Don't Hold Grudges. Forgive Offenders.

If we want to peacefully chant the holy names of Lord Sri Krishna, we must learn to forgive those who have cheated or abused us. Holding grudges against those who have offended or mistreated us means that we are inflicting mistreatment upon ourselves also. It is matter of intelligent analysis. Two wrongs don't make a right. Since it is not nice to be mistreated, why should we continue inflicting mistreatment upon ourselves due to the mistreatment of others? In conclusion, we should be kind upon ourselves by being kind to those who have been cruel to us. In this way we can uninterruptedly taste the sublime bliss of Krishna consciousness.

Lord Jesus is a Great Vaisnava Acharya
Because He Asked Krishna to Forgive
Those Who Were Crucifying Him

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: The Body or the Self Commits Sins?

Dearest Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

I am really confused about explanations of the theory of reincarnation. I came across a statement that the self (atma) is immortal. He cannot be slaughtered or burned by fire. He does not die, and he is not born. I have also heard that when the atma is sinful in the present life he will take birth as animal in his next life.

I have learned that atma is a part of Paramatma, the Supreme Self, and is therefore pure and sinless by nature. So who or what is doing the bad deeds, the self or the body? And is it true that the atma, the self, may be reborn?

Nyoman

Answer: The Self is Guilty, not the Body

The first thing you must clearly understand is that the self and body are different, just as a hand and a glove it wears are different. If someone murders someone with a hand gun and pulls the trigger on the gun while wearing a glove, is the person guilty of murder or is the glove guilty of murder? The glove is not punished for the murder. It is the person who wears the glove that is guilty of murder. So, it is the atma, the person who is situated within the body, who is guilty of sinful activities, not the body. The atma is doing the bad deeds. That is why he is punished by taking birth as a animal in his next life. The body is not punished. It is simply discarded as a useless, worn out old garment at the time of death.

Of course the atma is never killed. But as long as he misidentifies himself with the material body, he will continue suffering the illusion of birth, death, old age, and disease lifetime after lifetime. He is also pure by nature. But when he enters the material atmosphere he becomes polluted just as pure rain water becomes muddied when falling down to the earth.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari