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Guilt was never a rational thing; it distorts all the faculties of the human mind, it perverts them, it leaves a man no longer in the free use of his reason, it puts him into confusion.
~ Edmund Burke

Guilt is, simply put, a wrong notion. Guilt is paralyzing, destructive. You think you have done something you shouldn’t have; you hadn’t done something you should have.

Guilt is the false idea that you could have done better; that you had the power to choose. But if you look deeply into it, you will see that you were helpless. There was simply no choice.

There might still be tears and sadness, efforts at reparation might still be needed – but deep down inside, there will be a measure of peace, resting in the knowledge that you were not at fault.

Understanding Guilt

The death of guilt comes with the realization that you could have done nothing else. Your emotional state, your past conditioning, your beliefs and knowledge, your instincts and intuition – they were just too strong. A beach ball, separated from its owner, pulled along by the raging waves – what can it do? It is dragged out, lost at sea. Who can blame it?

Without awareness, we are without control, completely at the mercy of our past.

Relax your body; close your eyes. Think of the last time you felt angry. Place yourself, as best as you can, back in time…

(Continue reading this post via Urban Monk)

The New Year draws rapidly closer; people are starting to set their goals and resolutions – they’re looking for something, and very often this involves what we call success.

But the strange thing is: For many, the definition of success relies on the failure of other people.

Is this true for you? Please read on.

Competition and Comparison

“Wealth - any income that is at least one hundred dollars more a year than the income of one’s wife’s sister’s husband.”
~ H.L. Mencken.

This is how many minds operate: constantly comparing and judging others. How are they doing? Are they prettier, are their biceps bigger, are they richer, is their car bigger?

This mindset is a bottomless pit – we can never find satisfaction in it. Our income increases by $20,000; it might make us ecstatic. But soon, we see Fred from across the street – his car is still bigger! He has what we have, but he got it all at a younger age! And so we resume our struggle. It never ends; we move from thousandaire to millionaire; and then shortly after, we think that’s not enough; now we want to be a billionaire.

(Continue reading this post via Urban Monk)