"The 7 deadly sins, each with its distinct characteristics but all leading to the fall of man, sending him straight to hell!!!"
I started my research on the sins, since the day i was told they were evil and should be kept in check. As a matter of habbit, I wanted reasons. Why are the sins evil and deadly??
is it because they send you to hell???
well, if that is the case, I don't give a damn to what happens to me after i'm dead.
is it because they lead to a fall???
umm, i think sometimes a fall is worth the pleaures that precede it.
What makes us human is our intelligence and instincts - the two things which other animals lack. So, If we lose them, we're no better than a pet dog. But the very concept of sins falls in the path of satisfying our instincs and I have always found this contradiction very annoying.
"look, but don't touch. touch, but don't taste. taste, but don't swallow" [Devil's Advocate] - aren't the rules in opposition to our instincts!!??
Pride is said to be the strongest and deadlist sin. But ain't it pride that gives you confidence to face the world? You know why pride is deadliest? It is simply because it is in direct opposition to the supremacy of god. This is what one of the sites has to say about pride - "Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity"
What is wrong if someone believes in his/her abilities? I would never undermine the strength of human caliber and the power of the human mind. I think people should be proud of who they are. Pride, definitely, is my strongest sin ...and i'm proud of it.
For those proud people, who care about what happens to them after they die, here is what happens.
Reward in hell - You'll be broken on the wheel. (Whatever that means >:-])
Envy is the second sin on the list. It is defined as "desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation". Well, this is the sin, least known to me. I have practically no element of envy in me so, never bothered to really understand it. But one thing i realised is that the cure for envy is pride. It's strange that the two deadliest sins are in direct opposition. I don't envy anyone because i'm so proud of myself that i never have to envy what others have. But then, a little envy is also required. It helps you set short term goals. What's wrong if you desire to be smart or handsome or rich like someone else? It should, in fact, give you a reason to work hard and give your best to achieve what you aim for.
Reward you get in hell - "You'll be put in freezing water" (Hypothermia won't kill you as you're already dead)
Anger/Wrath comes next in the list and here's what is said about it "Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury". This is one interesting sin because it could destroy you but if given a direction, could rocket you right to the top. It is, perhaps, the one sin that needs serious and concious control. I know this because after pride, this would be my next strong sin. Wrath is like a fire that burns inside you. Used with care, it can fuel your engines and allowed to grow, it can burn you out. You should play with fire only if you have the confidence that you can control it. The best part about wrath is that it can give you the focus and super-human strength to achieve your goals. It is an inseparable component of passion.
Reward in hell - "You'll be dismembered alive" (Victory matters, not the pieces of my body)
Sloth is kinda self-explanatory. Anyway the definition goes like this - "Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work". Spiritual work, well don't know and don't care but as far as physical work is concerned, I find this more of a health related issue, rather than a deadly sin that sends you to hell. It's your body and you have the right to do with it, whatever you want. Anyway, the heavens differ and "care" about you. So, people! stay fit, else you have a reward waiting for you in hell.
Reward in hell - "You'll be thrown into snake pits" (I'd love to be with snakes)
Greed is the next big sin. "Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual". Fact is that greed and envy, are perhaps, the only sins i hate because they have no sense of honour. Material wealth and gains are required to enjoy this short life. Hence, desire is something very natural and is fine till there is care and concern for others. The moment you lose that concern, it becomes greed. For me, greed is the biggest sin because it does no good to you at all while it destroys you and your reputation. If someone disagrees, i'd love to hear the good side of it... this side i might have missed.
Reward in hell - "You'll be boiled alive in oil" (Can you smell what Satan's cookin')
Gluttony or "an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires" is termed as the next sin. But I find this pretty controvertial. How would you define the boundry of "what a person requires". Frankly, what beyond air, water, food and shelter??? if that's the case, we are all sinners for the technological progress we made. As per the definition, the stone age seems to be the only place where we were consuming only what we required. We live in a social system and there can be no finite boundry to one's requirements. Now, there is practically no gap between necessities and luxuries. I would simply strike this off the list but hell is ready to welcome us all.
Reward in hell - "you'll be force-fed rats, toads, and snakes" (vegetarians?? ...and btw, what sin did the rats, toads and snakes commit???)
