The seven deadly sins.
So, there is this age-old concept in Christianity called the “Seven Deadly Sins” which is very popular. I like reading about philosophical stuff, and religion is a big part of philosophy. Hence, I was looking for something like this on the internet the other day and, voila! I found this.
So, this is a list of seven sins that you ought not do in your life. It was first written by some Christian monk in a desert monastery many hundred years ago as he was contemplating about life. Originally, the list was not called deadly sins, it was called something more moderate like ‘the 7 temptations in life’. Like to be fair there were like 8 things on the list but we will make it 7 for the sake of the story lol.
Later in the 14th century or something, don’t quote me on this I’m just guessing, another catholic priest rewrote the list. He made some changes to the original list and simplified it. He then removed some stuff and named the new list, the now infamous, “The 7 deadly sins”.
So, that’s the history of list. Now let’s see what’s in the list itself and why do I feel it is so important.
The list.
So, the list goes as follows:
- Lust
- Envy
- Pride
- Gluttony
- Sloth
- Wrath
- Greed
These are the sins in the list.
These are the 7 things that you are to avoid in life, if you want to be happy. Well… that’s how I look at it, but according to the catholic church the description is much more enticing. In Christian faith, if you are to commit any of these sins, you will be bound to suffer in hell and the devil will take possession of your body.
Hmm… quite a vivid description isn’t it lol. I don’t know about you but it sure is enough to scare the shit out of me. And that was the point of the list, at least according to the catholic church. It wanted to discourage people to do these obviously bad things, and make the society better or holier in their words. And it worked for a very, very long time. People followed this list for a long time, some still do. But I like my version better, though it is not as vivid or scary.
This list really resonated with me because when I look at my own life, the times that I have been the most miserable is the times when I have committed one of the listed sins.
For example, for a very long time I was jealous/envious of someone in my school. I really felt that the other person had everything that I did not, and it just could not comprehend nor accept that. So, I felt bad, really bad about myself. So much so that I started hating that person, although none of it was his fault! He was simply being himself, and I hated him for it. But the funny part was, with all the hate that I had for that person, the guy did not feel any pain from my hatred. IT WAS I WHO WAS SUFFERING. I felt miserable being envious of that person. I could not sleep at night because of all the bad thoughts I had. It was a horrible existence, it was Hell.
Hence, I did experience hell (though not in the literal sense) just as the religions say because of my sin of envy. It made me realize how naïve I was to be envious of the other person, instead of being grateful of what I already had.
The 7 deadly sins reigned true for me. They always had been.
Hence, I relate to this list from personal experience. I believe, as many people have believed for hundreds of years that if you are to avoid misery in life, you should refrain yourself from doing the things mentioned in the list.
On the other end, if you are to become happy in life (or be one with god, according to Christianity) you are to do the things that are opposite to the sins. The list being:
- Chasity – depending on how you look at it lol.
- Gratitude – being grateful for your blessings.
- Modesty – Not bragging. Being humble.
- Moderation – Not eating too much.
- Hard work – Working. Not being lazy.
- Patience – Not getting angry easily.
- Kindness – Sharing your blessings.
Hence, if you agree with this philosophy or not, or what parts do you agree with depends entirely on you. I agree with most of it because I have experience this in my own life, although there are a few parts that I do not necessarily agree with. But it’s your life hence you choose what to believe in.
But I do think this list, and the philosophy behind it is helpful to a lot of people around the world, people like myself who struggle to find happiness in life.
The monk who wrote the list was a wise man.
Hence, those are my thoughts on this.
Cheers!
= )
Honestblogs 