Original sin of fear

Recently in a study group where we have been reading the book The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hahn, a renown Buddhist monk, he made a distinction between the Christian and Buddhist faiths which I found quite enlightening. According to Hahn, Buddhists do not believe in original sin as the Christians do; they believe in original fear. At first glance this might seem strange to Christians, however, it makes perfect sense when you place it within the mission of Jesus, the Christ, and what he proclaims throughout his ministry.

To be clear, the doctrine of original sin in a nutshell is that the first man, Adam, ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, an act which violated the commandment of God. Subsequently, all mankind has been captured in the result of this sin and Jesus is the sole redeemer of humanity who gave his life to rescue us from the pit of hell by adhering to the commandment of God as our second Adam. His death on the cross is the sin offering and final payment for our actions giving him lordship over all humanity. I recognize that there might be nuances within this description which I have not included that you are more than welcome to include, but I’m not trying to write a theological dissertation here, merely offer a sketch which the vast Christian movement has adopted in one form or another.

What then is the original fear which Hahn refers to? Simply put…dying. Here is how he describes it:

“Every desire has its root in our original, fundamental desire to survive. In Buddhism we don’t speak of original sin. We speak of that original fear and desire that manifested in us during our birth and in the precarious moment we took our first, painful breath. Our mother could no longer breath for us. It was difficult to inhale; we had to expel water from our lungs. But if we couldn’t breath on our own, we would die. We made it; we were born. And with that birth, our fear of dying was born along with the desire to survive. And as infants, that fear stayed with us. We knew that in order to survive, we had to get someone to take care of us…”

At the beginning of World War 2, as Nazi forces conducted their blitzkrieg of England, and London in particular, Sir Winston Churchill spoke to his nation and encouraged them with, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” They were fighting for their survival from an invading force and the fear of death from the falling bombs, the fires, or collapsing buildings was the common denominator all shared. At no point were they concerned about any sin they may be harboring and not confessed. Death was their fear.

Consider this for a moment. When God commanded the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what was God’s reasoning behind it?

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt surely die.

How does an eternal being, God, declare death to another eternal being, Adam? Is it possible that a change in consciousness is simply the answer? And what was the response from the man to God about why he was hiding?

Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden: and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Can a God-consciousness, an eternal, everlasting, life affirming consciousness be thwarted simply by the duality of a consciousness devoted to judging sin or sinlessness? How does the vulnerability of nakedness strip us of our conscious awareness of the eternal nature we have always possessed?

I have written about this previously, but Jesus did not come to take our sins away. He clearly stated, “…I have come that they may have life and that life more abundantly.” Before you think that he came to abolish the Law, recognize that he clearly stated that he came to fulfill the Law, and His death on the cross was, and is the fulfillment of this as our Passover lamb – not our scapegoat.

Almost every Christian believes that the death on the cross is somehow associated with sin, the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus was good, the Romans were evil. Jesus’ cry, “…forgive them Father for they know not what they do,” is as valid today as when it was uttered not because we crucify him by our actions, but because we don’t understand what he represents to our God-consciousness. The Passover lamb, as you will recall, was slain so that its blood would mark the doorpost and lintels to the homes of the children of Israel when the death angel swooped down through Egypt killing the first born in all the land the night before Israel’s release from captivity.

The single most offered command by God throughout the entire bible is “Fear not!” Yet, we gloss over such an injunction simply because we…we…what? Live fearlessly? Hardly. Today, the entire world is cowering in fear, the fear of death from a pathogen! We are reminded frequently throughout the day that we are agents of death if we don’t practice “social distancing” and wear a face diaper. Statistics about new cases and daily deaths from this “disease” only amplify the fear of dying. It matters not that 99% of those who contract the virus survive, it is the magnification of the 1%, mostly old, with compromised health conditions, who drive our fear.

Being young is good, being old is evil. The sin of age is dying so let’s stay young forever. Let us fear the transformation which comes with age and hide its effects with cosmetics, injections, and surgeries. Let us fear the loss of mobility, awareness and sensation. Let us fear that after a life of being independent we are forced to have others care for us, again, just like when we were a child. Let us fear the last moments of breathing this life, a life we have lived fearful of not being able to breath instead of abundantly breathing through the life given us to love those around us.

Is it possible the nature of original sin and original fear are simply two sides to the same coin, and no matter how the coin lands, there are no winners or losers, just God, eternal with all of us?