Pratikramana Freedom Through Apology and Repentance

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Dada Bhagwan Foundation

Page 11

Pratikraman
Pratikraman
karmas.
(P.17)
Even after the ego becomes somewhat pure you will still have to perform some rituals. If your daughter-in-law breaks something expensive and you shout at her, you will have to do pratikraman for hurting her feelings. The hurt you cause is atikraman and if you do pratikraman immediately, the karma will be erased or become lighter. Whenever you do atikraman, you must erase it with pratikraman. It should be a shoot-on-sight, instantaneous pratikraman, and not the kind, which is done only once a year. Only then will it lighten this burden of suffering. If you conduct yourself according to the ways prescribed by the Vitarag, your suffering will depart.
(P.16) Questioner: How does one do pratikraman?
Dadashri: If you have attained Self-Realization, you will become aware of the Self within the other person. It is precisely the Self within that person that you must address. Otherwise, you can direct your pratikraman towards God by saying, "O Lord! I repent for my mistake. I ask for your forgiveness and resolve never to repeat it." That is all.
Questioner: Do the bad deeds get washed away?
Dadashri: Yes, yes of course they will! After pratikraman, the fault will not remain. Even a massive karma will appear as though it were a burnt rope with its cinders intact, which crumble and disperse at the slightest touch.
Questioner: And how should one repent? Should it be done outwardly so that it is visible to others or from within, in one's mind?
Dadashri: In your mind! You should remember Dadaji,
apologize for your mistake, and make a resolve never to do it again. In so doing, the pain will be erased and the mistake destroyed. If you fail to do this, your mistakes will accumulate.
Akram Vignan is the only path of its kind that allows you to see your own faults and shoot them as they appear, destroying them completely
Questioner: On one hand you commit aggression and on the other you repent. It is a never-ending thing.
Dadashri: It is not like that. If a person commits a bad deed and he repents, he can never feign repentance. When he repents, that repentance is sincere and with that, a layer of karma is removed. The onion still appears whole although one layer is gone. Another layer will be removed the next time. Repentance never goes to waste.
(P.18) Questioner: Should we not ask for forgiveness with a sincere heart?
Dadashri: A person who apologizes, does so with his heart. It will even suffice to apologize insincerely, as long as the apology is made.
Questioner: Then it will just become a habit.
Dadashri: Even if it does become a habit, it is fine as long as an apology is made. Just realize that if you do not repent, you will have to pay for it.
If someone is an alcoholic and asks for forgiveness, I tell him to keep asking for forgiveness and to make a firm resolution that he wants to quit his bad habit, even as he continues to drink. One day he will be free of his addiction. I give you this absolute guarantee through my Science. This Science is bound to grow