For a long time, teachers of religion have condemned humans as sinners. Taking a cue from our scriptures, isn’t it time we say goodbye to sin and discover the divinity within all of us, says OSWALD PEREIRA
It is written in the Bible that Jesus Christ was teaching in a temple when a group of scribes and Pharisees interrupts him (John 7:53-8:11). They had brought in a woman, accusing her of committing adultery, claiming she was caught in the very act. The punishment for someone like her is stoning, as prescribed by the law of Moses, they tell Jesus, asking him for his verdict.
Jesus is silent for a while. Then he replies that the one who is without sin should cast the first stone at her. The accusers depart, realising that not one of them is without sin either, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. Jesus looks at the woman with compassion and says he does not condemn her.
The woman, identified as Mary Magdalene becomes a very close disciple of Jesus and turns a new leaf, eventually becoming a saint.
The compassionate Jesus Christ never condemns a person for committing a sin, for He knows that every human creation has a saint within him.
The great sage and yogi Paramhansa Yogananda often said, “A saint is a sinner who never gave up.”
The Vedanta, too, does not believe in the concept of sin. Swami Vivekananda whose mission was to bring Vedanta from the forest to the common man, once said: “Blessed are my sins. Through sin I have learned virtue. It is my sins, as much as my virtues, that have made me what I am today.”
Teachers of religion often cite sin as the reason for man’s downfall and his pathway to so-called hell, giving him no chance to redeem himself and reclaim the Divinity within him.
On the other hand, Vivekananda defined religion as the “manifestation of the divinity already in man.” By the word ‘divinity’ he meant Brahman which is inseparable from the individual self or ātman.
“My ideal, indeed, can be put into a few words, and that is to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life,” Vivekananda said, adding, “The only way of getting divine nature manifested is by helping others to do the same.”
In what sounded like a reprimand to teachers of religion, Vivekananda asked: “Why do you dwell on the weak side of man’s nature? Don’t you know that the greatest blackguard often has some virtue that is wanting in the saint?”
He added: “God and the devil are the same river with the water flowing in opposite directions.”
Vedanta says that the only prayer we should have is, “I am not under the sway of any superstition; I am Existence Knowledge-Bliss Absolute; I am the Blissful One.”
As we ponder over the wise words of sages like Swami Vivekananda, isn’t it time we say, “Goodbye Sin, Hello Divinity.” Let’s make this our catchphrase for 2025.
Oswald Pereira, a senior journalist, has also written ten books, including Beyond Autobiography of a Yogi, The Newsroom Mafia, Chaddi Buddies, The Krishna-Christ Connexion, How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life and Crime Patrol: The Most Thrilling Stories. Oswald is a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, and practises Kriya Yoga.
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