REPENTANCE

To Ching Hua (Benita) Kung and the Masters of the Tao, in gratitude
Aída Reboredo Arroyo

To repent means a change of vision, to turn back, to return. Repentance does not consist of guilt, shame and punishment as it is commonly understood due to manipulation suffered by the term which was converted into a doctrine used by religions to safeguard the interests of dominant groups. To repent comes from the Latin repaenitere, and means to go back to, to replenish the lack of something, to change, to correct, to go from a wrong mentality to a right one. The Hebrew word most frequently used in the Old Testament to refer to mistakes produced by a false vision, hattāt, comes from the Hebrew root ht ’which means to miss the mark or to deviate from the goal. Hamartia, missing the target, is the Greek word used in the New Testament to translate the Aramaic term khata (1).

Repentance was reduced to the moral realm, distorting the original message linked to the emancipation of conscience, thus losing its liberating meaning. Those who disregard the conscience of unity, perceiving themselves as separate individuals, become slaves of insecurities and fears leading them to a life of confusion. To repent, to turn back, to become aware, reestablish the individual in its own self, in its Buddha nature, in the ‘mind of Christ’, in the Tao. Those who forget their true origin and identity become puppets of the false ego seeking security, longevity, health and wealth in the quicksand of impermanent manifestations.

To adhere to that which is impermanent by nature, is to be imprisoned in a mirage that disappears when our true identity is discovered. Jesus said, If people ask you, ‘Where have you come from?’ say to them, ‘We have come from the light, from where the light came in to being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image. If they ask, ‘Who are you?’ say, ‘We are its children, and we are the chosen of the Living Father’. If they ask you, ‘What is the sign of your Father in you? say to them, ‘It is movement and rest’ (2) Jesus said, I am the light of the world (3). You are the light of the world (4).

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ... (5). Repentance and the Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus both mean liberation of misconceptions, a radical change of consciousness, a correction of the illusion of fragmentation into the vision of the kingdom, a conscience of unity and entanglement … The kingdom of God is within you (6). … The Kingdom is inside you and outside you (7). The kingdom of God is the heart of the Gospels. In Mark, Matthew and Luke the word euaggelion meaning good news, is understood as equivalent to the kingdom announced and realized by Jesus. Repentance marks the turning point from where the compassionate lifestyle of the Kingdom begins. The message and works of Jesus are not doctrinal teachings, but the practice of the Kingdom through compassionate feelings, intentions, thoughts, words, and actions. To believe in Jesus is to act compassionately which requires the transformation of a fragmented conscience into a conscience of unity, a conscience of love.

Jesus challenged religion as a power at the service of dominant groups to generate oppression instead of freedom, doctrinal legalism instead of life, guilt instead of spirituality, fear instead of peace. It was in the context of oppression that repentance became a doctrine of guilt and punishment. It was also in this framework that the original message, centered in the love of God through the love of others, was transformed into post-paschal theologies. The message of Jesus consisted in practicing love above all things, since that practice was one of the fundamental principles of the Judaism, and a summary of the entire Law and the Prophets as stated in the Gospels (8).

Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese” is an example of the misconception of the term repentance as synonymous of guilt and punishment, as it is commonly understood: You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting
(9). The original meaning of the word repentance does not imply punishment, or self-blame, nor self-imposed physical or psychological suffering, but to realize that the principal mistake is the idea of fragmentation, from where all the other secondary errors come from.

There are two types of false repentance which do not correct the main error: repentance based on guilt and repentance based on subject matter. If repentance is reduced to guilt, it produces remorse, anguish, immobility, and stagnation. If repentance is limited to an issue or matter, the underlying reason, the central error which is the fragmented conscience, is overlooked. This confusion prevents us from realizing that we are feeding the same seeds of ignorance in other areas of our lives. Repentance in the subject matter and repentance based on guilt are the two usual ways in which religions focus their attention to shape the criteria of multitudes. Worlds, heavens and other dimensions make up an indivisible unit that only intuition and supraconscious states can get to experience. Perception can only provide dualistic data needed to function on the physical realm, however, only intuition and self-experienced knowledge of the perennial wisdom, yield access to the information from the subtle worlds. The self-experienced knowledge of unity goes beyond the appearances captured by the five senses and the mind; it reveals that all creatures and worlds are like necklace’s beads, intertwined with the invisible thread of the whole. Dominant hierarchies hinder access to this subtle and liberating knowledge which allows us to recognize ourselves as part of the whole. Nothing can exist outside of the whole, otherwise it would not be the whole. The whole is infinite… it is immutable (…) The whole is the infinite living Mind: the enlightened one calls it Spirit (10).

The person in a state of ignorance perceives itself as a forsaken soul. Once the person understands that existence is an infinite continuum of which it is part of, the search for acceptance, security and control ceases. What seemed attractive to the fragmented vision is now seen as undesirable; what appeared to be a loss is now considered a gain; what produced grief becomes peace; what created intolerance and anger now generates compassion. Identification with the false self is then corrected, the road to return home is then undertaken in the wisdom of unity. This is the meaning contained in the Arabic, Hebrew, Greek and Latin words tawba, teshuvah, metanoeo and repaenitere, translated as repentance. As a result of this integrative vision, love and compassion emerge manifesting themselves in selflessness actions.

