028-Feelings of guilt - Buddhism in daily life

Feelings of guilt

Yes, the feelings of guilt, they plague us a lot!

Who doesn't know that queasy feeling? Has "one" once again screwed something up, done something wrong? Did you behave badly, maybe you made a fool of yourself?

Usually the guilty feeling follows a wrong reaction, a lie or a bad deed. Some of us also blush, sweat, or have nervous reactions.

A feeling of guilt is to be distinguished from shame, because in the case of guilt the "guilty" component is added, "one" knows that "one" has done something wrong, in the case of shame the trigger does not necessarily have to lie in a "wrong" action of ours, it can also come from outside.

According to the psychoanalyst Freud, the feeling of guilt is triggered by our "superego", where social values are to be imposed. If now these values are violated by our actions, then (unconsciously) feelings of guilt arise.

So we have trained this super-ego to ourselves by building the filters in front of our thoughts through which we see (and/or want to see) the world. Starting from our childhood, through the upbringing of our parents, the imprint of adolescence and adulthood, the filters determine our thoughts, the violation of the structure of our ego makes us feel guilt.

A large part of the construction of this "superego" also comes from fears. Didn't your mother tell you not to reach on the hot stove top. Many fears are shaped by evolution, others are experiential, and still others are created by nurture.

So when we violate the norms and rules we have set for ourselves, we feel guilt.

Here we can see that the teaching of Buddha shows a very similar approach, which is close to the view of the psychoanalyst Freud.

According to Buddha, it is not the circumstances that make up our path, but the way we deal with them, the way we evaluate things (and people). According to the great teacher, we should not judge at all, not divide into categories. It comes as it must come, that does not mean that it is or could be "good" or "bad".

The super-ego described above, our "superego", has very special filters through which our opinion can be formed. But what if we reconsider these filters, at least check them for their usefulness. Are there such filters that "can go away", that are no longer up to date, that are not compatible with our present ego?

What if we review our entire value system from time to time, rethinking it, adapting it more and more to the teachings of Buddha?

Where does my "superego" come from, who am I really, what are my views?

I am not so much in love with my own views that I ignore what others think about them

- Nicolaus Copernicus - Prussian Astronomer - 1473 154

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