Course Note #104: Got Guilt?

Without vigilance to mind-watching, we are not even conscious of how many of the thoughts we think in a day stem from belief in guilt, lack and unworthiness. 

            For most of my life, I was not in touch with this seemingly existential guilt that we are all dealing with, albeit, unconsciously for the most part.  In the past year, as I asked Spirit Within to reveal to me what I had hidden from myself, what came up were pockets of unworthiness and guilt. 

            Most of us involved in this inner healing work are aware that we heal in layers, and consequently, I have been prompted to look again at guilt.  I sometimes feel as though I am a spiritual archaeologist mining for hidden gold, and you know what?  Last year I felt trepidation as I began to go deeper, but now I find it exciting because gold is really in there!

           

            So where does guilt come from?  Why do I feel guilty?

On the deepest level, it stems from the belief in separation from God.  This may not seem to be true if we’ve been on a religious or spiritual path for some time; however, the belief in separation is not the opposite of a belief in God. 

Most spiritual literature tells us that our purpose is to Know thy Self.  That is, to know thy Self as God created it, unlimited and free. We may have a “belief” in God but still be ruled by the desire to not-know-thy-Self, and thus, we continue to experience a sense of unworthiness, lack, fear and limitation in our daily lives.  We can live our entire lives being unaware that the belief in guilt and unworthiness drives us far more than a belief in a Higher Being. 

            It becomes important to see that it is these false beliefs that perpetuate thoughts of guilt, unworthiness, lack and limitation, and that those thoughts and beliefs create our experiences.  We may feel frustration and a sense of struggle , wondering why we have the same experiences over and over again.  It’s because we haven’t looked at cause – the thoughts and beliefs that stem from the false desire to not-know-thy-Self.  Until we look at cause, it’s like we’re caught in a loop.

            Belief in our guilt and unworthiness seems to lead us to experience more guilt and unworthiness!  But, there is Good News!  Now that we know this, through the willingness to watch our thoughts we can recognize the beliefs that foster them, and then, we can choose again.

            Thoughts of guilt, lack, unworthiness and fear enter our mind all the time, and they are often unrecognized.  For example, thinking that someone else is a know-it-all or full of himself, or that you could never do what he or she is doing, these are thoughts stemming from a sense of unworthiness. 

To bemoan greedy corporations (my personal favorite, ha!), stems from a belief in lack and limitation.  My point is, thoughts of lack aren’t just about, “I don’t have enough.”  And thoughts of unworthiness aren’t just about, “I’m not good enough.”  As we begin to look at our thoughts and recognize where they stem from, we learn to let them go.

Why do I feel guilty?

One day recently I was on a morning walk feeling guilty about something.  Immediately I was aware of the thoughts, and that they stemmed from a false belief.  But I was also aware that I was feeling the guilt because I am ready to be healed. 

See, that’s the thing, when these feelings come up we so often repress or deny them or we project them onto others because we don’t want to feel them – they make us feel bad about ourselves. 

In order to heal, we must be willing to look at these thoughts, let ourselves feel and experience them, and then let them go to healing.  When these feelings come up, however, we may fall into feeling like a failure, wondering when we’re going to get it right…  At that’s one of the ways we repress them and push them back down.

With willingness we begin to recognize, “Ah… these feelings are coming up to remind me that I am ready to be healed, that I have a desire to be healed, and that in fact, my true desire is healing.

“The guilt you feel rises repeatedly into your awareness for one reason: It rises as a reminder of your desire to heal.  You have not healed yourself because you do not fully recognize your desire to heal.  You remain somewhat distracted by dreams.  But your attention is turning from the distraction to the desire for the remembrance of God.

“Do not worry that your distraction stands before you glittering and sparkling with desire.  Rest the desire that you recognize as dying within you.  Focus on the desire that is growing.  Your guilt shall fade with the old desire, which is fading, as your innocence is realized.”  (NTI Hebrews 10v1-7)

The desire that is dying within is the desire to know yourself as limited, guilty and unworthy.  If you are reading this, you are willing to focus on your true desire – know thy Self. 

“Your guilt is cleansed away through your remembrance of your truth, because in your truth there can never be any guilt.”  (NTI Hebrews 10v8-10)

Only you can judge yourself as guilty, and guilt is a distraction.

How do I let go of guilt?

“Guilt cast onto others is guilt not cast away.  No one can see another as guilty and see himself as innocent, because he believes that guilt is real.

I ask you, let go of the belief in guilt itself.

Without the belief, guilt will be no more.”  (NTI Matthew 27v38-40.1-4)

Willingness is everything.  We let go of false beliefs through our willingness.  In A Course in Miracles we’re told that it is a result of our small willingness combined with the unlimited power of God that facilitates healing.  It is through willingness that we are healed.

              The thoughts that come into the mind do not make us guilty, guilt stems from listening to them and believing them.  I have become increasingly aware of the thoughts in my mind, and thus, the beliefs they stem from.  Consequently, I have become increasingly willing give them to Holy Spirit for correction.

“Hold to Me as we look at the guilt.  It is not real, although it has been believed.  We must look at it and release it together.  If we do not do this, the belief in guilt remains.  If the feeling of guilt is kept, you cannot know the peace of knowing your Self as you are, because you have chosen to know your self as you are not.”  (NTI Revelation 2vs20-25.10-14)

In A Course in Miracles Holy Spirit also asks us to look at it together:
              The Holy Spirit asks of you but this:
               "Bring to Me every secret you have locked away.  Open every door to Me.  At your request I enter gladly. I bring the light to darkness if you make the darkness open to Me.  But what you hide I cannot look upon.  I see for you, and unless you look with Me, I cannot see.  Bring, therefore, all your dark and secret thoughts to Me, and look upon them with Me.  I hold the light, and you the darkness."  (ACIM T-14.VII.6)

~

           I cannot express how helpful it has been to my healing to ask Spirit Within to reveal to me what I’ve been hiding from myself.  I have felt fear in regard to wondering what would come up and how painful it might be, nevertheless, I was still willing to look at and experience what I have been hiding.  During one of those periods I was led to NTI 2 Timothy, which served to guide me through the process. 

“The feelings within you are not to be hidden.  As you hide your feelings from yourself, you are confused as to who you are.  I have told you that it is time to look at who you are not.  We do this for only one purpose…to realize who you are.

Know thy Self.

           “Do not be afraid of the feelings you find within.  They do not define you.  They are not who you are.  They are who you are not.  By looking at them and experiencing them, and not fearing them, you may release them. 

             “…Have faith in the healing process.  Do not see it as a race.  There is no prize that you should covet.  There is only the realization of the beauty of all that you already are, even as you sit reading this now.

  
           “Relax and pay attention to your healing.  Know that all is perfect as you experience it.  Embrace each opportunity to heal with gratitude, and remember through healing who you truly are.

            “…You are not deserted.  When you feel deserted, you have looked away from the Love within yourself.  Take this moment to be quiet and to ask Me to look at your pain with you.  I am with you always, but through inviting Me you acknowledge my presence within you.  In peace we will experience your pain together.  Through peace, we will joyously let it go.

  
              “Healing is your only purpose.  Do not be distracted.  You enjoy the process as you come to recognize its reward, and the reward you recognize is That Which you truly Are. Amen.”  (NTI  2 Timothy 4)

            It is so true.  I have truly come to enjoy the process of healing as I’ve come to recognize its reward.  I feel so much gratitude to be able to share this with you.

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I did a talk on this on 5-3-11 where I include more than shared here.
How do I let go of Guilt?