The Buddha had more confidence in the steady pull than in the quick spurt. No teacher has credited the mind with more influence over life than did the Buddha. Among Western philosophers, Spinoza stands closest to the Buddha on the mind's potential. The Buddha would have agreed. If we could really understand life, if we could really understand ourselves, we would find neither a problem.
Humanistic psychology proceeds on the same assumption.
The Buddha saw ignorance, not sin, as the offender. More precisely, insofar as sin is our fault, it is prompted by a more fundamental ignorance - most specifically, the ignorance of our true nature. If we maintain a steady attention to our thoughts and feelings, we perceive that they swim in and out of our awareness, and are in no way permanent parts of us. We should witness all things non-reactively, especially our moods and emotions, neither condemning some nor holding on to others. Fearful and disgusting sights are to be meditated on until one no longer experiences aversion toward them.