Why Can't We Remember?

The price that we pay for remembering is emotion.Just like in real life, we pay money to store things; for storage in our spiritual life, we pay in emotions (as money) for storage of memories. That is why we are better off not remembering.It is better for a lot of us not to remember who has hurt us, abused us, hated us, yelled and screamed at us,called us names, etc., etc.It is only when you have attained purity of mind, like total enlightenment in the case of Buddha, and you remember all your past lives, that you can remember with happiness all the sacrifices you have made, the abuses, the hurt, the yelling and screaming, etc., and you feel good for having endured all that for this total enlightenment you have waited for so long. So in wishing for the highest goals, be sure you have attained purity of mind before wishing for them, or elseyou will suffer much for having memories of the past, memories which are one of the higher goals that one can attain from practice. Others like supernatural powers, too.If you attain them after you have purity of mind, you will not use them for wrong purposes, but if you attain these powers before purity of mind, then you are still likely to use them for wrong purposes, which will be terrible for you and others.
~ Desmond Chiong