Prayaschitta

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: Sometimes we feel a bit guilty over deeds, intentional, or unintentional. Prayaschitta is the intentional action intended to help out with this. It's meant to be any purifying action we can undertake. Here's a link that explains it in more detail.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pr%C4%81ya%C5%9Bcitta

I often feel so inclined. I guess I must have erred a few times.

Thoughts? What have you done, how did it work out, what would you consider?

Aum Namasivaya

[Viraja]

I feel bad for having posted the 'Ganapathi pooja in Vaishnavism' thread - it had been bothering me for quite a while...It sounded like I dislike Lord Ganapathi in that thread, while in reality, I pray to him everyday. (I don't know why I wrote that topic in the first place, guess I'm little impulsive sometimes...).

So I take up this opportunity for prayaschittha by saying this out loud and praying to Lord Ganesh to forgive me.

As for one part of your 3 questions, EM ji, which says 'What would you consider?', I would like to reply that in a heterocultural forum as this one, one should have a really strong will and tolerance level if their faith is tested to not to retaliate, it would definitely benefit if someone has an inbuilt liking for all devatas because then tolerance would naturally come by.

Jai Ganesha!

[Believer]

Namaste,

During the course of interaction with people, sooner or later, somebody is bound to get hurt, either intentionally, when in a fit of anger, or unintentionally when action is taken in a foggy state of mind. Praye-sh-chit is the act of setting it straight. My two fold act is to feel the remorse as soon as it becomes evident that I have erred and resolve to not repeat it; and to reach out to the hurt person with a sincere apology. Praye-sh-chit is done as much for the benefit of the wrong doer as for the victim. When I atone for my wrongdoing (not the Xitian sin), it gives me a great relief and peace of mind to silently confess the error, rebuke myself, resolve to not repeat it and then to offer an apology to the offended person.

Pranam.

[Eastern Mind]

Namaste,

During the course of interaction with people, sooner or later, somebody is bound to get hurt, either intentionally, when in a fit of anger, or unintentionally when action is taken in a foggy state of mind. Praye-sh-chit is the act of setting it straight. My two fold act is to feel the remorse as soon as it becomes evident that I have erred and resolve to not repeat it; and to reach out to the hurt person with a sincere apology. Praye-sh-chit is done as much for the benefit of the wrong doer as for the victim. When I atone for my wrongdoing (not the Xitian sin), it gives me a great relief and peace of mind to silently confess the error, rebuke myself, resolve to not repeat it and then to offer an apology to the offended person.

Pranam.

Vannakkam Believer et al: Generally I will take it one step further, and assign myself a bit of penance like an action towards that person, or a walk to the temple instead of a cozy car. Then, during the walk, I'll focus on it, and setting the mind straight about not repeating the same movie. It's does have a clearing, cleansing effect.

Aum Namasivaya

[ShivaFan]

I believe in the benefits of Prayaschitta, especially public vows or to a Hindu priest, to be a penance or to ward off evil as well.

The problem is to get advice as to which penance.

My "easy" one is a vow to give "xyz" devotion for "x" time to a particular Devata, or to the Devi.

Those promises, along with tirthayatra are, well, really fun and not penance!

hmmmm... who to ask?

Om Namah Sivaya

[Eastern Mind]

I believe in the benefits of Prayaschitta, especially public vows or to a Hindu priest, to be a penance or to ward off evil as well.

The problem is to get advice as to which penance.

My "easy" one is a vow to give "xyz" devotion for "x" time to a particular Devata, or to the Devi.

Those promises, along with tirthayatra are, well, really fun and not penance!

hmmmm... who to ask?

Om Namah Sivaya

Vannakkam AF: My Guru(s) would assign penance in special circumstances, or you can do it yourself, or a combination of both, where you decide, but ask for blessings.

I used to do 108 prostrations to Ganesha the day before each school year, back when I taught. Right now I'm on a more arduous vow ... attend temple at least 365 times in a calendar year ... started last Tamil New Year. I'm somewhat ahead in days now, so the last couple months should go easier. Some days it's been hard though.

Maybe you could put a suggestion here, and we can vote on whether or not you should do it.

