Imagine, if you will, someone commits a mistake when solving a math problem. For instance, if he says that 5+6=10. We don’t tell him that he has committed a sin. Usually, we conclude that he didn’t study well enough. If he did study sufficiently, we can say that he was not alert enough in that moment to solve the problem sufficiently well. But in the end, we conclude that a mistake or an error has been made. It is not a big deal. It most certainly does not have to be.

This type of mistake does not make him the bearer of unbearable burdens or of guilt. At most, we try solving the problem again. Most likely–since it is a simple problem–it will be solved, next time around. Guilt should play no role in the solving of a simple problem. This brings me to my next argument.

The concept of guilt, wrongdoing, sin, bad karmic debts and so on is a concept that you have accepted. Why? Because it has been drummed into you. You are welcome to reject it. You are welcome to tell it to go away. You do not have to carry around this terrible burden for the rest of your life.

The true guilt comes when we constantly and consistently create barriers that inhabit our own growth when we have made a mistake. For instance, if we insist that 5+6=10, even though there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. If you become lazy and are unable to study… If you are lethargic and tired… Then a kind of guilt begins to arise in and within you. That guilt–that guilt that reminds you that you have done nothing with your life–is totally different.

That is the guilt that will gnaw away inside you for you know that you are solely responsible for the plight that you are in.

That guilt has nothing at all to do with politics, religion, the church and so on. When you know that you could have done something and did not do it, when you see that you have potential, but you did not make it a reality… When you know you have tremendous treasures with you that could bloom and you have done absolutely nothing about it… Then, guilt arises and paralyses the mind. In this state, you become utterly miserable.

If you are not fulfilling your responsibility to yourself, you will feel guilty. By failing at a math problem, you can always try again. But if you choose to give up, you will feel mighty guilty, indeed.