Praschita - The Beginning of Spiritual Life

In Hinduism, praschita means repentance. In Christianity, it is confession. We have built up powerful forces in past lives and so what was I in the past life? Don't bother to find out. This is the result of what we wear in the past. How do we break out of it? And we need help there. That's why many of these spiritual practices, meditation techniques, don't seem to do much for us. Not their fault, it's our fault. We carry a burden. Many of us come trailing clouds of black smoke.