Thursday, 18 October 2012

80. Mistakes and Guilt.


We learn many things in life. Languages, knowledge, cooking etc etc, most of comes to use in making living a little more easy, if we may believe so. Many a times, we seem to make mistakes and at times ‘blunders’. There are times when we curse ourselves and cry at our mistakes, which we think could be avoided.  At times, it is so severe as to loose one’s child, push one to death ete, or simply make the dish more salty and unpalatable, all of which are purely attributed to ‘mistakes’ of a person.
Basically it is just a notion that, whatever happened with ‘me’ as a doer, could be avoided, if one could  go back in time and space, or into the past. But ultimately, we reconcile that mistakes happen and either accept our mistake or try to cover it up, pretending that a mistake never comes to light, to others, that be involved with the effects of such mistake. Some may claim that ‘it’ was on purpose to save grace.
There is a basic element of ignorance in all these cases, in labelling of so called ‘mistakes’. One cannot help rectify the mistake, during its happening. Mostly it seems that there was no presence of mind while such mistakes were happening. You could make a ‘silly’ mistakes like in maths exam or a gross mistake like remitting money where one zero became additional or some ‘better half’ of a healthy tissue got operated upon or whatever.
Mostly, the mistakes are an outcome of forgetfulness, which is not in one’s control. We think that, it could be avoided, if at that time, memory had not failed or presence of mind was focused on the criticality of what should have not gone wrong rather than roam around aimlessly elsewhere  Could the situation be any different with say some practice or a method to avoid such instances in future?  Many would think so and there could be dozens of institutions raking in money, in making one believe their advice or expertise can do the needful and make one ‘mistake’ free.
Mistakes are seen as mistakes and seen as correct depending on the situation.  Sometimes mistakes help to make the situation better too, after which one may be appreciated for purposefully arranging  to make it seem like a mistake. When not seen as a mistake, it is not in that category.  The category only comes into light when the ‘effect’ of mistakes, is not ‘likable’, or else, one does not bother with the label. There are certain people who do not have such a category at all. In the animal kingdom, mistakes are not recognised at all. Hahaha.
What is the reality here? Can mistakes be avoided by some kind of method which can anticipate or stop  a mistake from happening? The answer is a clear “NO’.  Life operates bodies. A sense of ‘me’ or ‘doer’ is just a notion, derived from the language that ‘life’ uses, speaking bodies as ‘I’ or ‘me’. There isn't an ‘entity’ there, separate from life, that is in control, with a ‘will’ power to do correct or wrong or make mistake or prevent mistake. It seems that some have a good presence of mind and some do not. But at the very BASIS, there isn't  some-one to begin with, that can or cannot avoid mistakes.
So life flows as a set of correctness lased with seeming mistakes, as if done by a ‘one’. You can forgive and forget everybody’d mistake, as there isn't anyone in the body to make them or fake them.  Just take it easy and let life include accepting one’s own mistakes and others as well, as ‘what is happening’ in absence of a ‘doer’.  So mistakes are not mistakes is they are labelled. Another way to ignore is to realise that  ‘there isn't anybody’ to a body, to ‘make’ a mistake ‘happen’. It all just ‘what is happening’, good with a mix of seemingly ‘bad’.  So, one can relax, with a lesser sense of guilt about one’s mistake or use it to pursue the ‘entity’ that could make or avoid mistakes.