[Advaita-l] definition: SIN - Help!

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Swami Chinmayanandaji defined sin as the divergence between mind and
intellect.  Intellect knows what is right and what is wrong based on
one's education, culture and upbringing.  Mind wants to compromise the
value for convenience.  This divergence is a sin, if one goes along with
mind than with the intellect.  One is punished not for the sin but by
the sin.

Yoga integrates the mind and intellect by weakening the vAsanas that
come in between the two.  Following ones swadharma - that is whatever
that one is fully convinced as right (that is one's assimilated value
system)- will be better than following other person's value system
(Paradharma). (Interestingly Bhagavaan Ramanuja interprets doing karma
yoga as swadharma and doing jnaana yoga as paradharma). 

Action becomes good or bad not by action per sec but by the motivation
or attitude in that action.  Iswaaraarpita buddhi makes whatever that
action is into a prayer.  Hence Krishna declaration "what ever you do,
whatever you eat offer it to me".  However, when we are offering, let is
make sure it is the best that we can offer to the Lord of entire
universe.  Noble actions automatically follow.  Noble is those that help
the others than those that are centered on oneself.
 

HaRI om!
Sadananda   

--- smrit <smrit at ig.com.br> wrote:

> Dear list members,
> 
> I´d like to know a definition on sin from advaita vedanta point of
> view, and hinduism in general. And, if its possible some indication of
> this in books and sites. Some people says that in the Bhagavad GIta,
> the best word for pataka or papa, or words like that, is not sin, what
> do you think about that? The problem is to define sin in the bhagavad
> gita's point of view, seems like sin had two definitions, one is about
> the bad result of action, and the other side, is a bad action.
> 
> Best Regards,
> M.D.B.R
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