If we feel guilty because of having exploded at someone how can we overcome that guilt?
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so if there is already guilt because we have acted unreasonably or angrily reacted angrily with someone then we should have behaved properly how do we deal with that guilt and how do we rectify ourselves there is guilt and there is pseudo guilt if we consider the five fingers of a hand then say the middle finger is V the soul the little finger is Krishna and the thumb is the wrong action so now guilt should be like the point finger it should come between us and the wrong action but sometimes the guilt simply discourages us so much that it deters us from doing anything even practicing bhakti and then at that time guilt is coming not between us and the wrong action guilt ends up coming between us and Krishna so then that becomes pseudo guilt that means say for example say you know as a devotee I should not have become angry like this why did I become so angry how foolish I am now I should not have become angry but from that point the mind is so cunning it just shifts the whole thing if you become angry like this what is the use of your being a devotee what is the use of your practicing bhakti you are chanting so many rounds you are doing so many things it’s of no use and thus we become disheartened even in the practice of bhakti itself so that guilt has shifted position and instead of coming between us and the wrong doing it has come between us and Krishna and that’s pseudo guilt when it comes between us and Krishna actually Krishna is the shelter whenever our lower passions they drag us down but when because of this pseudo guilt we become disheartened in connecting with Krishna then we end up more vulnerable to that wrong action again whenever that wrong passion comes it will pull us down again so we need to ensure that nothing should be allowed to discourage us in our practice of bhakti in our connection with Krishna nothing should be allowed to come in the way on thespiritualscientist.com I have a full article on guilt and pseudo guilt where I analyze this concept elaborately but suffice it to say that that if guilt comes between us and Krishna we should see that guilt as pseudo guilt that is also an arrangement of maya that is just like there are temptations in the form of lust or anger or greed which take us away from Krishna so that which takes us away from Krishna is greed is a temptation but that which comes in the way of our going towards Krishna can also be called a temptation so boredom can be a temptation, apathy can be a temptation laziness can be a temptation and similarly pseudo guilt can also be a temptation so beating ourselves up can also be a temptation which stops us from pulling ourselves up towards Krishna we consider bhakti to be like a rope by which we are holding on to it we pull ourselves up to a higher level of consciousness so instead of pulling ourselves up by holding on to the rope of bhakti if we simply beat ourselves up, what a fool I am, what a fool I am what a fool I am then we are not going to move up we may beat ourselves up but again when the provocation comes we will end up doing the same thing so no matter what lapses have happened from us in the past first principle is nothing should be allowed to deter us in the path of bhakti nothing should decrease our enthusiasm for practicing bhakti so yes if we feel that I may not be hypocritical you know I chant so much and still I got angry like that yeah it’s not hypocritical if we are repenting it and we are trying to reform ourselves so maybe what we could do is we should not have such a holier than thou attitude with others we needn’t instruct others about not becoming angry but we can of course strive to practice bhakti and try to overcome our anger so anything that comes between us and Krishna that is pseudo guilt and that needs to be given up now having said that what about genuine guilt we feel bad about having done something wrong that is it’s good to feel bad so guilt is like a like a innate internal psychological defense mechanism just as when we do something when we feel good we feel prompted to do that particular activity more so we feel bad after doing something that acts as a deterrent from doing that activity again so that guilt we can lead we can take that as a as a stir as a spur to plan how to function better to see what we can do by which we can respond better in the situation so that may require some practical thinking and planning beating ourselves up is not the solution beating ourselves up may remind us that I have to be more careful just like say if a child has got a rash and the mother, the doctor they have told the child don’t scratch the rash there may be itch but don’t scratch it now if the child almost scratches the rash and that rash becomes worse and then after that the child becomes angry, why did I scratch that and the child starts beating himself up well that’s not going to solve the problem the child should not scratch the rash, that’s true but if it’s been scratched, it’s already scratched now the best thing that can be done is the child can apply medicines so that whatever aggravation is there that can be gradually mitigated and of course the child has to be careful not to scratch again so basically we cannot we cannot wish away our emotions our emotions comprise a force, comprise an energy but we can decide where that energy will be channeled that guilt that guilt is like a wave of emotion that wave of emotion can take us away from Krishna or we can ensure that the wave of emotion can take us towards Krishna and towards Krishna means towards healing, just like for the child the applying of the medicine is the way to heal so like that for us, connecting with Krishna more strongly is the way to healing and if you are more strongly connected with Krishna and then also there is the guilt which deters us from going towards that wrong doing again, then in future when the provocations come, we will be better equipped to resist the provocation okay, thank you