In all of the talk about differences between religions and the principles of their moral systems, it is amazing to see just how similar they all actually are. Drawing from the seven deadly sins and Catholic virtues, Islam’s Nafs and Tazkiah, the Arishadvargas in the Hindu religion, the Five poisons in Buddhism and the Five Thieves in Sikhism, we can create a list of the most universal vices and virtues, out of which can be extrapolated a basic guide of moral principles that all humans live by.
The first vice is lust. Usually lust is thought of as extreme sexual desires, but actually it is meant to cover an intense and uncontrollable desire in general. Therefore, the first deadly sin could actually include sex, money, fame, power and even food. The first universal virtue would then be wisdom; having the understanding of your own desires and being able to make the proper moral and logical judgement of what is right.
If lust can include food, then where does that leave gluttony? Well, actually the two are a little different. Gluttony is overconsumption and over-indulgence to a degree that is wasteful or selfish. The most obvious form would be eating much more than you need; however, other forms exist. Eating too soon, too expensively, eagerly (shoveling food into your mouth) or being too picky. The opposite to all of this is self-control. By being able to restrain and control your actions and feelings, you may find a much greater balance in diet and health.
Greed is essentially the same thing as gluttony, but applied to material possessions. It seems that a great deal of the driving force behind why people are greedy comes from being discontent or restless in their life. Thus being content with less is the first step to moderation, the third virtue. Avoiding extremes or excesses by only having or getting what you need — watching out for frivolous or impulse purchases as you live life as a consumer.
Arguably sloth is the most misunderstood sin of all. Most tend to understand it as literally being physically lazy and unproductive; really, it should be thought of as failing to fully do what you should. Basically, not utilizing your gifts and talents to their fullest, or choosing to be willfully ignorant. This is where we get the saying, “evil prevails when good men fail to act.” Therefore, the opposite of sloth would not be productivity, but rather fulfillment. Reaching your fullest potential through effort, by using what you are naturally good at, ultimately to benefit society.
Of course, on the road to becoming the best you can be, you may find yourself falling for arguably what most religions consider to be the most serious and deadly sin: pride. Not only does hubris manifest itself as a belief that you are better than others, but it also comes from a failure to acknowledge the accomplishments of your peers. In classical history, hubris was shown through kings who believed themselves to be as powerful as gods, leading to their demise in the end. Humility, being humble of your own importance and happy of others accomplishments, is the ethic to strive for.
Envy occurs when a person feels incredible discontent for someone else’s traits or possessions. Unfortunately this leads to an insatiable desire to covet what they have and in extreme cases, to deprive them of it. It is as if envy is the combination of lust and greed, but specifically for another’s physical or characteristic belongings. This is why kindness is such an important virtue in society. Having a benevolent disposition, especially to others and, as with humility, expressing goodwill, happiness and kindness to all.
This brings us to the last of the classic seven deadly sins and in my opinion possibly the saddest, wrath. In its well-known form, wrath is incredible and uncontrollable feelings of hatred and anger, sadly causing impatience, rage, violence and in a worst case scenario — killing. However, hatred is not always manifest outward, sometimes it comes in the form of self-hatred. Self-mutilation and drug abuse as well as suicide are seen as being sinful because they are the ultimate expressions of wrath and hatred toward yourself. It may seem slightly odd at first then that patience is the corresponding virtue. But, being able to bear provocation, annoyance, misfortune and pain without complaint, anger or irritation allows you to be a level-headed individual.
The first of the two other sins that appear in many religious texts outside of Christianity is basically an idea of manipulation, using others for your own desires without thought or care for them. This can even come in the form of lying, being mischievous, having a bad career or creating discord among friends. Manipulation is the epitome of being self-centered. Thus, a commonly expressed theme to serve as the good moral would be honor. Having honesty, fairness and integrity in your own beliefs and actions, all of which, along with being transparent and telling the whole truth, are forms of selflessness that help maintain order.
Finally, we reach the last universal vice, which can be summed up simply as doubt — being weak in faith of yourself, humanity and life generally. When you have doubt it can lead to anxiety, depression and extreme emotional attachment to something or someone. It can also cause cowardice and allow for you to easily fall into temptation and other sins. Confidence is the virtue most of us could do with more of. There is nothing better than fully trusting and believing in your abilities and yourself.
And there we have it, a rough cross-cultural and multi-religious guide to the most notorious vices and the most important virtues. There are certainly more that can be thought of; this is in no way meant to be a completely exhaustive list. It is up to you to determine how you will factor each of the virtues into your life and how you will go about reducing your vices. Wherever you go, you are sure to find others following similar morals — morals that appear to be innate in all of us.
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