Meditation and feelings of guilt

After more than two and a half year of daily meditation, I’ve noticed that the practice seems to have, a positive effect on any guilt I might still harbor in me, by letting it go, which to me is pretty amazing. 

I was pretty sure it was the case as after observing it a first few times, but now it has become pretty evident and undeniable to me. At first, I thought “Great, I finally got rid of that old crap that has hindered me all these years!” 

Yet, I just read that there might be an unanticipated downside to my mindfulness meditation practices, according to new research led by the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In it, Andrew Hafenbrack, the author says: “Meditating can reduce feelings of guilt, thus limiting reactions like generosity that are important to human relationships.”

What originally initiated the study was a desire to know how mindfulness meditation could reduce negative emotions, like anger and guilt. “Negative emotions may not be pleasant, but they can help us navigate social situations and maintain relationships, if someone gets really angry and they yell at their boss, or something, and they get fired or make people feel unsafe, then you know that’s a bad thing,” Hafenbrack said. “but not all negative emotions are the same in terms of the kinds of behaviors that they queue up, though.” 

Apparently when people feel guilty, it tends to make them focus outward, on other people, which can promote corrective actions. To me, what has caused most of my guilt were events generally totally unjustified and meditation helps me prevent offending other without having to make repairs, so this warning sounds a bit like a stretch and isn’t likely at least for now to put a dent in my meditative practice. 

If I do or have done something wrong, I won’t let it sit and simmer forever, but will resolve it as soon as possible. Frankly, I’d rather say goodbye for good to the poison that guilt is, than keep it around to keep me socially well balanced! 

What would you do if, like me, you were hooked on meditation?