Dear Thầy, how do we deal with regrets
at the end of our life?
As human beings, we all make mistakes.
Especially when we were young,
without a lot of mindfulness and understanding,
without skillfulness, we have made
people we love suffer,
and we have made ourselves suffer.
And now as our life is drawing to
a so-called end ---
I don't believe there is an end to life.
That is the beginning of another phase,
vipaka, retribution, continuation.
The fact is that with mindfulness
and understanding,
we can recognize the unskillful things
that we have done, we have said,
in the past.
And all these are still
fully present in us,
and in the world.
That is why the practice of
Beginning Anew is needed.
The practice of Beginning Anew
starts with the awakening that
we have done something negative.
Regrettable.
And the ground of that action,
of that speech, was our mind,
our mind lacking understanding
and compassion.
But now, basing on the mind,
on our mind in the present moment,
we can do something in order to
neutralize the things that we have done
in the past, neutralize the past karma.
And if we know the way well,
it can be done very quickly, every day,
to neutralize the negative things in the past.
and to transform them into
something beautiful.
That is for the sake of our continuation,
and the continuation of our children
and so on.
Awakening, mindfulness, helps us to
recognize the wrong-doing of the past.
And, the willingness to act,
the desire to continue in a beautiful way,
give us enough energy in order to
practice beginning anew.
The wrong thing done in the past still,
is still there, in us with a wound.
And if we don't do anything,
that wound, that pain, still continues.
Suppose in the past,
you said something unkind to our mother.
We really should not have said
such a thing to her.
But we have done it, so now we regret it.
And our mother is no longer there
for us to apologize.
But still something is possible.
With the practice of deep looking,
you recognize the wound
and the suffering in yourself.
Your mother is stil in you,
with the suffering,
and you are also there,
in every cell of your body.
So with that kind of enlightment,
you breathe in, and you see your mother,
and you say, "Sorry, Mummy."
"Sorry I have said that in the past to you."
"I am determined not to do it again."
"Please believe me, from now on
it won't, it will not happen again."
And your mother in you will hear that
right away, and you can see her smiling
inside of every cell of your body.
And the wound begins to heal,
and very quickly in the present moment.
They say that you cannot go back
to the past and fix the past.
But in this teaching and practice, you can.
You can go back to the past,
and fix the wrong things you have done
in the past, because of what?
Because the past is still there,
disguised as the present moment.
And if you know how to touch
the present moment deep enough,
you touch the past.
And that is why you can mend the cut.
You can heal the wound,
right here and right now,
because everything comes from the mind.
The wrong mind has created the wound,
and now the right mind is healing the wound.
And the moment when you are determined
not to do like that again in the future,
well, the wound begins to heal,
very quickly!
And you have peace and all
complex of guilt will be gone.
You become a Bodhisattva.
You are going to do many things
for the sake of people,
now and in the future,
in terms of understanding and compassion,
And that powerful energy
can heal you very quickly,
and you will continue in that direction.
So the practice of Beginning Anew
proposed by the Buddha
is very, very effective.
If you practise according to
what is proposed in Touching the Earth,
I am sure that you'll be able
to transform every negative thing.
And you will see a very bright path
in front of you.
And you'll be able to help many people,
including the people you have
done wrong in the past.
And they will be your allies.
And, one hour of practice
of Beginning Anew can already heal.
And you have a new life in front of you,
whether that is 10 years or 5 years,
or 1 year, or 1 day, that is a new life.
And who knows how long we shall continue.
Many young people can die before us.
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