Bob Schwartz

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins on Wednesday evening. Al Chet is the long confession recited many times on the holiday. The Hebrew al chet means “for the sin”, followed by a long list of confessed transgressions (“God pardon us, forgive us, atone for us”).

The purpose of the detailed list is to make sure we don’t miss anything. The effect of the long list, no matter how sincere we are, can be to overwhelm us and even make us feel bad about ourselves.

To simplify, within Al Chet is a single confession that ultimately is the most significant and has the greatest chance of not just changing what we do and say but of transforming who we are and will be in the year ahead:

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Al chet shechatanu l’fanecha b’hirhur halev
The ways we have wronged you through our innermost thoughts

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Buddhism asserts that no matter how properly and appropriately we speak and act, it begins with our mind:

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We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
How can a troubled mind
Understand the way?

Your worst enemy cannot harm you
As much as your own thoughts, unguarded.

But once mastered,
No one can help you as much,
Not even your father or your mother.

Dhammapada

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You may be taking part in Yom Kippur and reciting that long list of confessions. You may be engaging in another practice or incident where you confess, seek atonement, and commit to do better. You might keep in mind that you may do better, speak better and be better when you work to train, transform and master your mind.