It is okay to make mistakes, that is how we learn. Learning from our mistakes is an essential process in life. Every new mistake is a new occasion to grow in our wisdom. The more errors of judgment we make, the more chances we have, of learning from our mistakes and gaining maturity.

But repeating the same mistake multiple times, is a waste of time and energy- it shows that learning opportunities were missed. Repeating the same mistakes again, reinforces our flawed attitudes or approaches, developing into unconscious habits. Each time a mistake is repeated, it strengthens ignorance.

It is not easy to dismantle the massive structures established by repeated mistakes, because patterns of ignorance are strong. These have been fortified with numerous repetitions. Each time they were repeated with the unconscious mechanical automation, they grew their roots deeper into our body-mind. Many of these habits and tendencies have been pervading our psyche for years.

Establishing a clear concept of why something was a mistake, a clear understanding- that absolutely and rationally satisfies the thinking mind-  is the first essential step, towards learning from our mistakes.

Anything that disrupts the peace and harmony within ourselves, anything that creates agitation or negativity in our surroundings, could be a mistake. We need to be able to discern ‘in the moment’, not from a fractionated self-centered perspective, but from the whole open view of reality of a situation. We need to be completely convinced about something being a mistake, in order to learn from it.

If we clearly know something is a mistake, our thinking mind is already primed to respond with the right attitude. In the moment when we face a challenge, this right orientation is necessary to avoid repeating that mistake. We also need awareness, an alert readiness, in the moment when the misguided thought is arising- to catch it quickly as it is emerging, right before it takes control of our mind.

Generally, the process of an impulse arising is too fast for us to be able to catch and stop it, before we are unwittingly dragged along by our habitual tendencies, into reacting with ignorance. With a strong conviction and an alert awareness, we can stop ignorance in its tracks.

Understanding gives us the motivation to act right, because it aligns us with truth, the power comes from acting in agreement with the truth. If we have really understood why something is harmful, we know why we need to break free from it. Then resisting its repetition becomes possible.

This does not need will power. If we are convinced why a certain pattern of behaving in ignorance is harmful, this understanding itself is the strength we need, to avoid repeating the same mistake again.

Awareness in the moment gently draws our attention to the centre of our being. This simple witnessing in awareness, is our biggest strength! We withdraw our attention from the impulses arising from ignorance and direct it to our presence.

Missing the nourishment from our attention, the impulse and thoughts of ignorance fizzle out, due to lack of our involvement. They weakly slip away, and a potential crisis is averted. We do not engage with ignorance at this time!

Every time we successfully avert an episode of such an approaching crisis, we weaken the strong grip of ignorance on our mind. The patterns that have been cemented by repetition of habits, are worn down by repeated exposure to alert awareness.

The focus remains on our inner Self, on our aware presence, not on the rising impulse, which is only passively acknowledged. Its force and pointedness are noted in the calm awareness of our presence. Holding our ground firmly in alert awareness, we are not swayed by the winds of agitation.

Awareness is not aggressive, like a forced action of will. It is unobtrusive, just an openness of our alert presence. When we do not focus our attention on arising thoughts, the impulse to react in ignorance loses its sharp edges, it becomes blurry and stumbles along thinning, until it vanishes completely under the gentle gaze of our awareness.

This process is effortless, because our being is effortless. Our source, our centre, is where we always are. We are this effortless awareness!

Making mistakes is not a disaster, they are inevitable and valuable determinants in the course of our lives. But, our lives are short- we have a lot to discover and learn. When we forget, and make the same mistakes again, we should take note of the lesson learned, and quickly move on. Dwelling on a mistake already made, is also ignorance.

We are the light of awareness. Every object that arises in the field of our perception, gleams with the light of our attention, our presence, we are the source of all illumination. We can stop being an accomplice to ignorance, by bringing our attention back to its source, to the centre of the feeling ‘I am’. This intimate feeling of ‘I am’ points to our real being.

With our luminous awareness, we are not weak victims of our habits and impulses, we are not resigned to the gloom of ignorance and suffering! We simply spread the light of our conscious presence over all the darkness. Remembering this, we effortlessly learn from our mistakes, without having to repeat them!