No.281 - "The way to rid oneself of regret."

"The way to rid oneself of regret."

Question from Chile:  “What is the way to rid oneself of regret, to stop reliving the past mistakes over and over again in the mind?”

Than Ajahn:  “You can use mindfulness like reciting a mantra. When you keep thinking of the past, just recite a mantra to stop your mind from thinking about it. If you can stick to your recitation of the mantra, you will stop thinking about the past.

The second method is using common sense by telling yourself that the past is already gone, it’s like a dream; and thinking about it doesn’t change anything. The only thing that can change is your attitude. If you find that what you did was bad, then you remind yourself not to do it again. That’s the only thing you can do. If you feel regretful, then use common sense and tell yourself, ‘Ok, if I don’t want to be regretful again, I try not to repeat the same mistake.’ However, if you cannot do it with common sense, and you still keep thinking about the past, then you should use the recitation of the mantra, Buddho, Buddho, Buddho, Buddho.”

“Dhamma in English, Q&A session, Jan 23, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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