One evening the master was walking by and saw the monk meditating alone. This idea is expressed in the famous Zen story about a monk who meditated day and night, even when the other monks had gone to sleep. The popular belief in “looking out for Number One” is just the most modern update.īy contrast, Buddhists have great confidence in “original goodness.” We are taught that all human beings are endowed with “Buddha Nature.” Enlightenment is not something we achieve. For centuries, Jews have rejected this idea, and many liberal Christians now do as well, but original sin still runs deep in our mainstream culture. As a result of that event, all of us are naturally inclined to the bad instead of the good. Augustine, first developed the idea based on the Biblical story of the Fall: when Adam and Eve, having disobeyed God, were expelled from Eden.
A central religious teaching in the West is “original sin.” Early Christians, such as St.
