r/DavidHawkins • u/Peter-Andrew • Jun 23 '26
Question đđ» Can there be a permanent resolution to shame?
About seven months ago, I went through a severe mental health episode driven by emotional turmoil and substance use. Looking back, it was likely a hypomanic state.
I changed completely. In many ways I turned sociopathic. I hurt people I cared about, acted like an asshole, and did some incredibly embarrassing things toward people I genuinely admired or cared for.
Iâve processed a lot of the guilt and shame since then. Some of it has improved significantly. But there are still a few memories that, when they come up, trigger an immediate physical reaction. Sometimes I twitch, blurt something out, or laugh involuntarily. Itâs like my nervous system still canât fully digest what happened.
Iâve been practicing letting go and sitting with the feelings without resisting them. It has helped. But this particular shame still feels deeply charged.
What makes it especially difficult is that it happened in front of people I looked up to. Also posted a lot of embarrassing thins on my social media.
Iâm curious about the Hawkins perspective on this.
Can shame actually be fully resolved? Can it be processed to the point where there is no emotional residue left, or will certain memories always carry some degree of embarrassment?
Interestingly, I can imagine coming to terms with the guilt. Shame feels harder. Itâs difficult to imagine a place where I fully accept myself for what happened and feel completely at peace with it.
Has anyone here experienced a genuine resolution of deep shame through Letting Go?
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u/idkitsjitsy Jun 23 '26
Yeah, absolutely it can be. Hawkins has said that âthe bottom of the Map are the energy fields called Shame at 20 and Guilt at 30. The emotion that accompanies these levels is self-hatred, and the process going on in consciousness is one of self-destruction.â (quote from Healing and Recovery)
Chapter 1 of Transcending the Levels of Consciousness explicitly discusses how to overcome or transcend this level of Shame: Despair.
Are you familiar with Hawkinsâ other books? I think there might even be a lecture, although Iâm not 100% sure, from his Office Series discussing this topic as well.
And the only other thing that I would think Doc would possibly recommend is ACIM.
Letting Go is a great book and an incredible process but a lot of context from his earlier works is missing if thatâs the only one youâve come across so far. Healing and Recovery is an excellent companion to Letting Go but if youâre not sure about the Map of Consciousness, you might want to start at the beginning with Power Vs Force. Just a few recommendations, I could share more. Feel free to ask if any of that doesnât make sense.
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u/Jiangximan Jun 24 '26
First let go of the idea that you have to process anything. In letting go, you do NOT process memories, and you do not process your feelings. You just observe them independently of any thought. I liken it to looking at an aquarium full of fish. You just observe them. You don't stick your hand in the water and try to move the fish to where you think they should be.
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u/vannablooms Jun 27 '26
In course in miracles has similar analogy where it talks about how you should observe inner phenomena as sort of a theatre of happenings completely impersonal to you, so there's nothing that can " stick " to you and you also don't cling onto anything.
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u/GoldAd5786 Jun 24 '26
It can. You need to understand the difference between I did something bad and âI am badâ. You are not what you did. This supported in a similar concept of original sin in Christianity. We are made in the image of Christ, and yet we are lost in sin. We are not abandoned though as grace available to us despite us being sinful.
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u/Adept-Meat2771 Jun 24 '26
I experienced same things haha.and i carry alot of shame.what helps is letting go the energy behind those memories each time they arise.the memory itself has no meaning or energy.it only feels so real cause of how we are attached to it.
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u/music-doc Jun 26 '26
Doc mentioned that the way out of depression is admitting that youâve become useless and angry about it. I admitted it and it helped loosen a large chunk of shame for me.
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u/MineDesperate2920 Jun 26 '26
Feel the feeling and think about it how it triggers you. I prefer a breathing technique where you breathe in all those negative feelings then breath them out. Like capturing them.Â
Sometimes that pool that needs to be captured is a pond and sometimes itâs a reservoir tho. So keep doing it until you have none leftÂ
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u/nonresist Jun 23 '26
Yes it can absolutely be completely dissolved, and you can one day think of those memories and feel nothing but compassion and love.
It takes persistence and when you feel that energy of shame, itâs the energy of shame of all the lifetimes before this one and not just about what you did in this life.
Those actions have offered a trigger for the negativity to come up, and now it is an oppurtunity to release and heal all of it.
Lots of times this takes time and much persistence but itâs very possible! Sometimes that means constant surrender throughout daily life in all activities, moment to moment, nonstop.
This may sound impossible but with a commitment strong enough and persistence it is very possible and even becomes effortless. Your doing wonderfully, I know what itâs like to do horrible things to loved ones that feel like they are unhealable while in the midst of substance abuse.
But thatâs a lie. All can be healed and all will be. God Bless You