The Door of Freedom is Open
Every
one of us has done silly things in life, which we might feel guilty, deep in our hearts. Sometimes the guilt might be mild, just a twinge of remorse, but sometimes it could be a little bit too much to bear, like a gradual pain that fills our heart. What is not so wise is that sometimes, we think we deserve the pain, we deserve the memory, and we deserve the punishment, especially the punishment of guilt imposed by ourselves. Do we really deserve the pain, do we really need to keep it, to absolve ourselves from the guilt? The answer is no, look, the door of freedom from guilt is always open, anytime, anywhere, if only we have enough kindness and compassion to forgive ourselves.
It is not true that we are silly; it is just that sometimes we have done some silly things in life. In truth, there are countless good and nice things we have done as a human being, not just the one insignificant bad brick, but 999 good bricks beside it as well. And so, grant yourself, the person, who has been through life with you so long already, the only one who is wholly aware of the feelings and experiences of one’s life personally, the one who says ‘good morning, me’ and ‘good night me’ everyday, with total unconditional loving kindness and
acceptance, saying, “The door of my heart is open to me, no matter who I was, what I did, who I will become. I will always forgive myself three times in advance, of the past, present and future.” That’s great, this is the true meaning of life.
Even deeper than before, is to know the actual reality of life, by looking into the depths of life, the cause of all doings, the source of the moving train, and to see with great relief, that there is no one in there to make the decisions, to will, to act. They are all a part of nature, built up of causes and conditions, completely changing and uncertain. It is like a passenger, stranded in a bus for days with a lousy driver. Everyday, the bus would sometimes pass by picturesque magnificent views with beautiful meadows and naturally, we would ask the driver to slow down so that we could savor the beautiful moment, but irritatingly he speeds off every single time. On the contrary, when we ask the driver to accelerate to avoid the grotesque scenery outside like a rubbish dumpsite, it moves even slower than before. Complaints after complaints being made and yet no response comes from the front seat. So agitated and fed up is he that he decides to search for the driver to give him a good scolding. When he reaches there, his jaw drops, it shocks him that there is no one there who drives the bus. So, he goes back to his seat and sit there stop complaining anymore, since there is no one to complain to in the first place. We are not in control of our minds, but only to provide it with the proper conditions. There is no one to blame, it’s just causes and conditions, it’s just nature, that’s all. So, we can finally understand fully that all the good things and bad things we have done,
happiness and suffering, do not belong to us. Finally, we are free from blaming ourselves. This is the truth. If we can forgive others, so can we forgive ourselves.
Most importantly, everything is mind-made, heaven and hell exist in our minds. Someone might ask who is so uncompassionate to send people to hell instead of heaven. The answer is not someone else, but ourselves. We are the creator of the world. We literally send ourselves there, by mistakenly believing that we deserve heaven or hell, by the good or bad things that we have done in life. If one believes he needs to be punished in a boiling pot, he will be the one who creates the boiling pot and torture himself therein, incessantly as long as he cannot let go of the unnecessary guilt. If one believes he needs to be rewarded with a heavenly mansion, he is the one who creates the heavenly mansion with all of his favorite food and entertainment. If It’s all mind-made. So, the choice lies in our hands, whether we want to grieve or to forgive and let go.
Last but not least, we have to understand, that it is not life that is sacred, or wealth, or status, but compassion that is sacred. With a joyous heart filled with compassion, let us all join together, to radiate good will to ourselves, to our family, to our friends and enemies, to all beings, and to the whole world in all directions. May every one who has a heart, lives in happiness and peace, may they be well and happy. Brahmavamso