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From: rpw3@fortune.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Guilt - (nf)
Message-ID: <2439@fortune.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 5-Feb-84 07:05:49 EST
Article-I.D.: fortune.2439
Posted: Sun Feb  5 07:05:49 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Feb-84 08:14:30 EST
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#R:ssc-vax:-79100:fortune:21900009:000:986
fortune!rpw3    Feb  5 02:35:00 1984

Hmmm... I remember once when someone asked Tai Situ Rinpoche (a Tibetan
Buddhist meditation master) what they could do about feeling guilty about
such-and-such a thing the person was wont to do. Situ Rinpoche's answer
was (with a bit of incredulity on his face), "Well, don't DO it anymore!".

The point I took from that was that guilt is often a way of avoiding actually
dealing with the consequences of our actions, because it is easier to feel
guilty than to acknowledge our error and correct our future actions. From
that point of view, "guilt" is a sub-catagory of "pride" (also considered
a sin in most religions), and not particularly useful.

(The full empathy of pain with someone you have hurt can be far worse than
the guilt of having done it. Empathy deals with the other; guilt is a very
private vice.)

Rob Warnock

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