Why do we feel guilt and fear constantly?

I really love this thread,,,guilt has been such a big burden to me since being a child and my parents such stiffs, I have taken it to be my mission in life, first to eliminate it but lately more to understand it. After all we are not really free unless we are free from our imposed fears and guilt-ridden complexes.

I am not advocating total immorality either, but to better discern what is societie's uneducated opinions and legalities, and what is nature's opinion. What is healthy and what is not. It does take some thinking,but we must be radical first in our thinking, and then analise things carefully for ourselves.

There is no losing in that.

 

I definantly feel some degree of guilt all the time. I don't know why this is, but I'd love to be able to get rid of that feeling. How can we eliminate, or at least, cut down on feeling guilty??

 

I used to have a heavey burden of guilt feeling all the time. I hated it. Mostly because I was depressed. I do believe that some of those feelings were my concience speaking to me. Once I made a few changes in my life and changed a lot of my thinking patterns (that damn depression) those guilt feelings started to disappear.

I rarely ever feel guilty. If I do I get a handle on it by talking about it. Chances are I'm feeling guilt because I did something my concience didn't agree with. Being an honest person does help curve that guilt too.

For some people Religion can be a factor. Depends on what your Religion is and how you were brought up.

 

Know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
Problem is there so much un-truth designed to keep you under.
Don't believe anything you're told by anyone unless you have personally experienced whatever it is.

 

You know,,I continue to discover more and more about this guilt thing,,could be the winter season or changes I have gone through lately, but I do not feel that sense of constant guilt I was feeling before...somewhat my last conclusion is, try to be good for your own sake, for the sake of cleaning your concience..it is not wise to try to eliminate it or intoxicate it,,it's better to use it as a guide. Tha's what it is.


The Dhammapada

Chapter 5, The Fool

60. Long is the night to the sleepless; long is the league to the weary. Long is worldly existence to fools who know not the Sublime Truth.

61. Should a seeker not find a companion who is better or equal, let him resolutely pursue a solitary course; there is no fellowship with the fool.

62. The fool worries, thinking, "I have sons, I have wealth." Indeed, when he himself is not his own, whence are sons, whence is wealth?

63. A fool who knows his foolishness is wise at least to that extent, but a fool who thinks himself wise is a fool indeed.

64. Though all his life a fool associates with a wise man, he no more comprehends the Truth than a spoon tastes the flavor of the soup.

65. Though only for a moment a discerning person associates with a wise man, quickly he comprehends the Truth, just as the tongue tastes the flavor of the soup.

66. Fools of little wit are enemies unto themselves as they move about doing evil deeds, the fruits of which are bitter.

67. Ill done is that action of doing which one repents later, and the fruit of which one, weeping, reaps with tears.

68. Well done is that action of doing which one repents not later, and the fruit of which one, reaps with delight and happiness.

69. So long as an evil deed has not ripened, the fool thinks it as sweet as honey. But when the evil deed ripens, the fool comes to grief.

70. Month after month a fool may eat his food with the tip of a blade of grass, but he still is not worth a sixteenth part of the those who have comprehended the Truth.

71. Truly, an evil deed committed does not immediately bear fruit, like milk that does not turn sour all at once. But smoldering, it follows the fool like fire covered by ashes.

72. To his own ruin the fool gains knowledge, for it cleaves his head and destroys his innate goodness.

73. The fool seeks undeserved reputation, precedence among monks, authority over monasteries, and honor among householders.

74. "Let both laymen and monks think that it was done by me. In every work, great and small, let them follow me" — such is the ambition of the fool; thus his desire and pride increase.

75. One is the quest for worldly gain, and quite another is the path to Nibbana. Clearly understanding this, let not the monk, the disciple of the Buddha, be carried away by worldly acclaim, but develop detachment instead.

 

Read Plato's Republic next! ;0)

 

hmm.... this is a good question. i know this and have talked about it, i have an almost permanent feelign of guilt, in some form or degree, and for no reason really, i mean im a pretty good person. well ok i mean i can smoke weed and so on, but even if thats against the law, for me i dont see it as a bad thign. though come to think of it i still feel guilty for that. But just for everyhtign and anythign. i just feel guilt.
anyway, i read a psychology book and it talked about the "superego". basically its some part/form of the subconscious which developpes, like our personalities, while we grow up. The superego takes the place of our parents in a way, punishing us. and it can be for no reason at all. we can feel gui;ty for doing somehtign we dont even know, somethign only our subconscious picks up. and it can be somethign totally trivial.
it depends on how strong your superego is.

anyway. I dont know, with so many ppl tellign You what to do in life, You just dont know what to do.

 

you feel guilty for not paying me obsiences. or whatever that word is...

 

i am in the same situation in poland and its 2125 and i have no liquor or weed and havent had any for 4 weeks and i am going crazy with polish ppl and im guilty for not gettting some before

 

I don't feel guilt, I suppose that makes me the 1:25 sociopaths, YEA!!! seriously though, I have analytical and religious reasons for not doing bad things, not emotional ones

 

I live in a world where the fear continues to grow every day. It is a fear of a loss of my freedom. I refuse to submit to the governments demands, I stand by my right to live my life as i choose. As a result the government printed out a few peices of paper titled "Warrant for Arrest". As i do not feel as i have commited any immoral act i do not feel inclined to cooperate. Well when someone runs they chase. I live in fear that one day they might just catch up. I fear my loss of freedom.

 

Amen, very well sed

 

"the government printed out a few peices of paper titled "Warrant for Arrest"
ahaha man that is exactly how i feel about government and laws.
its ink scribbled on paper.
my friends, nobody can take your freedom, freedom is not a concrete thing to be taken, it is in your mind. sure you might have to relocate and evade the "authorities" but the only way you will lose your freedom is if you sacrifice it yourself.

 

because most people have not worked through even their first chakra--the primal energy. after you clear that up, you can move on to the six other chakras. nobody needs to feel guilt and fear constantly.

 

This is probably the best answer...ever.

 

It's the fact that you are powerless aganist other people's thoughts, actions, and feelings. People can do anything. You may not actually be able to understand them.

that's just me anyway.