Is our real problem the original sin in the heart – not the mind – and is believing in Jesus the only solution?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So Jesus said that it’s not the mind but the heart where sin is present and we need to become free from that sin. Yes.
The term is not important, the concept is important. Ultimately when we use the word heart also, we may tell someone, you have broken my heart. That doesn’t mean the physical organ, the heart is broken.
So we are talking about a subtler level of reality over here. And basically the point is that there is something inside us which works against us. And what term we use for it, that is immaterial.
And yes, there is negativity stored inside that. We call it the mind or the heart. And that negativity, we could use the word sin for it.
But the source of that negativity we have to understand. Now the idea that all of us have sinned against God, this is something which is a result of a particular world view. So the idea within the Bible is that Adam ate the forbidden apple.
And that eating of the forbidden apple going against the will of God was the original sin. And thereafter the idea comes up that because all of us are considered to be the descendants of Jesus, so all of us have sinned as a part of being his descendants. So here sin becomes something like a genetic defect which is just passed down to, let me complete, then you can talk.
Sin becomes something like a genetic defect. And it’s just passed down to everyone irrespective of what they have or they have not done. In the Biblical world view there is the idea that there is no pre-existence for the soul.
So therefore it is not that any person has themselves done anything wrong because of which whatever is happening. So now if you consider this idea of sin being like an intrinsic genetic defect, it works out to be extremely unfair that something that somebody did thousands of years ago makes us all sinful. It is almost like saying that, say, the tsunami that has killed thousands of people in Indonesia right now, the earthquakes that killed thousands of people, all that happened because somebody ate an apple long ago.
Now let me complete my answer, then you can speak surely. So my point is that the idea of a negative impression that are stored within us, that is perfectly fine. But those negative impressions are because of our actions.
It is not because of somebody else’s actions. And we can change those actions. Now as far as the power of grace that is concerned, yes, Jesus is, in our tradition, we consider Jesus also to be a great, empowered, divinely empowered person.
And he manifests the power of God by which the impressions within us can be changed. So we talk about various ways in which these impressions can be changed. We talked about how by our conscious effort to redirect our consciousness, the impressions can be changed.
And divine grace can also help us in changing the impressions. At the same time, in the tradition of Bhakti Yoga, we accept Jesus as an extraordinary exemplar. The guru of my guru, he would say that Jesus is our guru.
Because he had so much love for God that he laid down his life for the service of God. So anybody who has that much love, we respect him immensely. At the same time, in our tradition, we don’t limit the love of God to one door or one channel alone.
We understand that if God is unlimited, his love cannot be limited to one channel alone. So that’s why yes, if somebody is inspired by the example of Jesus and they feel the inspiration to transform their lives, to change their impressions by the impression of Jesus, that is wonderful. We are not here to convert anyone from one religion to another.
Religion is a bodily designation. What we are talking about is, there is an elevation of consciousness from the material to the spiritual level. Like Jesus, the Bhakti tradition recognizes that God’s grace can manifest through different channels.
And if a particular teacher inspires us to raise our consciousness, to surrender to the divine, and to transform ourselves, then we accept that. So we accept the potency of Jesus to redeem, and we accept that the divine potency that Jesus manifested can also manifest through other people. Jesus did make a statement that I am the way and the light and the truth, and none shall go to attain the God except through me.
That is definitely a statement which is made, that we understand it to be a statement of focus. Just like if a patient has gone to a dozen doctors and is confused, and the patient comes to a very respected doctor who can actually cure the disease of the patient, and the doctor gives a prescription. And the patient says, no, but I went to this doctor and he said this, and I went to that doctor and she said that, and I went there and they said that.
The doctor will say, just forget everything. Just forget everything that you have heard from anyone else. Just follow me, you will become cured.
When the doctor tells, just follow my prescription, just follow me, I will take you back, I will restore you to a healthy condition. That statement is not a statement of rejecting the validity of all other doctors. That statement is just given for creating a focus in the mind of the patient at that point.
There are statements which are exclusivist, this is the way, that are there in various traditions, and those statements are meant to create a focus and inspiration. So we accept the potency of Jesus, and we accept the potency of God, it can manifest to other traditions also. Can we talk at a one to one level later?