-step process for asking for forgiveness which includes – alochana (acknowledgement of a mistake), pratikraman (asking for forgiveness) and pratyakhyan (resolving and asking for strength to not repeat the mistake again).
Dadaji says that we should pray to the Lord that resides within the person whom we’ve hurt by saying, ‘I have hurt you by my actions or speech and I ask for its forgiveness. I will not the same mistake again.’
By following this process, gradually the intensity and frequency of our mistakes will keep decreasing and one day, we’ll be able to overcome it.
