When we are plagued with guilt–its ugly head encircling our consciousness with its limiting beliefs, we need to counteract it. How? Since guilt is a product of the unconscious mind steeped in the past, the solution is consciousness–life fully lived in the present moment.
Guilt is a blemish on the surface of our consciousness that make bad hair days seem like the good old days. It causes sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, loss of energy, and in general, loss of self-esteem.
When we are possessed by guilt, we are unable to accomplish anything positive. In the book, Power vs. Force
In fact, on the scale used in Power vs. Force, anything below 200 is destructive of life. The only lower energy level is shame, which calibrates at 20, which Hawkins says is perilously close to death. The placement on the scale is not subjective. The number 30 used for Guilt is the result of millions of kinesiology tests conducted worldwide, with test results replicated in different cultures, religions, and educational levels.
Here is what Dr. Hawkins says about guilt:
Guilt, so commonly used in our society to manipulate and punish, manifests itself in a variety of expressions, such as remorse, self-recrimination, masochism, and the whole gamut of symptoms of victimhood. Unconscious Guilt results in psychosomatic disease, accident-proneness, and suicidal behaviors. Many people struggle with Guilt their entire lives, while others desperately attempt escape by amorally denying it altogether.
I bring all of this into this discussion to illustrate to you the gravity of being plagued by guilt. It needs to be attended to. It cannot be ignored and allowed to enter into our sub-consciousness. Despite its gravity and seriousness, there are tools that can be used to eliminate it from our lives when it occurs.
Guilt is tied to the past. It is a binding and limiting energy. It exists due to unconsciousness. The remedy for its elimination is the focus of consciousness. Consciousness is only possible when we are able to live in the present moment, connected to our source of being. That is when our heart is open, when we are able to love, when we are able to make choices. Only in the present moment are we able to respond to life. If we live with our minds riveted to the past, we can only react.
Once you are aware that you are experiencing guilt, it is extremely important to purge it from your mind. Otherwise, your mind will continue to bombard you with thoughts of guilt, with each one validating the one before it. So what can we do?
We need to look objectively at the situation. Frequently, people feel guilty because it’s a habit to feel guilty. It’s a form of fragmented thinking which is so common in our society that we are not even aware that we are doing it. If we are aware that our mind, through compulsive thought, is making us identify with our thoughts, we can overcome it. We need to be aware of this habit. If we have the awareness, we can put an end to it.
First of all, try to realize that if you are feeling guilty, that you are not the same person that did whatever it is that is making you feel guilty. Your energy is different, your consciousness is different, the cells in your body are different, your health is different, the weather is different, the world is different, and the stars are different. Step into the present moment and experience fully who you are now, and you will realize that you are a different person.
It also helps to take responsibility for the situation. If you can correct the situation, then do it. If not, then accept that you can’t. Apologize, and realize that like every other person in the world, you make mistakes. For better or for worse, you are who you are. If your intentions are good, and your heart is in the right place, there is nothing to feel guilty about. If you don’t believe yourself when you tell yourself this, then have someone else tell you.
But if guilt still hangs over you like a wet blanket, then it is necessary for some serious consciousness work. Here is one simple but effective way to accomplish this:
Take a step back and see if you can observe this energy of guilt inside you. As Eckhart Tolle would say, become the witnessing presence. What it really is, this pain and hurt, is a wounded fragmented part of you. Bring the attention of you consciousness to it. Imagine that it just a little boy or girl, sitting in a corner, sobbing, feeling sorry for him or herself. Sit with this little figure. Say I’m sorry. Say I love you. Give it an embrace. Reassure it that everything is OK. Don’t judge it. Don’t criticize it. Just allow it to be.
Your conscious presence is the same principle as when you massage a knot in a muscle. Eventually it disappears. The energy dissolves it.
In due course, with your compassionate, accepting acknowledgment, this wounded fragmented part of you will merge with the light of your consciousness. It may take 30 minutes. It may take an hour. It might take several days. But it will fade away, just as night fades away with the rising of the morning sun.
The key here is consciousness. Don’t try to drown your guilt in drinking. Don’t try to cover up the pain with drugs. Just sit with it. It’s won’t last. It can’t. The unconscious mind cannot survive the light of your consciousness.
Just as you can tell when the knot is gone, you will be able to tell when the guilt is gone. And it really will be gone. You are no longer bound.
Your behavior or lack of behavior in the past, of which you felt guilty about, no longer has any part of your identity. You are no longer being controlled by the mind. You can now use your mind. That is a drastic change from the mind using you, dictating what you have to feel. Remember, you are not your thoughts. And guilt is nothing but a thought.
If someone now tries to make you feel guilty about this again, you will not need to buy into it. You have done your work. You are now making conscious choices. You have no need to react. You can respond with love. If that doesn’t resolve the issue in the mind of the other person, the only other thing you can do is to continue to be the best person you can be.
Give the person a hug, not out of guilt, but out of compassion.
