The Greatest Sin

From The Essence of the Bhagavad-Gita -- Explained by Paramhansa Yogananda

Freedom Through Inner Renunciation

[quoting]

(5:14) It is not God, the sovereign Self, who creates in mankind the consciousness of acting in this world. God neither causes people to act, nor entangles them in the (karmic) consequences of their actions. It is maya, the cosmic illusion, which acts through them.

This stanza might seem mere casuistry: God might be taken as trying to shift the blame elsewhere by saying, "He did it!" In fact, however, it can be a great aid to the spiritual aspirant to realize how much a puppet of delusion he is. God created the delusion, true. Yet God Himself remains unaffected by it, for in His Supreme Spirit He is beyond all vibration. The yogi must feel, at his center within, that he, too, is immovable and at peace. Maya (cosmic delusion) acts through him, but cannot define him.

There is another "angle" on this teaching, however, which seems to contradict what has been taught above. Yogananda used to say, "It is better, if you do commit an error -- whether slight or great -- to tell yourself, 'God did it through me.'" He continued, "God likes that! For you will find it easier, if you do, to release the feeling of guilt which makes people beat themselves, with thoughts like, 'I did that! Oh, how weak I am! How wrong of me! How sinful!'"

My Guru used to say, "The greatest 'sin' is to call yourself a sinner." Instead, if you don't want to blame God (which Yogananda insisted, however, is perfectly fine with God!), tell yourself, "Maya (cosmic delusion) committed this deed through me. I dissociate myself from everything connected with it. In my true Self, I am untainted and forever free!"

"Of course," my Guru added, "you must then act in such a way as not to commit that error again!"

Every time you slip, instead of moaning, "I've failed! I'm a fallen soul!" tell yourself, "I haven't yet succeeded!" If you do that, your words, instead of affirming negativity, will be an affirmation of eventual success.

"The best time for sowing the seeds of success," Paramhansa Yogananda used to say, "is the season of failure!".

[end quoting]

On our way up the mountain, as we work towards purification, we may stumble over what is not Real. We are advised to not get bogged down in self-chastisement, self-pity and hopelessness. Get up, dust off, start again. And again. And again.

~ g