Lust - the forbidden fruit ...the taboo!!! Here is the definition "Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body". I see absolutely nothing wrong with lust. I have already talked about it in a couple of older posts. Lust is the desire to satisfy one's senses and denying your insticts is denying the very thing that makes you human [The Matix]. Lust would definitely be my next strongest sin after wrath. Lust and wrath together make passion, one of the strongest feelings known to man ...the fuel to some of our greatest successes.
Reward in hell - "You'll be smothered in fire and brimstone" (passion burns hotter than that, so it's okay)
...well, that's my take on the 7 "deadly" sins. At the end of it I feel I am a proud, angry, lusty, glutton and sloth sinner. What turns my sins into my strengths are the virtues of honour, honesty, love, strength and courage. While i have a strong element of pride, the element of honour in me is equally high and that makes pride harmless, yet effective. With my anger and lust, i have love and honesty which makes me walk the right path, with my passions still being my guiding force. Finally, if all shall fail and i shall fall, I have the strength and the courage to get up and walk my path ...again.
I live with my sins and love them for they are an integral part of my identity.
references from http://deadlysins.com/
I started my research on the sins, since the day i was told they were evil and should be kept in check. As a matter of habbit, I wanted reasons. Why are the sins evil and deadly??
is it because they send you to hell???
well, if that is the case, I don't give a damn to what happens to me after i'm dead.
is it because they lead to a fall???
umm, i think sometimes a fall is worth the pleaures that precede it.
What makes us human is our intelligence and instincts - the two things which other animals lack. So, If we lose them, we're no better than a pet dog. But the very concept of sins falls in the path of satisfying our instincs and I have always found this contradiction very annoying.
"look, but don't touch. touch, but don't taste. taste, but don't swallow" [Devil's Advocate] - aren't the rules in opposition to our instincts!!??
Pride is said to be the strongest and deadlist sin. But ain't it pride that gives you confidence to face the world? You know why pride is deadliest? It is simply because it is in direct opposition to the supremacy of god. This is what one of the sites has to say about pride - "Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity"
What is wrong if someone believes in his/her abilities? I would never undermine the strength of human caliber and the power of the human mind. I think people should be proud of who they are. Pride, definitely, is my strongest sin ...and i'm proud of it.
For those proud people, who care about what happens to them after they die, here is what happens.
Reward in hell - You'll be broken on the wheel. (Whatever that means >:-])
Envy is the second sin on the list. It is defined as "desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation". Well, this is the sin, least known to me. I have practically no element of envy in me so, never bothered to really understand it. But one thing i realised is that the cure for envy is pride. It's strange that the two deadliest sins are in direct opposition. I don't envy anyone because i'm so proud of myself that i never have to envy what others have. But then, a little envy is also required. It helps you set short term goals. What's wrong if you desire to be smart or handsome or rich like someone else? It should, in fact, give you a reason to work hard and give your best to achieve what you aim for.
Reward you get in hell - "You'll be put in freezing water" (Hypothermia won't kill you as you're already dead)
Anger/Wrath comes next in the list and here's what is said about it "Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury". This is one interesting sin because it could destroy you but if given a direction, could rocket you right to the top. It is, perhaps, the one sin that needs serious and concious control. I know this because after pride, this would be my next strong sin. Wrath is like a fire that burns inside you. Used with care, it can fuel your engines and allowed to grow, it can burn you out. You should play with fire only if you have the confidence that you can control it. The best part about wrath is that it can give you the focus and super-human strength to achieve your goals. It is an inseparable component of passion.
Reward in hell - "You'll be dismembered alive" (Victory matters, not the pieces of my body)
Sloth is kinda self-explanatory. Anyway the definition goes like this - "Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work". Spiritual work, well don't know and don't care but as far as physical work is concerned, I find this more of a health related issue, rather than a deadly sin that sends you to hell. It's your body and you have the right to do with it, whatever you want. Anyway, the heavens differ and "care" about you. So, people! stay fit, else you have a reward waiting for you in hell.
Reward in hell - "You'll be thrown into snake pits" (I'd love to be with snakes)
Greed is the next big sin. "Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual". Fact is that greed and envy, are perhaps, the only sins i hate because they have no sense of honour. Material wealth and gains are required to enjoy this short life. Hence, desire is something very natural and is fine till there is care and concern for others. The moment you lose that concern, it becomes greed. For me, greed is the biggest sin because it does no good to you at all while it destroys you and your reputation. If someone disagrees, i'd love to hear the good side of it... this side i might have missed.
