Throw Guilt Out - You Are Not Your Worst Moments
David Oromith · 3 minutes · recorded March 22, 2026
A short extract. Guilt and shame never get around to the behaviour, only to what a bad person you are, so David argues for throwing them out altogether. Tibetan has no word for this kind of guilt; the nearest is intelligent regret that decides to do things differently.
A few minutes taken from Letting Go of the Past, the second session, Turning Inward and Forgiving Ourselves. Guilt and shame, as David uses the words here, are the feeling of what a bad person I am. Their problem is not that they are unpleasant but that they are useless: they never get around to the behaviour at all, only to the self, and so they paralyse rather than repair. He points out that Tibetan historically had no word for this. The nearest translates as intelligent regret that decides to do things differently, which is a wholly different response to having done harm: not that you are a bad person, but that you will do otherwise next time. Underneath it is a different starting assumption about what a person is. Inherently beautiful and sometimes confused, rather than inherently a sinner who has to prove their worth.
Anger and aversion Forgiveness Guilt and regret Patience, forbearance and acceptance Self-criticism and shame Compassion (karuna) Vajrasattva purification