राम
God & Devotion

The True Meaning of Sin: Separation from God

10th July 2024|Watch on YouTube

True sin is not merely an external action but any internal state or action that fosters ego and creates a sense of separation from God, which can be felt as a dimming of the heart's light.

Ananta

So the origin of the word 'sin,' I feel like there's a lot of misunderstanding about it. Most likely I'm also misunderstanding; I'm not saying that my understanding is the correct one. But the origin of the word 'sin' is a word called 'khata,' probably Hebrew and then went to Arabic and then came to India as Urdu. So what does 'khata' mean to us? Some of us from the north will at least... usually in these romantic songs like that. So it's not like 'what sin have I committed?' It sounds like a different... there's a different texture to it. And the way... so just like that, what is it that makes me separate from you, God? That is the khata, that is the sin.

Ananta

So somewhere it's become a lot more complicated now. It's become in the world a lot more complicated, but in that complication, we've just avoided looking at it, you see? Does it seem like a scary word? Like in many families it's taboo to talk about death, that's why also in much of spirituality it is taboo to talk about sin. 'We are pure Atma itself, how can there be sin?' Those notions like that. But to be egoic, to be separate, is the khata, is the error, is the sin. Okay?

Ananta

So whatever... and this answers Pr's question also, that we have a sense of this. So he's saying that between hunger and lust, what is the biggest sin? It seems like lust is the biggest sin. So whether if I'm hungry then that seems okay, but if I'm on a dating app then that seems like a bigger sin. But I would not put it like that. I would put it in a simpler way, saying that you can check in your heart what seems to keep you more distant from God. And it's not necessary that either of those will... you cannot afford. The real problem is that you can be on a dating app, there's no real problem in that, but if your heart is showing you that that is creating a disconnect in your heart, if the light in your heart is dimming, if the love that you're feeling, unconditional love, is not to be found, if you're feeling dried up in your antahkarana, your antahkarana is not alive with the holy waters...

Key Teachings

  • The true meaning of 'sin' (khata) is anything that creates separation from God.
  • Egoic identification and the feeling of being separate from the Divine constitute the real error.
  • One can discern what constitutes 'sin' by observing what dims the light and unconditional love in the heart.
  • External actions are less important than the internal state of connection or disconnection from God.
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From: We Must Live a God Directed Life Instead of a God Assisted Life - 10th July 2024