Reward in hell - "You'll be boiled alive in oil" (Can you smell what Satan's cookin')
Gluttony or "an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires" is termed as the next sin. But I find this pretty controvertial. How would you define the boundry of "what a person requires". Frankly, what beyond air, water, food and shelter??? if that's the case, we are all sinners for the technological progress we made. As per the definition, the stone age seems to be the only place where we were consuming only what we required. We live in a social system and there can be no finite boundry to one's requirements. Now, there is practically no gap between necessities and luxuries. I would simply strike this off the list but hell is ready to welcome us all.
Reward in hell - "you'll be force-fed rats, toads, and snakes" (vegetarians?? ...and btw, what sin did the rats, toads and snakes commit???)
Lust - the forbidden fruit ...the taboo!!! Here is the definition "Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body". I see absolutely nothing wrong with lust. I have already talked about it in a couple of older posts. Lust is the desire to satisfy one's senses and denying your insticts is denying the very thing that makes you human [The Matix]. Lust would definitely be my next strongest sin after wrath. Lust and wrath together make passion, one of the strongest feelings known to man ...the fuel to some of our greatest successes.
Reward in hell - "You'll be smothered in fire and brimstone" (passion burns hotter than that, so it's okay)
...well, that's my take on the 7 "deadly" sins. At the end of it I feel I am a proud, angry, lusty, glutton and sloth sinner. What turns my sins into my strengths are the virtues of honour, honesty, love, strength and courage. While i have a strong element of pride, the element of honour in me is equally high and that makes pride harmless, yet effective. With my anger and lust, i have love and honesty which makes me walk the right path, with my passions still being my guiding force. Finally, if all shall fail and i shall fall, I have the strength and the courage to get up and walk my path ...again.
I live with my sins and love them for they are an integral part of my identity.
references from http://deadlysins.com/
10 comments:
Picture perfect description of yourself there :)
"Victory matters, not the pieces of my body"???????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what was that???????im totally bewildered.
hmm,i dont totally agree with you,cos im more of a conformist rather than a non conformist.
doesnt mean i dont commit any sins,but i dont try to justify em by the logic u tried to.. :-)
didnt quite get to reading the whole thing. stopped where you start detailing them :)
is instinct a differentiating factor for humans!? i say, the pet dog too has intelligence & instinct. just that the mode of expression it chooses is something we are not familiar with... yet.
@sabita - yeah, me as always
@sagar - well said, and indeed some rules can be bent... though, i break most of them
@sameera - don't be bewildered. Once you get to know me better, it will be less of a surprise. btw, I have not tried to justify my sins as I'm not answerable to anyone but myself. I've just written what i think about them.
you have missed a very basic point...there is no 'absolute sin' in this world...whatever a person chooses to be a sin for himself would be bad to commit("i won't allow myself to indulge in extreme sex, and call it lust, and only i get to make that choice for myself and yes, i get to decide what is 'extreme' for me")...everything else should be fine.
then it depends on what a particular person has chosen for himself: a wise person will have a greater probability of making right choices for him/herself than a less wiser person. those who are not confident enough to make choices for themselves ONLY need to resort to their favourite religions, which could act as a relatively safe (but a blanket) rule set for everyone.
eg: arrogance in me might be a good thing but it might look like a bad thing in someone else. reverse may also be true - eg. generosity...if a person starts giving away too much to others in a way that affects his own family, then that's definitely a sin.
the biggest compliment i can give to your post is the fact that it generated so much ranting from my side! i can't believe you are from hyderabad :)
(why not allow anonymous comments? a word verifier should be sufficient to ward-off most of the spam IMO)
@Sami -
finally some words of wisdom from someone. I liked your comment because we happen to share the same views, especially about the need for a religion. Life is to enjoy to the extremes and as you said, you set the limit for the extreme.
BTW, what makes it hard to believe that I'm from Hyderabad???
Reg. Anonymous comments, well, when i get a comment, i like to reply to a finite entity and not shoot an arrow in the air. It is not about the spam, actually.
Hmm.. fundoo stuff re anna.
Check out this depiction of
envy of one artist.
The gallery of seven sins still in the making, I think.
@kiran -
awesome dude!! Can't imagine the precision with which these paintings have been done. The expressions are flawless. Envy is simply superb and needs a special mention!!!
meh, that's a crude way of complimenting someone belonging to the same place...a bad habit i somehow got into...one that is worth some effort to get rid of.
very interesting way of agreeing and confronting every sin.I loved reading the whole bit.
Harsh
www.mantrablogs.contentmantra.com
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