2006-5-11 05:43:00
The principle is this. The person detaches himself from his physical and emotional self and then visualizes himself pulling away and watching his life as if he were viewing a movie. This allows him to negate much pain and tension. When you watch a movie, no matter how bad things get, you can still enjoy your popcorn. Even so, when a person learns to be the observer he can enjoy the ride through life no matter what is going on around him.
Not many think of sin as a principle. That's because the ancient meaning has been corrupted and the modern use is much different than the Bible days.
The word sin comes from the Greek word HAMARTANO which means "to miss the mark." In other words when the Greeks 2000 years ago shot at a target with an arrow and missed they "sinned" (HAMARTANO) or missed the target.
Is this how the word "sin" is used today? Verily no. When the religious person thinks of sin in our age he generally thinks of being unclean and ridden with guilt.
Now when you shoot at a target and miss the bull's eye do you feel degraded and guilty to the extent that you feel paralyzed and even feel unworthy to shoot again? No. Of course not. When you miss you may find it mildly irritating, but you generally can't wait to have another try at it.
To recognize sin is to merely recognize error and then seek to correct it, not through guilt but through practice and by common sense.
The principle of atonement releases us from the negative effects of sin or error. The negative effect of error is guilt. Guilt is caused by looking for God in the wrong place. "The kingdom of God is within," and that is where the principle of atonement lies. The seeker At-One-Moment shifts attention from the outer god to the inner. When he does this all guilt disappears and he sees a vision of a path that leads away from error into the light of truth.
Again, this is not usually looked upon as a principle. This is because forgiveness is not fully understood by the many.
To forgive is generally identified with forgetting the offense as if it never occurred. This is not forgiveness because this approach is never successful. An action that hurts or offends did occur and no power in heaven or earth can make it as if it never was. When the seeker attempts to forgive in this way he only denies his feelings or suppresses them. This plants a negative seed in his heart that grows into something destructive later on. It will either manifest as disease or harmful behavior, not seemingly connected with the pseudo forgiveness.
How then does one truly forgive?
Forgiveness is letting go of hurt and grievance while at the same time facing the full realization of the repercussions of the hurtful act. This becomes an easy thing to do when one maintains the attitude of the observer.
He who forgives can meet the offending person with full realization of what he has done, full memory of the pain inflicted and embrace him and wish him Godspeed. He can do this because he has not attached himself to grievance and has let it go. He realizes his brother is merely in error and will eventually learn his lessons. Just as a tiger is a tiger and you do not hold a grievance because he may eat you if you get in his way, even so, the forgiving soul sees a wayward brother for what he is, lets go of emotional hurt and deals with wisdom.
Some think that forgiveness negates justice - that if you forgive a crime justice becomes unnecessary. This is not quite the case. Forgiveness releases the seeker from grievance and desire for vengeance, but in the mind of the wise justice must always prevail. Justice can never be negated, but only delayed. If one misunderstands forgiveness and tries to negate justice then justice still waits to materialize, but with interest.
Suppose a neighbor abused your young daughter. Should you forgive him? Yes. We should forgive all people. If you forgive him what do you do? You see him as a tiger that got out of hand. You let go of hurt and grievance, but still demand justice. You seek for justice not for revenge but to assist, by the aid of law, in rendering the abuser harmless, to protect society from harm and to guide, by justice, the offending person away from his error.
The principle of justice is this. The person must pay for his crime in such a way that he gives back to society as much as he has taken away and learns to understand the hurt which he has inflicted. True forgiveness does not get in the way of this.
"Money can't buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy."
-- Spike Milligan
Copyright © 2006 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved