Enlightened Living

Mindfulness practice in everyday life.

Michael J. Formica, MS, MA, EdM is a psychotherapist, social scientist, and educator in Westport CT. He is an Initiate in the Shankya Yoga lineage. See full bio

July 25, 2008, Personality

Comments on "Guilt is a Wasted Emotion"

Guilt is a Wasted Emotion

By Michael J. Formica on July 25, 2008 in Enlightened Living

Western culture is founded primarily upon the Abrahamic ethic of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. One of the primary tenets of each of these traditions is that if you didn't start out having done something wrong, you are gearing up to do something wrong, or you have already done something wrong and you're going to get punished for it. Here, we find the genesis of guilt. Read More

Clapping

Submitted by Shamrock on July 25, 2008 - 9:56am.

This was great! I was very interested when I saw the title. Okay, so the one-worder wasn't igniting fireworks, but you mentioned in previous posts that "Guilt is a wasted emotion." I could understand that, or so I thought. This one passage here just floored me with a more indept look into things:

So, why is guilt a wasted emotion? Same old song and dance - if you are guilty, it is because you are attached to judgment, and that judgment is coming from outside of you. You are going outside of yourself to define who you are and, by association, how you behave, rather than relying on your internal mechanisms of decision making and self-regulation.

Well-said, my friend. Now I've got something to think about for the rest of the day. And here I was, thinking I was living in the full experience. Turns out, I've maybe been a passenger in a car driven by the judgements of others. Go figure. ;)

Riding shotgun...

Submitted by Michael J. Formica on July 25, 2008 - 11:12am.

Thanks, Shamrock, for your kind words. I'm pleased to hear that a little deeper explanation of one of my regular mantras was helpful. Blessings, Michael

"Guilt is an attachment to

Submitted by Anonymous on July 25, 2008 - 1:36pm.

"Guilt is an attachment to judgment."

No, guilt has to do with responsibility. Shame on the other hand is about your judgement in the eyes of the other.

"You are going outside of yourself to define who you are and, by association, how you behave, rather than relying on your internal mechanisms of decision making and self-regulation."

Certainly you as a subject cannot conceive of yourself as an object, therefore the judgement of you is merely in the eyes of other subjects. An intuitive understanding of this is necessary for judgements about ethics and other psychological functions regarding social interaction and concepts about selfhood and identity. To live life without concern of the judgements of others would be putting yourself as the highest ideal, as seen in the socipath and narcissist.

Just my five hundredths of non-dollar currency.

Two cents...

Submitted by Michael J. Formica on July 25, 2008 - 4:47pm.

Guilt is an artificial construct informed by _imposed_ responsibility informed by fear -- specifically, a fear of retributional consequences. Authentic responsibility is informed by an _understanding_ of consequences, rather than a fear of them. Shame is indeed reflective, but has nothing to do with either responsibility or judgement. If the subject could not perceive him/herself as an object, then the concept of self would fail. In point of fact, self conception is about the objective experience of subjective objectification. If subject were not able to experience him/herself as object, then we would all be living in a state of either perpetual dissociation or perpetual samadhi -- neither of which is possible. The sociopath and narcissist both operate from a position of remorseless disregard. In this, s/he operates from a position of pure ego and selfish imposition. To operate from a position of the highest ideal -- eschewing the judgement of both self and other -- is also the ken of the bodhisattva -- who operates from a postion of non-ego and selfless service (seva). Here, perspective is the key. Thanks for your input. Blessings, Michael

I like the article but i

Submitted by farouk on October 1, 2008 - 2:01am.

I like the article but i want to add something, the religious systems come with a guilt release mechanism, thus of the person felt guilty its his own fault and not the fault of the system

in Christianity you can confess for your sins and in islam you just have to ask God forgiveness and your sins are gone

So the systems provide a guilt freeing mechanism that can used as soon as the person feels guilty, moreover, the person is rewarded after he follows this guilty freeing mechanism

I'm sorry but what about

Submitted by Uggg on October 20, 2008 - 11:48pm.

I'm sorry but what about people that don't believe in "the almighty god" or people of different religions? Are you proposing they should bow to your god?

Personally I don't believe in god and never will even if he came and had a cup of tea with me. So if I felt guilty, admitting it to "god" or any religious official would not only cause me not to loose the feeling of guilt but would add the weight of shame to my load.

So in conclusion religion is no answer.