How do we stop feeling bad about past experiences?
Simple… by living in the present!
How do we live in the present?
By attaining Self-Realization and applying the right knowledge in life.
How do we attain Self-Realization?
By meeting the Enlightened One, who has the spiritual powers to enlighten others, as well.
How do we meet the Enlightened One?
By having an earnest desire to meet Him and praying to Lord to enable the meet.
Self-Realization can only be acquired by meeting a Gnani
Liberation, not only from pain of past experiences but from all kinds of suffering, calls for no efforts if one is fortunate enough to come in communion with a Gnani, the Enlightened One. Through the scientific approach of Akram Vignan, one can easily attain Atma Gnan (Self-Realization); but it can occur only by meeting the living Atma Gnani (the Enlightened One). Only a lit candle can light another candle!! So, pray to God that you may soon meet Gnani and look forward to attaining Self-Realization from Him at your earliest convenience.
- To realize really ‘who am I?’ – Self-Realization, and
- To understand ‘who is the real doer?’ – how things really happen in this world,
are the two fundamental truths, which when rightly understood from the Enlightened One will make you sail in the right direction and shall take you to our ultimate destination, where peace, harmony and bliss prevail. You’ll stop feeling bad about anything thereafter, and will enj☺y living in present!
But until you attain Self-Realization, you may start applying the following techniques to help resolve your past experiences’ issues so that you feel better. When one cannot stop feeling bad about past experiences, it suggests there is no peace within. When there is tremendous inner turmoil, the problem needs to be addressed quickly and spiritually. Spiritual understanding offers a genuine and permanent solution to the problem. So come, let’s have a look at some of such solutions:
- Whatever happened is Justice. One of the extraordinary spiritual findings of Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an enlightened being, is, ‘Whatever has happened is justice!’ Nature has never stepped outside the realm of justice. This is because Nature is not a person such that someone would have an authoritative control over it, nor is it any kind of a God!
Nature means scientific circumstantial evidences. A single action materializes when so many circumstances come together. Nature brings together all the past karmic accounts that are to be settled. For example, out of the thousand pilgrims, why is it that only some died? Those who had a karmic account to die are the ones who became victim to the accident and died!
Without having a past karmic account, even a mosquito cannot bite anyone. It is because there is a pending karmic account from the past that a punishment comes about. Hence, the one who wants to become free should understand this very point that, ‘That which has happened to me, is itself justice.’ The amount of knowledge of ‘Whatever has happened, is justice’ we apply in life, that much peace will prevail, because during adverse circumstances, owing to this knowledge, not a single disturbance is created within.
- Credit the hurt / insult that comes your way. Suppose someone has hurt you, and you cannot stop feeling bad about such past experiences. Now, the spiritual science says that whatever you have given to others is what you receive. There is no such law (of Nature) here which allows one to hurt another just like that. There has to be a cause behind it, only then the effect occurs. Hence, you should credit the hurt immediately. To credit means to settle the pending (debit) karmic account.
We have brought with us all the pending karmic accounts from our past life. Param Pujya Dadashri explains, “Why did this happen to us? It has never come our way before, so why did it come today? Therefore, it is indeed our own karmic account.” Let’s settle and clear this karmic account now. However, it should be settled and cleared in a manner that no one comes to know of it; without disturbing anyone. What happens once things are disturbed? There would be disturbance in everything else also, isn’t it?! Hence, one who wants to become free will not scream and shout at all, instead will credit the bad experience quietly with right understanding.
- Daily pray, “May no one be hurt by my thoughts, words or actions.”
We just learnt in the above point that we receive only that what we have given. We received hurt or insult from someone as we may have given it to people in the past.
However, now, a pure heart-felt intent that we want to make is, ‘May no living being be caused the slightest hurt through my mind, speech or body.’ Include this in your daily morning prayer to God, and get ready to witness its magical results. When you do not intend to hurt anyone, in future no one will want to hurt you. Your vibrations will be such that you will be friends with the entire world!
- Pratikraman:
If you are feeling bad about past experiences that involved human interaction with another being(s), it’s very likely that you are harbouring negative opinions for those people. Gnani says, the moment you have a negative thought about anyone, you should immediately do pratikraman and erase everything. Or else it will not only prevent your liberation, but it also prevents any happiness coming your way.
So, let go whatever happened in past and do sincere, heart-felt pratikraman! Pratikraman means we recall the God (Soul) seated in that person for whom you have not-so-good opinion, and say, “Dear God, I apologize for harbouring negative opinions for this person(s). I seek your forgiveness for having done this mistake. Please forgive me. I promise I will not do this mistake again; kindly grant me strength for the same.”