People of the world, lost in externals, get fixated on appearances; lost inwardly, they get fixated on emptiness. If you can be detached from appearances while in the midst of appearances, and be detached from emptiness while in the midst of emptiness, then you will not be lost inwardly or outwardly. If you realize this truth, your mind opens in an instant; this is called opening up the knowledge and vision of buddhahood… Buddhahood is equivalent to awakeness. It is divided into four aspects. There is opening up awake knowledge and vision, showing awake knowledge and vision, realizing awake knowledge and vision, and entering into awake knowledge and vision (11).

The correction of conscience called Individual tikun by Jewish mysticism, is a process of ascending changes and profound complexity originating in repentance. Those who stay tuned to their thoughts, feelings, and actions attain correction. External circumstances and relationships to others reflect the state of conscience, allowing the individual to know itself, take responsibility for its own actions, and avoid playing the role of a victim. In the light of the conscience of unity, judgments, prejudices of the small self as well thoughts of exclusion and rejection, they all come to a stop. Jesus said: Know the one who is before you, and what is hidden from you will be revealed to you (12).

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (13). A person capable of spiritual discernment takes responsibility for its own existence and remains aware to make necessary corrections along the way. The vision is then corrected. Individuals perceived before as separated entities, and people considered as objects, are now regarded as one beyond the diversity of the appearances. The river and its waves are one. Where is the difference between the river and its waves? When the wave rises, it is water; and when it falls, it is the same water again. Because it has been called a wave, shall it no longer be considered water? (14). The process of correction and repair involves all areas of the person: its interior — its being for itself — and its relationship with the outside — its being for another.

From the preceding moment of thought, the present moment of thought, and the following moment of thought, from moment of thought to moment of thought I will not be affected by any conceit or deceit. I repent of all previous misdeeds associated with malignant conceit and deceit, and pray that they disappear all a once and never occur again… I repent of all previous misdeeds associated with malignant jealousy and envy, and pray that they disappear at once and never occur again…

Why is it called repentance? Repentance means repenting of former errors, previous bad actions, faults like stupidity, delusion, conceit, deceit, jealousy, and envy, repenting of them all so they don’t ever recur. That is being penitent. Repentance further means regretting later mistakes…and stopping them forever, not acting them out anymore.

When falsehood occurs, truth liberates; when delusion occurs, enlightenment liberates. When folly occurs, wisdom liberates; when evil occurs, good liberates. Liberation like this is called true liberation.

(…) Inwardly tame the nature of mind, outwardly respect other people: this is called self-refuge. (…) Self-refuge means getting rid of bad states of mind in your own nature — jealousy, flattery, selfishness, deceptiveness, disregard for others, disrespects for others, false views, conceit, and any bad behavior that might take place at any time. Always seeing your own faults and not discussing others’ good or bad is self-refuge… Wisdom produces higher states, folly produces lower states. (…) Self-realization and self-cultivation of the virtues of one’s own nature is true refuge (15).

High virtue is not virtuous
Therefore it has virtue
Low virtue never loses virtue
Therefore it has no virtue
High virtue takes no contrived action
And acts without agenda
Low virtue takes contrived action
And acts with agenda
High benevolence takes contrived action
And acts without agenda
High righteousness takes contrived action
And acts with agenda…
Therefore, the Tao is lost, and then virtue
Virtue is lost, and then benevolence
Benevolence is lost, and then righteousness
Righteousness is lost, and then etiquette
Those who have etiquette
are a thin shell of loyalty and sincerity
And the beginning of chaos
Those with foreknowledgeAre the flowers of the Tao
And the beginning of ignorance
Therefore the great person:
Abides in substance, and does not dwell on the thin shell

Abides in the real, and does not dwell on the flower… (16).

(1)Nuevo diccionario bíblico Ediciones Certeza 1991
(2) The Secret Gospel of Thomas In Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief. The Secret Gospel of Thomas Random House 2003, Logion 50
(3) John 8,12 New King James Version
(4) Matthew 5,14 Id
(5) Marc 1,15 Ibid
(6) Luke 17,21 op cit
(7) The Secret Gospel of Thomas op cit Logion 3,7.8
(8) José M. Castillo El Reino de Dios por la vida y la dignidad de los seres humanos Desclée de Brouwer 2000; p 163
(9) Mary Oliver Wild Geese
(10) El Kybalión Editorial Prana 2019; pp 40, 41, 43
(11) The Sutra of Hui Neng Shambala 1998; p 47
(12) The Secret Gospel of Thomas, Logion 5 op cit
(13) John 3,6 op cit
(14) Kabir Poema XIV Edicomunicación 2003
(15) The Sutra of Hui Neng op cit; pp 38, 39, 42
(16) Tao Te Ching SkyLight Paths, 2011