When I was a little girl, I remember stealing a piece of penny candy from a local grocery shop. I was too young to understand that what I had done was ‘wrong’ – not until years later, that is, when I overheard a group of older boys talking about a similar scenario.

“That’s shoplifting,” I remember one shouting. “You could go to jail for that!”

From that moment on, my innocence was tainted. I felt guilty and shamed, so much so, that I eventually returned to the ‘scene of my crime’ to offer the shopkeeper my apology. Of course, I was in my twenties at the time and the shop had already changed hands several times.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” the manager said. “Why not just forget about it and let it go?”

Beginning anew is a fundament practice in our Buddhist teachings. It helps to engage and ultimately set free the burdens we carry. But, more so – it grants us permission.

As Thich Nhat Hanh once described;

“Beginning Anew is not to ask for forgiveness. Beginning Anew is to change your mind and heart, to transform the ignorance that brought about wrong actions of body, speech, and mind, and to help you cultivate your mind of love.”

In this mind of love, we begin to disentangle the countless aspects of our suffering. And all hinderances dissolve in the wake of forgiveness.

I, alone, helped to construct the condition. And, only I could help to clear it away.

A little something to remember, my friends.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️