We’re all coming from mistakes. We’ve begun to realize that and recognize the mistakes as such. That’s where there’s hope for us. It’s when people refuse to recognize their mistakes that there’s no hope at all.

"One of the really fine things about Buddhism is that it was founded by someone who knows what it’s like to make a mistake. Even in his last lifetime, the Buddha made a huge mistake — six years of tormenting himself. And all those previous lifetimes! You look in the Jātaka stories and it’s not as if the Buddha was always perfect. He was making mistakes and having to learn from them. So unlike a religion that’s supposedly founded by a God who’s never been a human being, who’s never had to admit a mistake, the Buddha knows what it’s like to make a mistake and to have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on.

Those instructions he gave to Rāhula are really useful in this regard. He said that if you see you’ve made a mistake, admit the mistake, talk it over with someone else, and then simply resolve not to repeat that mistake. You don’t have to carry the guilt around with you, just the memory that that was a mistake. Then you move on.

The Buddha gave similar instructions to a village headman. If you see you’ve made a mistake, realize that remorse is not going to go back and undo the mistake, so sitting around with remorse is not going to help. Recognize that was a mistake. Decide that you’re not going to do that ever again, and then develop lots of goodwill [mettā] — goodwill for yourself, goodwill for everybody. The goodwill for yourself is a reminder not to torment yourself needlessly. The goodwill for everybody else is to firm up that resolve that you’re not going to do anything to harm other people.

So try to keep these attitudes in mind, because as we meditate, we’re going to be learning from our mistakes. We’re going to see our mistakes. After all, what are craving and clinging but mistakes? Ignorance is a mistake. We’re all coming from mistakes. We’ve begun to realize that and recognize the mistakes as such. That’s where there’s hope for us. It’s when people refuse to recognize their mistakes that there’s no hope at all."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Recovering your Balance"

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