Debt or Guilt - Debt can be paid, and Guilt cannot.
The ancient systems did not give people "guilt". They gave them "debt". A debt is different from guilt. A debt has a creditor, an amount, a currency and the most important, an end date. A guilt…
The ancient systems did not give people "guilt". They gave them "debt". A debt is different from guilt. A debt has a creditor, an amount, a currency and the most important, an end date. A guilt arrives without an amount, has no creditor, and no point of completion.
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The ancient systems did not give people "guilt". They gave them "debt". A debt is different from guilt. A debt has a creditor, an amount, a currency and the most important, an end date. A guilt arrives without an amount, has no creditor, and no point of completion.
One of the oldest formulations in Indian thought says that a man is born already owing. Not for anything he did. Simply for having arrived.
This was quite a revelation to me.
- Rishi Runa - Debt to All The Rishis/Gurus/Knowledge Bearers who preserved teh knowledge before you existed. It is repaid by learning and by transmitting.
- Deva Runa - Debt to Divine - the order that sustains us and did not ask our permission to do so. It is repaid by upholding it.
- Pitra Runa - Debt to Bloodline - to those who continued the line to reach to be. It is repaid by continuing the bloodline past me.
Read plainly, this is a harsh doctrine. Read carefully, it is the most liberating idea in the tradition — because a debt can be paid, and guilt cannot. The moment formless pressure becomes a named obligation, it acquires an amount and a direction. And anything with an amount can eventually be closed.
This is what I learnt from ancient system and it really made me think twice. Every debt can be paid in more than one currency. Money. Time. Presence. Attention. Learning. Transmission. Care of the body. Care of the dying.
And people do not pay in the currency that is owed. They pay in the currency they are best at.
The father working 80 hours is genuinely paying Pitra Runa — in money. But his son doesn't have a money problem. He has a missing-father problem. So the payment is real, expensive, exhausting — and still a default.
The wrong question: Am I doing enough? (You'll always say yes.)
The right question: In which coin am I paying?
I did a little analysis for myself and here's what I found out.
Rishi Runa - I owe it to my teachers, Rishis, Gurus, Ancient Wisdom keepers. I pay it by Notes to Modern Minds, Conversations, Software Tools, Writing, Teaching.
Pitra Runa - I owe it to my parents, my blood line backward and forward. I pay it by imparting values through living a balanced and authentic life.
Deva Runa - I owe it to the divine order that sustains life. I pay it by daily living, exercises, practices and living by Dharma.
Things to look at closely today.
- Which debts I am overpaying?
- Which debts I am underpaying?
- Which debts am I paying in a different currency?