Julian wrote: I tend to refer to this as shame rather than guilt. It is a sense that I am wrong rather than I’ve done something wrong. It’s roots usually go back to childhood. I believe Jesus can set people free from this affliction.
I agree that Jesus wanted to set people free from low levels of self-respect. I think there is some confusion today over the difference between self-esteem and self-respect. In my opinion, you can be ashamed of your behavior and ashamed of yourself and still have self-respect. You gain self-respect when you recognize your erroneous thinking or behavior and correct it. But this shame that I’m thinking about is balanced in that it’s just enough to make you humble and realize that your own ego is nothing to be too proud of. Shame can be healthy if well-placed, in moderation and short-lived.
It’s a problem when self-punishment gets attached to shame and guilt. I think this sets the stage for the mind to get out of balance, and that brings us back to the punishment problem. I consider self-punishment to be misdirected self-control. If we try to control ourselves like a dominating or cruel parent, then there is real trouble to be had. Isn’t that why we’re supposed to develop a relationship with a divine Father, to get to know how a truly loving parent treats a misdirected child-ego? But, I can see why some people have difficulty developing that relationship if they have nothing to base it on from their outer life. Hence the warning about earth-fathers being better examples of our heavenly Father.
I like the fact that the UB uses the word self-mastery. In my mind that word takes away the punishment element, but maybe that’s only in my mind . . . dunno. Perhaps that’s why the Eastern religions are more successful in teaching the self-mastery thing, because there is no need to have a relationship with a loving divine Father or earth-father; it’s only about the self and the environment of the self. It’s not the best approach, but perhaps better than nothing.
Julian wrote: Just another thing…..we know that the dictates of the human conscience and the influence of our Adjusters are not the same. We’ve all experienced a guilty conscience but does our Adjuster make us feel guilty?
No. The conscience is an adjutant level of the human mind, or psyche. It is superanimal (higher adjutant), but subspiritual (soul). The adjutants are responsible for prompting ethical and moral thought. The cosmic mind has reflexes designed for recognition of those prompts. Once discovered and recognized, the interpretation, or meaning, becomes an internal soul matter in which Deity presence plays a part – Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth and Adjuster. The moral conscience is the pre-existent soil from which we become aware of the inner presence of these Spirits. When properly aroused, the moral conscience is the adjutant gateway to the soul where true meanings and values are sorted out.
Some people never get to the soul level of thinking about these moral and ethical prompts (so few deep thinkers). They remain locked in the adjutant level by their overly conscientious conscience, of which shame, guilt and punishment become big players. Jesus came to set them free from that negative cycle, but part of the process is the willingness to accept the fact that God lives within them. There has to be an acceptance of the personality of God who longs for their individual company . . . I could go on and on about that, but I think my point is easily understood.
