Sin--missing the mark. In the context of
time. to miss the moment of God, which is the NOW.
Whv do we miss the Now? We are somewhere
else.
Where? In the past, or the future, or
simply elsewhere (self-regarding thoughts and
fantasies).
Fragmentation of the spirit as useless
thinking/mental static. Each such thought makes a claim on our
attention. For most, the ego self is more or less constantl~y
disturbed by such thinking. This is considered "normal"
life.
The True Self stands outside of this
flow, but most people don't experience this except in moments of
un-self-consciousness, which are few and far between.
Coming more fully into the moment calls
for several disciplines, each of which reinforce the
other.
1. Present moment
awareness.
--Attention can be "gathered" and
brought into the NOW.
--Do what you are doing."
--Much useless thinking falls away of
its own accord.
2. Non-judgmental
acceptance.
--The curse of the fall, acting like
gods. We like to blame, criticize, judge motives.
--Much of what we call evil is from the
~Ego's viewpoint.
--Confronting behavior without judging
motives.
3. Forgiveness.
--Letting go of the past, esp.
resentment, shame, and guilt.
--These make a claim on attention and
cause us to see the now through the projective lenses of
self-preference and desire.
--May need to give attention to letting
go in a formal way.
4. Benevolence.
--Intention is not to "get" something.
This would introduce anxiety about not getting it.
--We are free to have preferences about
how things go, but the problem comes when these turn into
emotional demands.
--In the Now to give what is needed, to
receive what is given, and to enjoy simply being.
5. Faith and Trust.
--I can let go into this
moment.
--God is with me, creating me, loving me
NOW.
--My skill is available to me, to help
me do what is needed.
--I will always have what is truly
needed when I need it.
To what extent does our religious
involvement help us to be more attentive, more forgiving, more
benevolent, more trusting?
To that extent alone is it--even its
dogmatic tradition and, especially, its moral teaching and devotional
practices--spirituallv relevant. All the rest is distraction and
ego-gratification.
