Stand Above Time - Do Teshuva
I was cruising around my hard drive and I came across I thought on Teshuva. Unedited, it may be a bit rough but the thought is there and thats what counts:
Teshuva (loosely translated as Repentence) consists of two basic components, without which it is not accepted.
1. Regret for the misdeed.
2. A Resolution never to act in that manner again.
Why is it important that he resolve never to do it again? What relevance do his future actions have on his past? We can't answer that his future misdeeds reveal that his regret was insincere, because firstly, the resolution is considered a separate component, not a proof of the first, and secondly, that fails to take into account the reality that circumstances change. If I truly regret my act, what more can you demand?
In order to understand this, it is important to ask why Teshuva can help in the first place. What's done is done. Nothing you will say or do will change that. How many times have we said or felt "You may be sorry, but that doesn't change the facts." How can my actions today effect something which occured yesterday?
The answer is that the past is only untouchable because we are bound by the limitations of time. Teshuva reaches to a point which is higher than time, and thus is not bound by it. Today, tomorrow or last year are all the same. Sounds Kabballistic? Let me translate that into English. (This is not to say that it is not true in a mystical/spiritual sense. I am only going to explain the concept as it exists in our reality.) In our world what that means is the following (and this is why resolving to never repeat your misdeed is crucial.):
When I fulfill the two conditions of Teshuva, Regret and Resolve, in essence what is happening is I am at a point, in a state of mind, in which I will NEVER do this thing again, regardless. I have resolved not to let changes in circumstance effect me in regards to this deed. No matter how you tempt me, I am wholeheartedly resolved to resist the temptation. Thus, I am, quite literally, above time. In this aspect of my life, past, present and future have no relevance.
This is the reason why in order to truly do Teshuva, in order to turn over a new leaf, to gain forgiveness for yesterday, it is necessary commit for the future.
Because when you do, you stand above Time, in a place where past, present and future are one.
Teshuva (loosely translated as Repentence) consists of two basic components, without which it is not accepted.
1. Regret for the misdeed.
2. A Resolution never to act in that manner again.
Why is it important that he resolve never to do it again? What relevance do his future actions have on his past? We can't answer that his future misdeeds reveal that his regret was insincere, because firstly, the resolution is considered a separate component, not a proof of the first, and secondly, that fails to take into account the reality that circumstances change. If I truly regret my act, what more can you demand?
In order to understand this, it is important to ask why Teshuva can help in the first place. What's done is done. Nothing you will say or do will change that. How many times have we said or felt "You may be sorry, but that doesn't change the facts." How can my actions today effect something which occured yesterday?
The answer is that the past is only untouchable because we are bound by the limitations of time. Teshuva reaches to a point which is higher than time, and thus is not bound by it. Today, tomorrow or last year are all the same. Sounds Kabballistic? Let me translate that into English. (This is not to say that it is not true in a mystical/spiritual sense. I am only going to explain the concept as it exists in our reality.) In our world what that means is the following (and this is why resolving to never repeat your misdeed is crucial.):
When I fulfill the two conditions of Teshuva, Regret and Resolve, in essence what is happening is I am at a point, in a state of mind, in which I will NEVER do this thing again, regardless. I have resolved not to let changes in circumstance effect me in regards to this deed. No matter how you tempt me, I am wholeheartedly resolved to resist the temptation. Thus, I am, quite literally, above time. In this aspect of my life, past, present and future have no relevance.
This is the reason why in order to truly do Teshuva, in order to turn over a new leaf, to gain forgiveness for yesterday, it is necessary commit for the future.
Because when you do, you stand above Time, in a place where past, present and future are one.
posted by Getzel | 3:58 AM
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