2/15/15

Sixth Sunday in ordinary time, and third Sunday of the month, which meant mass and RCIA today. Romanos joined me, and I was asked to be one of the gift-bearers again. I took up the wine this time. I like participating in the Liturgy. I think once I'm confirmed I'd like to sign up to assist in handing out communion. I'd love to be a lector, too, but my fear of public speaking may make that difficult.

Fr. Bill celebrated the mass today and gave the homily. Fr. Charlie just got back, though, so Fr. Bill won't have to be the only priest on duty anymore. I imagine it's been a busy couple of weeks for him. The homily was tied to today's readings, which focused on leprosy and being made clean. Fr. Bill said that leprosy is a metaphor for sin, actions that defile us and make us ugly inside, and that love is what makes us beautiful—the love of God being like the love of Belle that heals and transforms the Beast. Fr. Bill surprised everyone, I think, when he sang the song "Beauty and the Beast."

After mass, we had our RCIA class at the French toast breakfast. The topic was personal and social sin. The general consensus was that social sin is any intentional action that negatively impacts those around us, things that cause harm to others or the environment and contributes to alienation, discrimination, oppression, etc.; and personal sin is any intentional action that goes against God/Dhamma and turns us away from what's good/skillful.

I'm not sure if this is controversial, but Barbara's opinion was that sin is something that ultimately must be intentional, i.e., that you have to know something is wrong and then proceed to do it anyway. This is exactly the attitude of Buddhist precepts, and I think it accords well with what Jesus says in Matthew regarding the importance of intention:

He summoned the crowd and said to them, 'Hear and understand. It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one." Then his disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He said in reply, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides (of the blind). If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit." Then Peter said to him in reply, 'Explain [this] parable to us.' He said to them, "Are even you still without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." (Mt 15:10-20)

In other words, if a heart is defiled and acts out of defilement (i.e., out of greed, aversion, and delusion), that actions is a sin—it defiles one, it turns one away from God/Dhamma, it harms oneself and others. And sin leads to hell, an alienated state of consciousness that can't return to the presence of God. The image that Jesus uses of Gehenna (e.g., in Matthew 5), the fiery garbage dump outside of ancient Jerusalem, is a metaphor for the immediate consequences of sinful/unskillful actions, i.e., it's better to burn in Gehenna than to do something that harms others and separates us from God/Dhamma.

We are all imperfect creatures. We all have our own flaws and weaknesses and succumb to various temptations and vices (personified by Mara and Satan) throughout our lives. But what happens after death is a mystery, and one can't truly know the mind of others, so it's better not to cast stones at others and work on purifying our own minds instead. And just as important is the forgiveness of others, especially those who repent of their unskillful deeds.

From my point of view, I think it's fair to say that the underlying foundation of the Buddhist precepts and the Ten Commandments as understood by Jesus is the principle of harmlessness (ahimsa). Harmlessness is truly a noble and holy attitude. True love arises naturally out of a deep spirit of harmlessness, making our actions faultless gifts to those around us. And sin arises out of a heart that's defiled with greed, covetousness, selfishness, anger, and ignorance of the worth and importance of others.

We all have the capability to sin (hamartia) or 'miss the mark' (hamartanein), which is why forgiveness is so important. It opens the door for reconciliation and, even when that's not possible, lightens the heart of its burdens. To forgive is to free the heart from the emotions and thoughts that separate one from one's neighbour and from God. Sin is like a poison we give ourselves, and love is the antidote.