Tygarjas Twyrls Blog

Definition from my POV:

There are two definitions of “sin” that have even vaguely sat well with me over the years. Personally I don’t like the word, but I’ve spent enough hard time on the most, most holy planet Purgatory to know that the word ought be respected for the work one may need to suffer as a result of what that word probably indicates . . .

Definition #1: Anything that gets in the way of one’s goals.

The first definition I offer is the seemingly egocentric of the two. And it would be completely egocentric if not for the interconnectivity of all reality. If my goal is to write a new blog posting by next Wednesday, and I use my day off to go drinking with friends, there are ramifications of my actions, the least of which being that I don’t get my blog posted. However, since my only goal was to get my posting up, I just undermined myself, which in turn sets a precedent for not taking myself seriously in the future, which in turn makes it harder if, say, a future goal is to be a professional anything. And that being said, definition #1 is all about context.

Definition #2: Anything that causes harm to another human being.

To relate it to definition #1, egocentrically, if a person ever wishes to do something other than cause harm to another human being, it’s hard to do things when one is in prison. Of course, if one’s gaol is to be in prison, harming another being winds up being not a sin by definition #1. If one wishes to do something positive with one’s life, however, simply in the most scientific terms, doing harm to others slows one’s own ability to accomplish anything. It takes time out of one’s day to issue apologies, answer lawsuits, step over bodies, scheme against people who have become obstacles, etc . . . To say nothing of the monetary costs.

The fact is every action gives a result. When you help someone to a better place, they can help you to a better place. If you hinder another being, the odds just went up that they might hinder you. If you love someone, but don’t treat them with love, respect, or kindness, you either get to watch the way your “love” breaks that person, or you will simply drive that person away, which sucks if you really cared for them at all.

And again, if a person’s goal is to cause pain and be in prison, that is an easy enough goal to manifest, and by definition #1, offering a flower would be a sin. However, in such a case, what would make that person’s actions a sin by definition #2 is that the rest of us would have to deal with the consequences, including footing the bill. So by definition #2, I suppose a sin is really any action that makes life more of a pain in the ass for everybody else.

Since the Buddha’s first noble truth was that life is suffering, I’m going to qualify the definition above by saying that if one’s action results in lessons being learned, or even the opportunity for lessons being learned by all parties involved, no real harm done. But what is someone supposed to learn from being yelled at hysterically? From being hit? From being killed? From being bombed? From having their treasured item burned?

Sometimes a proverbial kick in the teeth is the only way to teach someone a lesson. I’ve spent enough time kicking and being kicked to know, however, that I’d rather God teach that lesson; I just don’t think I’ll ever be qualified to know when the timing would be right for me to meet out such a thing, and I never want such a qualification to exist unto me . . . And for a definition of what I call God: HERE.

TTFN