Aum Namasivaya

[brahma jijnasa]

Namaste

Namaste,

During the course of interaction with people, sooner or later, somebody is bound to get hurt, either intentionally, when in a fit of anger, or unintentionally when action is taken in a foggy state of mind. Praye-sh-chit is the act of setting it straight. My two fold act is to feel the remorse as soon as it becomes evident that I have erred and resolve to not repeat it; and to reach out to the hurt person with a sincere apology. Praye-sh-chit is done as much for the benefit of the wrong doer as for the victim. When I atone for my wrongdoing (not the Xitian sin), it gives me a great relief and peace of mind to silently confess the error, rebuke myself, resolve to not repeat it and then to offer an apology to the offended person.

Pranam.

This sounds almost as if it was copied from the Manu smriti XI.229-234:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/manu11.htm

229. In proportion as a man who has done wrong, himself confesses it, even so far he is freed from guilt, as a snake from its slough.

230. In proportion as his heart loathes his evil deed, even so far is his body freed from that guilt.

231. He who has committed a sin and has repented, is freed from that sin, but he is purified only by (the resolution of) ceasing (to sin and thinking) 'I will do so no more.'

232. Having thus considered in his mind what results will arise from his deeds after death, let him always be good in thoughts, speech, and actions.

233. He who, having either unintentionally or intentionally committed a reprehensible deed, desires to be freed from (the guilt on it, must not commit it a second time.

234. If his mind be uneasy with respect to any act, let him repeat the austerities (prescribed as a penance) for it until they fully satisfy (his conscience).

regards

[Believer]

Namaste Saidevo,

Most case of seeking alms these days, especially in metros like Chennai, are fraught with untruthfulness, so I often do not comply with giving them money.

I fully understand your position and the reason for avoiding giving charity to a fake beggar. Like you, I also tend to have reservations about the ubiquitous beggars. On the other side of the spectrum is Kahlil Gibran. To paraphrase one of his philosophical thoughts, 'If God has let a soul drink from the ocean of life and given him a human body/life, who am I to sit in judgement and withhold a few coins from him?' I am having a difficult time reconciling the two. Any further thoughts on that?


Namaste BJ,

This sounds almost as if it was copied from the Manu smriti XI.229-234:

I have never heard of the person that you talk about, Manu; but he must have been an incredibly smart man to have mirrored my position.

Pranam.

[saidevo]

namaste everyone.

I do believe in all kinds of prayashchitta, specially going on yAtra (tour) for doShas (deficiencies) that persist over time. For small transgressions, I resort to reciting the gAyatri mantra.

KAnchi ParamAchArya once spoke about this saying in Sanskrit:

akSharatdvayam abhyastam nAsti nAsti iti yat purA |
tad idam dehi dehi iti viparitam upasThitam ||

He explained:

Some people are born rich and some poor in this birth. This is because those who were rich in their earlier birth refused (saying 'nAsti nAsti--no, no') deserving cases of charity end up in this birth poor, asking 'give me, give me (dehi dehi)'. The shAstra says that begging is an act of indignity which the begger suffers: to refuse a deserving case is therefore a sin with consequences.

Most case of seeking alms these days, especially in metros like Chennai, are fraught with untruthfulness, so I often do not comply with giving them money. In that process I sometimes end up with the feeling that I might have refused a genuine case, for which transgression I seek to reciting the gAyatri mantra a few times. I also compensate such ommission by surprising the poor garbage collector who passes through our streets daily by giving him on some days, fresh fruits, biscuits, snacks or some money occasionally.

I recite gAyatri mantra seeking a good gati (path) in the next birth, when I accidentally tread on small creaters like ants, or need to the end the life of a waywardly invasive creature like a cockroach that has grown big enough to fly!

*****

Vannakkam: Sometimes we feel a bit guilty over deeds, intentional, or unintentional. Prayaschitta is the intentional action intended to help out with this. It's meant to be any purifying action we can undertake. Here's a link that explains it in more detail.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pr%C4%81ya%C5%9Bcitta

I often feel so inclined. I guess I must have erred a few times.

Thoughts? What have you done, how did it work out, what would you consider?

Aum Namasivaya