FINDING A BALANCE BETWEEN REPENTING OF ONE’S MISDEEDS AND NOT GRASPING TO THEM
Caller: Master, you have said before that if we become fixated on our wrongdoings, we are bound to develop depression after a prolonged period. You have also advised us to frequently reflect on our wrongdoings and to have a penitent heart. In this respect, how should we balance our mindset?
Master Jun Hong Lu: To have the right mindset is to repent after committing a wrongful act. This is a must. If you know well that you have done wrong, how do you bring your mind into a state of balance? It is when you are willing to repent, as this is how your mental state will reach an equilibrium.
On the other hand, if you are oblivious and not owning up to your own mistakes, your mental state will be imbalanced, from which a sense of resentment will emerge from within. This hatred is aimed at others, not yourself. As compared to the kind that is directed inwardly, the former kind of hatred is more difficult for one to be liberated from.
Caller: There are people who become fixated on their mistakes, bringing upon themselves a tremendous amount of stress, and end up wallowing in grief. I would like to know whether this is a form of attachment?
Master Jun Hong Lu: From a psychological standpoint, if mentally, one feels the pressure, it is a natural psychological reaction. Knowing that you have done something wrong and yet, you are unwilling to reveal it or repent, you are effectively giving the free rein to this unwholesome matter to produce negative energy within you.
Not only is it detrimental to your heart, it will also cause the endocrine system that regulates your entire body to produce bad cells which will make you feel depressed and dispirited. By then, you will lose all self-control, allowing your spiralling thoughts to take over you. Don’t you think this will turn into depression after a prolonged period?
Caller: Yes. What Master says is so true.
Master Jun Hong Lu: That’s for sure because I am analysing it from a psychological perspective.
Caller: When things happen, we should perform more repentance before Bodhisattvas. We should confide in Bodhisattvas and repent more often. Is it right to say that by doing so, we are able to balance the stress in us?
Master Jun Hong Lu: Definitely! How does stress come about in the first place? You asked for it! When you make blunders, you bring stress upon yourself, don’t you think so?
Caller: That’s true.
Master Jun Hong Lu: If you do not commit any wrongdoings, will you have anything to be stressed over?
Caller: I understand now.
Source: Wenda20200126 14:56, Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program
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