Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Oh Father! Why Do I Sin?

Sin to me is anything that I do that creates the illusion of separation between me and the divine.* One cannot be truly separated. We are the whole. Humanness seems to create the illusion of the individual. I view as virtues those things that aid in revealing that connection and oneness.

A virtue that I like to practice is prayer. I love to pray in a focused and emotional way. I feel close to the gods and the All. The gods do respond. Yet, I forget to pray. I want to pray each morning and each night. I want to make it a continual devotion and expand my perception of the wholeness of all beings. I wish to serve more diligently. Prayer can achieve these things for me. And knowing this, I do not pray.

Perhaps, I am afraid of the response. I receive communication through the workings of the universe each time I pray. I fear. The fear manifests as forgetfulness. The fear manifests in the not-doing, in the not-living, in the sleeping and non-awakening.

*I do not believe in sin. I simply have no other word for the concept I am trying to share.

7 comments:

Karmaghna said...

Since you define a virtue as anything that aids in revealing the connection and oneness between oneself and the divine, then the opposite of a virtue - namely, anything that hinders the revelation of the oneness between oneself and the divine would not be a sin, but rather a vice. Why not just say that sin does not exist, that human action is governed either by virtue and vice?

Anonymous said...

The Hebrew word "cheit" is often mistranslated as "sin". It actually means "Off target" or "not reaching the mark", falling short of what we can be by fooling ourselves in to thinking that there is a separation between us and the divine.

Here is a link that explain more about the word "Cheit": http://www.aish.com/jl/48964596.html

Robert said...

Karmaghna, that is totally logical. Simon, thanks! I will look that up.

Lavanah said...

Your not praying makes you all the more aware of the benefits to you of praying. So I would say that there is at least a small amount of benefit in that awareness.

Anonymous said...

I have pretty much the same view. I use "sin" when talking to others who use that language. Personally I call it distraction or defilement cause of my Buddhist background.

Also thanking Simon for the great link.

Nick Farrell said...

It is a Christian definition which creates guilt... and, ironically, by your own definition creates "sin".
If all things are one thing then who is sinning, who is creating a gap between what? There is no gap and therefore no sin. Equally if you are placing a gap between yourself and your perception of your higher self then you are the same higher self doing the same thing to itself. Once you say all things are one thing then all hell breaks loose on traditional terms.

Anonymous said...

On the subject of not doing daily prayer, my advice is:

Just Do It!

If you start doing it for the wrong reasons, you'll end up doing it for the right reasons.

OK, those statements are both cliches but my experience has proven them to be true. I struggled (and still do) with not being able to concentrate properly during daily prayers. However, the only way I can improve is to practice over and over. Which means praying at a set time each day.