
Make Up for the
Mistakes
Spoken by Supreme Master
Ching Hai
Melbourne, Australia, March 13, 1993
(Originally in English)
Q: If a wrong is done and can cause bad karma, how can it be
reversed or undone?
M: Do the opposite. Try to make
up for it. Not only stop doing wrong, but continue doing right, or start
doing right. Not only do we not steal from other people, but we also
help the people who are poor and truly in need. That's the true correction
for what we did. For example, you have a husband and you have an affair
with another man. Only for example, please! [Laughter] Now you feel
sorry about it. It is not only that you have already stopped the affair
because your husband doesn't like it, but you also have to love your
husband more. Take care of him more. Help him to feel better. Help your
family relationships to become more solid and happier for you, your
husband, and your children. That's the positive way of repenting our
wrong deed. Not only do we stop doing wrong, but we have to do right.
Once
Gandhi heard a Hindu person say, "I am going to hell. I killed
a Moslem because another Moslem killed my child." Then he asked,
"What can I do now? I will go to hell anyhow." So Gandhi said
to him, "I know a way out of hell. If you raise an orphan to become
a Moslem, you can make up for that. Maybe you will still go to hell,
but at least your conscience will be clear. You'll know that you have
done your best to make up for the wrong you have done and also made
someone else happy. At least when you go to hell, you will go happily."