The concept of original sin remains, until our days, shrouded in mysteries and, consequently, the lack of understanding of the metaphysical symbol of the existence of this “sin”. Churches do not know exactly how to provide a reasonable answer to the meaning of this symbolism, practised in John the Baptist's baptism ritual, which requires a further assessment as it is difficult to accept that anyone was ever born in sin.
When a man is born, he arrives in the earthly dimension in a state of
transitory, neutral balance, whose potential is directed according to the
environment in which he lives and the influences received. Only later, when he
begins to develop free will subordinated to the forces of the tyrannical ego,
does man begin to sin or not, for the eyes of the spirit, of the Self, of
reason, are pure. Still, the eyes of the ego make a man blind to that purity.
The parents’ newborn may have sinned, the newborn may have brought
from previous existences, sins accumulated in these lifetimes, or it may also
come without any sin, with a specific mission, participating in existence as a
special being, endowed with wisdom, as there were and still are so many beings
of good and love that inhabit the planet. Those who arrive here with debts to
be redeemed, the Divine Wisdom makes a temporary pardon for these sins, i.e., a
kind of cosmic amnesty, making them forget the faults previously committed so
that they can, in the course of their lives, before the inevitable obstacles,
overcome themselves, as long as they want to reach a greater degree in
spiritual evolution.
This evolution only takes place in
overcoming the forces of the tyrannical ego that makes human beings remain
stagnant in sin, which will be absolved only through self-knowledge: “May I
know myself to know you, Lord... to realize your glory in me, knowing me
better!”, leading man on the path of his self-realization.
The
following is the explanation given by Huberto Rohden, in one of his books,
about this theory of Original Sin:
“According to the doctrine of Christian theologies, man is conceived
and born in sin. It is also a general belief that this inherited sin from Adam
and Eve is extinguished at baptism when the newborn is brought before a
baptismal font and holy water is poured upon its head or the submergence in
water, followed by certain magic words, after which the human soul, possessed
of Satan, becomes the offspring of God!
In the episode reported in the gospel, according to which Jesus, being
surrounded by children, does not prevent them from approaching, but invites
them to be with him, proves that he totally ignored this original sin; he let
the children come to him, saying that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them;
and harshly prevents adults not lead to sin an innocent child “who has faith in
him”. For Jesus, the human soul is, as Tertullian later wrote, Christlike by
its very nature.
But then, what is it the true original sin?
Every human being is aware only of its peripheral ego, which is a gift
from birth, an inheritance of human nature itself. This egocentric
consciousness makes man believe that he is an autonomous being and separated
from God. Man-ego ignores his essential union with the Infinite Being, with
Reality itself; and so, he acts according to this illusion. This illusion of an
existence separate from the Infinite is that it is his mistake, his sin, and
makes him selfish and egocentric in everything. Ramana Maharishi, when asked
about what original sin is, answered in a synthetic and rightly way: “It is the
illusion of separate personal existence.”
This separatist illusion of the ego is an inheritance of all human
nature, while the truth of the permanent and essential union with the Infinite
is the attainment of human consciousness, and this essential union can and must
reveal itself in an existential union.
The separatist illusion has nothing to do with Satan, or with Adam’s
apple; it is the natural state of the ignorance and illusion of the profane
man. And the abolition of this illusion is accomplished by the awakening of
truth about human nature. Baptism is the Greek word for diving: when a man
dives into the truth of his divine nature, he loses the illusion of his
fictitious ego, and then he is “baptized”, that is, dives into the bath of
light of truth about himself. “I only dive you in the water”, says John the
Baptist, “but after me, there will come someone who will dive you into the fire
of the divine spirit.”
This metaphysical or spiritual diving can be symbolized by a physical
dive in the water with the ritual of immersion, which according to Paul of
Tarsus symbolizes the death of the sinful ego, and emersion represents the
birth of the divine Self. True immersion is not a ritualistic ceremony, but a
spiritual reality.
Jesus never baptized anyone, and John the Baptist only baptized
adults, who at the time did not believe in original sin.”
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