Mea Culpa
Nobody is perfect in this world. We humans as a collective are prone to mistakes. These mistakes are necessarily caused at times by our lack of morality, lack of judgment or simply due to a lack of empathy for our fellow human beings. In religious terminology, that mistake is termed as a sin; and as is the law of the nature, once you have committed the crime; you are automatically subjected to the repercussions. Through the documented history of the human existence, man has always tried to find a way in which he can escape the karmic law of nature; thus allowing him to keep a complete disregard for its rules and regulations. However he has failed miserably thus far.
Man indeed fails to grasp the gist of the entire cosmic dream which singularly aims at bringing the individual out of his illusory existence and impressing upon him his true nature. Realization is simply the momentary cognizance of the same; the wave of truth interspersing the bright illusory mosaic of life. However man, ignorant that he is always fails to register this truth and implement it in his life. Such is the case with perpetual sinners as well. I use the term perpetual sinners out of necessity, even though at this point it is safe to say that we are all sinners; that we have all committed mistakes at one point or the other; that all of us in one way or the other have made someone suffer.
Now don’t get me wrong, man being subjected to the laws of karma also suffers in turn when he makes someone else cry. However man’s ego and self-adjudicatory attitude fails to make him realize the reason as to why he suffers. He suffers for he has made someone else suffer and thus he must suffer. However without the realization of what made him suffer in the first place, man ends up committing even more sins, thus inescapably getting entwined into the recursive cycle of misery and suffrage.
The only way out of this uninventive play of karma is realization and acceptance. Mea Culpa in Latin means’ My Own Fault’. It is but a humble acknowledgement of our own sins; not just a cursory one but one that registers deep within our own consciousness and takes us away from our erring ways to better ends. It is acceptance that suggests that the mistake committed was something that was avoidable if the individual was but diligent. It suggests that the sin could indeed have not been committed in the first place if man himself had not shed all bonds of morality and brotherhood.
Mea Culpa means a humble acceptance of the truth and a promise towards change. Change can only come after acceptance and retribution. The latter is received befittingly owing to the law of karma; it is only the acceptance that we find hard to acknowledge. We don’t need to declare it publicly; for it indeed would be a suicidal move from the worldly point of view; however silently acknowledging it in your own heart would surely yield a lifetime of peace. Denial in its wake brings only disquiet and dissatisfaction. Acceptance enables you to fluidly move on and mature to bigger and better things. Consider it… 🙂
Thus follows the biblical scripture quoted from the ancient Roman text.
Confíteor Deo omnipoténti et vobis, fraters, quia peccávi nimis cogitatióne, verbo, ópere et omissióne:
mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa. Ideo precor beátam Maríam semper Vírginem,
omnes Angelos et Sanctos, et vos, fratres, oráre pro me ad Dóminum Deum nostrum.
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters,that I have sinned through my own fault.
In my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
and I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Amen!
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Tags: acceptance, sin, spirituality
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September 13, 2010 7:48 am
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By manjusha, September 14, 2010 @ 11:54 am
very nice article.