To sin means to do anything that would hinder, harm, or hurt anyone on their path to fulfillment, whether by deed, word or by thought. To sin against ourselves is a lesser crime than sinning against others. How we earn our living has great karmic overtones in life. Also of great importance is the mode of life we live; one of goodness or one of evil; a life of selflessness or one of selfishness and greed with disregard to all except our own heedless desires. To lead a productive life rather than a destructive life is to lead the good life. This means that what supports you should also support others and nature as well. The object of life is to live as free from sin as is possible, to live in compliance with universal laws. Universal law gives support to all who support the law and strikes down those who do not support the law.

It is said that we are born in sin, but actually we are born surrounded by sin. Our nature, which is fully formed at birth, must be changed to conform to the principle that underlies all of creation. Many people feel that anything that they really enjoy is sinful. This is not so. It is only a matter of what we identify with or where we place our attention. In life there are two poles, the negative and the positive and at this level of density of matter the negative has the greater pull and greater glamour. In our struggle to maintain balance in life we are forever pulled to the negative and are in a constant struggle to move toward the positive or good side of life and stay there. As the Bible says, “and man is sorely tempted.” What we find is that of ourselves we can do nothing. Where there is a genuine desire to decrease our sins or reduce our karmic load, if we turn within and to higher guidance, we can overcome. Many blame their sins on the devil as some mysterious personage that constantly entices them into evil deeds. Devil simply means to swim against the force of evolution. We can only do this for a certain period of time and then we are swept back into the current of progress by the weight of our own misdeeds. Also, Satan means a tremendous satanic force that bears on us with unresolved karma that must now be resolved.

We as humans create habit patterns that become deeply engrained in us. As a result we almost automatically do the same things over and over again, often against our will which is not strong enough. When we finally learn not to do the wrong action any longer, the habit is broken. However, we are not just the victim of one bad habit, but rather many habits acquired over many ages. Our goal in life is to improve ourselves and thus fall away from the things that would further bind us rather than free us. In religion it has always been pointed out that by good deeds we go to heaven and by bad deeds we go to hell. This means to go where we enjoy the fruit of our good deeds, or to go where we suffer out our bad deeds. All are weighed in the balance and many are found wanting.

If we sin and are truly sorry and ask for forgiveness, we will be forgiven. If we recognize the fault and we are willing to correct it, the saying is true, “Though your sins are as black as night, in an instant they can be washed as white as snow.” Many would rather die with their faults than die trying to correct them.

Nobody can be expected to correct all their bad habits overnight, but a start in that direction is a great change in attitude and slowly one becomes a better person. The purpose of life is to learn the lessons of life and graduate from human life and not to destroy the school we are in and many of those in the school. For such ill deeds we will spend all of our vacation time helping to rebuild the school and at the same time suffering the same anguish we perpetuated upon our fellow humans.

We know that the human is a thinking being in a given level of consciousness, and to attain a divine status is his destiny. He evolves gradually through myriad levels of consciousness to attain divine consciousness. The human is peculiar because in him is the beast, the man, and the God nature. He is bound by forces far stronger than he is. His true nature is happiness, yet he is beset with problems that cause him misery and suffering. He eventually learns that he must be sacrificed on his own cross of materiality in order to gain spirituality. Yet, it is the inner knowing that gives him strength to persevere. He knows that the struggle in life is to become free. Realization of the Self is not an overnight process; rather it is a long process of overcoming. The one thing necessary is to get onto the path; go within and then what are needed above all else are patience, faith and love. With these, the light will come, for all who have faith in God, they will see God.

Patience is a soul force and through patience and determination we steadily gain strength of purpose of mind and body. What we must work toward in life is purity. Through our practice of Transcendental Meditation we slowly gain purity because the infusion of the Being from our continued practice gradually overshadows the relative and the darkness vanishes in the light of the eternal Being. Then, the beast and the man are gone and only the God-man remains in bliss and eternal life.