Guilt, Shame, and Blame:
When Do They End?
There are massive problems on this planet regarding Souls who experience confusion regarding guilt, shame, and blame. The source of confusion seems to be knowing what to take personal responsibility for, and what to assign to someone else.
Guilt, shame, and blame are so intrinsic in our society that Souls almost fall into a reactionary pattern of assuming there is some guilt, shame or blame to be assigned, and without an (apparent) source of "responsibility" Souls perceive they have no choice but to take these emotional expenses out of their own accounts, so to speak.
It is not so much a case of playing a game of "Pin the Blame on the Donkey" as it is humans have become so accustomed to adding up the accidents of Fate and Experience and thinking there must have been someone in charge -- and also assuming there are something like "rules" in the Game of Life -- with the further assumption that someone is actually presiding over the Game, paying attention, and keeping score.
Part of this, we believe, is attributable to the mass incorporation into the ideology that - no matter what one's religion - is a sense that there is a Higher Deity/Consciousness who is somehow acting as "referee" for the human race.
Our own lives on this planet have become so incomprehensible to ourselves that we assume - logically, if incorrectly - that someone must have a master plan - and that we are simply guilty of forgetting what that plan was.
Therein lies the guilt; we tend to feel guilt, and we're not even sure of what we're guilty for. But that we remain unhappy, we certainly don't feel like masters of our lives, and for those who attempt to live their lives by the code of a Higher Presence (but keep getting a busy signal when they call) it is especially frustrating when they have been conditioned to believe (for centuries) that there IS a Master Plan - and that we ARE answerable to a Higher Authority.
We contend, without theosophical argument, that any human being who lives truly and honestly by his own sense of Higher Authority, is, for the most part, correctly living up to that Divine Presence. We believe the Mastery of the Soul is designed, consigned, and appropriated to that most noble authority - the divine guidance of one's own Soul.
The individual Soul has not been celebrated in many a century; in fact, the individual Soul tends to be feared as a renegade, someone who goes around "doing what they want to do" without regard to what the group wants them to do. Individuality tends to be frightening to people who really prefer a master-planned universe with sub-division personas and tidy karma.
Thus, the "guilty Souls" who have not been found guilty by any Higher Authority who feel tainted with a giant letter "G" on their shirts/robes are the ones who feel they must have done something wrong, but cannot imagine what. These Souls have examined their lives repeatedly, have not been able to find any remarkable blemishes, and rather than accepting such as a condition of Absolution, assume they must have "missed something" -- and retain their guilt.
It is our belief that this crisis/trial of self-examination and blame accelerated after the mass universal ritualization of Man's efforts to establish uniform beliefs and codes regarding the One God. Thus, we transfer the blame from the individuals who tried to abide by these codes to the slaves who wanted Slavery for all Men, to be considered equals, and mutually exiled from Paradise.
Beyond guilt, which is practically a parenthetical statement regarding the condition of Humanity in general, there is shame, a magnified condition of guilt combined with horror and self-revulsion.
Guilt is comparatively easy to live with; "guilty" is simply the concept of being responsible for mistakes.
Shame, on the other hand, branches out into whole new territories of not only feeling responsible, but feeling like a total waste as a human and Soul; that not only has one done something not intended, but has somehow accidentally fallen into a pattern of doing something so against what one would have done, consciously, if the choice had been given.
Given that we, as human Souls, barely know what our choices are, and assuming we have not committed any grave crimes against Humanity, why do we condemn ourselves for the action of simply not being perfect?
Few mistakes are fatal, and few are intentional. Why do we continue to blame ourselves for accidents, especially for those which really hurt no one but ourselves? Such incidents - which befall all Humans - are not a grave injustice to Humanity. At best, such incidents tend to reflect an absolute lack of sense of humor and self-tolerance.
When did Humanity become so joyless that it forgot how to take its mistakes in stride, with an understanding that one would attempt the same karmic paths - with course corrections and alterations - and the understanding that one would try to "make right" in future lifetimes?
Guilt and shame, then, as brethren emotions, are compatible in their expressions of feeling like failures - and feeling powerless to do anything about those feelings.
Blame is its own animal, usually meant for external manipulation and of finding outside parties of responsibility. Blame is also a two-headed monster that allows us, reflexively, to blame others, and when we can't find others to blame, we blame ourselves. It is difficult for humans to deal with the concept that very often, no one is to blame.
Also, there are many cases when one can find someone to blame, it has no real effect on the real situation, which is to say that even if one finds someone to blame for a situation, simply finding someone to blame really does not change a situation. The logical (if not correct) question becomes, once we find someone to blame, what are we to with this situation?
It is a sad truism on this planet that the people on this planet with true Conscience are pretty much always accountable for their actions, and the infidels who truly violate Humanity on all levels simply are not at all accountable.
If we could assign "blame" to external entities, then we would blame what we call the Free Radicals - the Souls who operate outside of Divine Intent. We realize we are treading a dangerous polemic argument, at least as far as the third dimension is concerned, but again, we consider our argument logical:
"Most humans do try to operate within their higher divinity, and most humans try to answer to the greater laws (that keep changing) in accordance with their flexibility to "do right" by their Brothers on this planet. Most humans, we think, do tend to operate within general principles of doing right/no wrong, and most humans have at least a dim sense of wanting to at least not hurt their Fellow Men with their inventions. Most wish to improve the quality of life of fellow humans, and do tend to follow that which seems to conform to their paths of mutual gain."
But what is to be said about those humans who want no gains by which they do not profit? These can simply be called Mercenaries, and are not necessarily outside of the Divine Plan. Mercenaries have their place within the Divine Plan by allocating energies and Matter into their proper slots, and face the same problems as the rest of us.
Free Radicals are distinguished by the fact that, incarnation after incarnation, they care not about the "big picture" but only about their own puny accomplishments. They don't play by the rules, and are far enough outside the system of Soular Democracy on this planet that they get away with not abiding the rules at all.
We would like to call them the "Chaos Factor" on this planet - except that the term would be inaccurate. The fact is that the "chaos element" had already been factored in on this planet. The Free Radicals are - in short - freeloaders, unwanted guests. They have their own agenda outside the massive goals of Humanity, to whom this planet belongs.
The Free Radicals are not human as we know Humanity; they are pretty pictures of exposits and "ghostoids" posing as ephemeras of Humanity. They pretend to have our feelings, they pretend to have our experiences, they pretend to have our purpose.
Do not seek the Free Radicals; most live quiet lives and only affect those close to them. The collective Earth vibration is very high at this time, and the Free Radicals will be smoked, so to speak.
Once the Free Radicals are smoked, Humanity will be slightly more liberated to go about its divine business. When that happens, we may find we're in a lot better shape than we thought we were, and a lot of Souls will feel less negative about themselves, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.
And may the rains wash away the false sense of guilt, shame, and blame, and we will be accountable to - and refreshed in - the greater light of our own Souls.
Love, Galadriel
Esoterica/guilt.html
6/22/2004