It is often seen that, due to their past sins, people bother more about the past than the present or future. People often lament, “Oh, Lord, I am a sinner. Please save me from this wretched situation.” Thinking thus is against the spirit of Tantra. “Yádrshii bhávaná yasya, siddhirbhavati tádrshii.” One who always thinks, “I am a sinner, I am a sinner” will eventually become a sinner even though he or she is not at all a sinner. Such thoughts are not to be entertained by anyone. Rather, one should think, “I was a sinner, but now that I have come in the shelter of the Lord, I am no longer a sinner. How can I possibly sin now?” Mahaprabhu said, “The moment people take shelter in the Lord they are absolved of all their sins. As soon as they sing the first line of kiirtana, they start moving towards Parama Puruśa.” So why should one be obsessed with the so-called sins. They are just like the dust on the street. After walking along a dusty path, one’s shoes and clothes will certainly be covered with dust. But the dust can easily be shaken off. Why waste one’s valuable time worrying unnecessarily about the dust? One should never entertain the thought, “Oh God, I am a sinner.” Rather, one should think, “I am a child of Parama Puruśa. If dust settles on my body, Parama Puruśa, my father, will certainly shake it off and take me on His lap.”

Indeed, the relationship between Parama Puruśa and other jiivas is that of a father and his children. When a child falls into the gutter people may laugh, poke fun, or even humiliate him or her. The child’s father, however, will not behave in such a way. He will rush over, lift the child out of the gutter and give it a good wash. This is his duty as a father.

Human beings will have to take shelter in Him. It has been said in the scriptures;

Api cet sudurácárii bhajate mámananyabhák
So’pi tu vinirmuktah mucyate bhavavandhanát.

If a person considered as a sinner by the sinners, or as an evil-doer by the wrong-doers, a hated and terrible person, takes refuge in Parama Puruśa with undivided attention and with but one thought in mind: “I surrender myself unto You for You are my last refuge” Parama Puruśa cannot slight cannot ignore a person on the grounds of his being a sinner. Rather, He is bound to take him or her on His lap. This is the proper relationship between a father and his child. Parama Puruśa is not an impersonal entity, or an entity moving far away in the boundless sky. He is your personal entity. One who doesn’t entertain any thought about past, present or future, but simply says, “I have come to take shelter in You,” is sure to get the shelter of Parama Puruśa and will certainly be lifted onto His lap.

Parama Puruśa graciously tears away the bondages of sins with His own hands from those bound by the shackles of sin. Human beings are bound by many bondages: social, economic, psychic, spiritual and so on. A jiiva is an entity bound by bondages, whereas Shiva is an entity bound by none. This is the basic difference between jiiva and Shiva.

Parama Puruśa can liberate anyone from any bondage, and He does just that. He takes birth on the earth to liberate humans from the shackles of bondage, just as Shiva and Krśńa did. He descends upon the earth for all-round emancipation. He is not concerned about the details of one’s sins but rather about whether one has taken shelter in Him or not. Taking shelter in the Supreme Entity is the ultimate thing. That is, “I have taken shelter in You. You understand better than me what my needs are and I hope that You fulfil them. But when and how You do that is Your concern. As far as I’m concerned, I am just a machine in Your hands. I will do exactly what You tell me to do.” This is the real spirit of Tantra.