In this Weekly Wisdom, Gurudev speaks with past criminal offenders about stopping violent lifestyles in favor of peace.
In response to questions about moving beyond destructive lifestyles of crime and addiction, Gurudev shared the following:
To what degree do our practices and knowledge free us from bad karma in this life?
When you come to the Guru, all your karma changes. You get a new life. When you get a new life, that old thing is already shut down.Â
What should you do in the future? You have strength.Â
To do crime, you need a lot of courage and guts. Many people don't have courage and guts. When they lack these qualities, they can't even move fast on the spiritual path. So you have this qualification to move on the spiritual path.Â
And you don’t obsess about what others think of you. That also gives you a selfless attitude with which to serve, number two. First, courage and guts, and second, you don't worry what others think about you.
Many people keep thinking, "Oh, what will people think about me? If I go and sing and dance in the street, what will people think?" This kind of fear closes up the mind.
You don't have that fear, right? Anyway, they already think you're a bad guy. What's the worst that could happen? So you don't care what others say. You're not footballs of their opinions. This is the second strength you have.Â
The third one is that you can endure because you have endured a lot of difficulties. So you can now start to endure difficulty for a greater purpose.
A person who doesn't have this strength will chicken out. Small things might happen and they will run away. With you, that's not the case. You want to do it, you put your mind on it, so you can do it and achieve it.Â
You have many qualities needed for spiritual growth. You already have them! Many people have to strive for them. You have a beautiful technique. What more do you want? Now you only have to go out and get the thing done.Â
Find many other people with your previous lifestyle around the world. You have to pull them out of it somehow. Only you can bring those transformations.
How do I let go of punishing myself for past mistakes through drug addiction?
The person who did wrong is not the person you are today. That person wasn’t conscious. That person didn't have knowledge. That person is dead and gone. Today, you're a new person, so the new person should not use drugs to punish the new person.Â
There is a beautiful verse in Bhagavad Gita. “Even if someone is doing the worst thing in the world, he becomes free the moment he changes himself in love, in devotion, and then he should be considered a saint, or a saintly person, because his heart has already been purified through love.”Â
Your mind is already becoming very calm, serene, and stable. Once that happens, you're not less than any saint. “He quickly becomes a good person, with all good attributes and good karma. He will attain total peace in his life.” These are two verses from Bhagavad Gita which are so appropriate. They say how love, number one, and then steadiness, calmness in the mind, can bring all the goodness into life.
This is just a small bit of knowledge from an incredible dialogue. Watch the entire conversation between the group of reformed offenders and Gurudev below.
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