Kindness, compassion, altruism, fraternity. Anger feels that things should be different and rages outwardly or inwardly in a useless and painful expression of turmoil. Anger objects to reality, to the circumstances. Patience is not merely an outer show of passivity, but a state of serenity and deep acceptance of reality.Īnger is the vice that blocks patience. Patience is always tested in relation to the difficulty of the circumstances, there is no virtue of patience if everything and everyone around us is pleasant. Patience is the ability to forgive people and situations that are troubling, difficult, or disruptive. Sloth is inattentiveness, lack of prioritization, and losing touch with the joyful rhythm of right effort. Sloth means not working properly, not fulfilling one’s cosmic duty, which could appear as the classic “couch potato” or as being busy all the time with useless tasks. Work is necessary for life, everything in nature has some sort of duty to fulfill, which gives meaning and purpose. Work and persistence for the sake of the upright ethical nature of work. Diligenceĭiligence is related to what the Buddhists call Right Effort. Greed distorts the energy around itself into a kind of black hole there is a vacuum in place of the natural give and take exchange that makes human interactions so life affirming. Greed never shares information, time, energy, resources, or ekes out only a meager amount and with great reluctance. Greed is holding onto our resources, be it physical, psychological, or energetic. We can have a charitable attitude toward our fellow humans by giving them the benefit of the doubt, suspending quick judgements, and avoiding accusation and condemnation. We can be charitable with time, energy, listening, and of course with money, food, goods and services. CharityĬharity is opening up our hearts with generosity toward others. Gluttony can destroy our body and mind with the overload of consumption. Gluttony is always going for the excess or extreme in consumption, again of food, substances, impressions, experiences, or sensations. Gluttony is the vice that masks temperance. Temperance allows us to “eat to live, not live to eat.” Temperance allows space to exist between the desire for satiation and the particular temptation. Temperance brings clarity in the face of temptation for consumption, be it of food, substances, impressions, experiences, or sensations. Temperance is balance, moderation, and sobriety. Lust corrupts and drains us, chastity revives our internal energies with love.
Lust is a perversion of the sexual energy which can manifest in even subtle behaviors, but upon observation is a voracious and unending craving for sensation. Lust is not to be confused with healthy and normal sexual appetite.
Sexuality is meant to be an expression of love- human and divine, in flow with the universal movement of life. Chastity is fidelity to the inner Being, the inner God, with an understanding of the profound sacredness of the sexual energy. It is necessary to observe and see for yourself what the continued indulgence of vice does to your mind, life, and happiness, and decide if working toward virtue is worth a try.Ĭhastity is purity, found buried within the sin of lust.
The strange thing is how vices seem normal, healthy, and universal, while the virtues seem out of touch, fussy, old-fashioned, or even oppressive and dangerous. The vices take us off the path with the promise of reward without effort or sacrifice. The vices on the other hand are off-kilter, slightly twisted or sideways, distorted. They are aligned with a higher purpose, the connection between Heaven and Earth is in the proper configuration. In the above painting by Giotto di Bondone, and in other similar classical works of art, the virtues are characterized as upright and centered. In this way the virtue is alive, intrinsic, well-earned, a bit of the grace of God shining on Earth. Virtue is earned through the work of becoming conscious of our psychological defects, and through comprehension and repentance ( metanoia, “renewal of mind”) liberating the virtue. In gnostic psychology, the virtue exists within the vice, and must be extracted as a precious stone is extracted from raw ore. Second, virtue is in relativity with vice, or sin ( hamartia, “to miss the mark”). Virtues can be taught and gained through practice, but only if they are first known and valued. Virtue has two keys.įirst, virtue comes from within, from internal rather than external motivation. The concept of virtue ( virtutem, “force, power, strength, high character, valor”) is important, giving a meaningful structure with which to build one’s life around. The seven virtues are a teaching of ancient psychology, which came through the Greek philosophies of Plato and Aristotle and into Christian theology.