Lesson 132 - Q&A – What is sin?

From: Yogani
Date: Fri Mar 5, 2004 4:53pm

New Members: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the web
archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first
lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"

Q: What is sin? Is it a condition we have no chance to overcome
without intervention on our behalf by someone who is ordained? Are we
sinners, or are we divine? I am confused.

A: Jesus said, "As you sow, so shall you reap." In the East, this
same process is stated with one word, "karma," which means action and
its consequences, including latent impressions accumulated deep
inside us over multiple lifetimes.

With yoga practices, we stimulate the nervous system's natural
abilities to dissolve the many latent impressions of karma stored
deep inside. We experience these impressions as limitations and
tendencies in our thoughts, feelings and actions. These impressions
are obstructions to our experience of the truth within us. As we
clean them out, we come to know the divine truth within and we are
set free from the binding influences of our past actions. Then we are
naturally inclined to conduct ourselves in ways that do not build up
obstructions that will limit us in the future – acting more and more
as a channel of divine love. So, yoga has a direct impact on this
whole process of sowing, reaping, and the latent impressions of karma.

None of this directly answers your questions about sin. I wanted to
lay out the practical aspects of yoga's role first. Action, results
of action, and the means for dissolving the binding results of
action. That is how yoga fits in.

What is sin? If you look it up in the dictionary, you will see it
focuses on the negative aspects of "As you sow, so shall you reap,"
and "karma."

Sin is defined as, "An offense against religious or moral law, an
offense against God."

Sowing and reaping is one thing, a process of nature, really. It just
happens as we act in ways that are either in the direction of or away
from purifying our nervous system and expressing divine love. What we
put in is what we get out. If we do yoga practices and favor opening
over closing, we give ourselves a big advantage in this process.

Sin is a step outside the natural process of "as you sow..." and
karma. It is an "offense." An offense to who? Sin is colored with
human judgement. If you do thus-and-so, you commit sin. You are doing
bad. You are offending God. Who decides this? Most often, it is we
who decide it through our guilt and shame over our actions. Maybe we
have been conditioned by others since childhood to feel that way
about ourselves. In our still-limited state of awareness we tend to
act in ways that bind us, and in our conscience (the divine morality
in us) we feel remorse. If we do not judge ourselves, others will
certainly be there to do it for us. In doing so, they place
themselves in the position of intermediary between us and our
salvation. And there you have it, the psychological structure that
holds most of the world's organized religions together.

The concept of sin is a human coloring of natural law. Sin is a spin
on a process of nature. It rises out of our guilt and/or someone
else's judgment. Overindulgence in the concept of sin can lead to a
sense of hopelessness, and an unhealthy dependence on others for our
salvation, when, in truth, there is only one place we will ever find
it, within ourselves.

Expecting someone else, ordained or not, to relieve us of our sins is
a formula for failure. Real religion is not a business transaction
where we give this and get that. It does not happen like that.

Surrendering to a high ideal is something else. It is a private
matter in our heart, not subject to anyone else's scrutiny or
judgement. As long as we are letting go for a higher ideal deep in
our heart, our bhakti will have great purifying power, and draw us to
spiritual practices.

If we have been trained to see ourselves as hopeless sinners, it will
be wise to reconsider it carefully. For if we do not believe in our
own divinity, it will be difficult to find the desire necessary to
make the journey home. Our identity as sinners is a label we put on
ourselves, while our identity as divine beings is a demonstrable
human condition we can claim as our own.

Saints and saviors over thousands of years have demonstrated again
and again the ability we all have for human spiritual transformation.

Sitting to meditate for the first time can shatter the illusory grip
of sin. It won't free us completely from all obstructions in us on
the first day, but it is the beginning of a road we can travel that
will reveal increasing divine light as we purify and open our nervous
system further each day.

The guru is in you.

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