Overcoming Guilt

Cover via Amazon

In his book Power vs. Force, David Hawkins outlines the various stages of human consciousness and places them on a scale of one to one thousand the highest being Enlightenment. Though the lowest level of consciousness lies at Shame; not much higher than that is Guilt. For instance if after eating of the Forbidden Fruit, Adam and Eve first felt Shame over being naked, they followed it up with a good dose of Guilt over disobeying. This concept of Guilt, this consciousness of Guilt, has permeated our collective consciousness ever since.

Especially in the Judeo-Christian culture, the concept of Guilt is rampant. As I stated in another blog, for Christians, Guilt is where the philosophy begins. “All have sinned…” is the message Paul gives us in Romans, and it is that idea which has historically been used to convert people to that particular religion. I don’t wish to argue the merits of the religion here, but suffice it to say that bringing a person into a consciousness of Guilt where the levels of conscious power are so low allows for great manipulation and control.

In America today, and in the Western culture that we are spreading, the concept of Guilt is rampant. The covers of our tabloids seek to find it in all of our celebrities. It seems that we’re often obsessed with finding it in others because we long so badly to escape from feeling it ourselves. We may love our neighbors as ourselves, but when we’re mired in our own Guilt, that doesn’t amount to much. Guilt is the bedrock of our Capital Punishment system, whereby we are so consumed with the idea of punishment for wrongdoing that we mete out sentences that do nothing to actually deter the crime but only address and feed the nature of Guilt, thereby expanding it and drawing us deeper into its confines.

But for those who find the power of Forgiveness, by whichever means, when they are able to let it burn within their own hearts and purge the Guilt that has plagued them and then spread that light to others, true change can occur. Just as Guilt can force coercion and control, Forgiveness has the power to foster freedom and choice.

I believe that the concept of Forgiveness is finding new footing in our society today. I believe that we are overcoming the age old concept of Guilt as the millstone around our necks. I believe that we are getting to the point where we can love our neighbors as ourselves, and love ourselves as we truly deserve to be loved.

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• Power vs. Force (inkensoul.blogspot.com)