Contrary to what many people believe, the seven deadly sins are not spiritual lapses but examples of wrong thinking. That is to say, they are Headmind disturbances.
About 1600 years ago some Christian writers recorded eight 'evil thoughts', which, they considered, got in the way of our connection to the divine. Later on the original eight boiled down to become seven. They were:
- Self-indulgence
- Lust
- Greed
- Despair
- Rage
- Sloth
- Vanity
Self-indulgence. In the original Latin this was luxuria, or a love of luxury. But what it really means is worrying about your possessions: houses, holidays, cars, mobile phones and CD players, etc. We can become so obsessed with what we have got, or with what we haven't got that we forget to enjoy ourselves. Like all the other sins, possesiveness, is based on a loss of Awareness.
Lust. This relates to what D.H. Lawrence calls 'head sex', which has nothing to do with love or affection for another human being but simply using them (or fantasising about them) for personal gratification. Lust is closely linked to self-indulgence and greed (see below). In fact all three work together to the same result: a chronic state of dissatisfaction which the Buddha called 'dukka' (see my recent article on this: Zen things).
Greed. This one could be translated as 'addictiveness'. In which the person is never satisfied with momentary happiness, or pleasure, but always wants more. Eventually, we become addicted to particular substances, or situations, that we mistakenly believe will result in ecstasy. But the law of diminishing returns will always prevail. Some people think greed is a Bodymind problem. It isn't. Bodymind always knows when you have enough of food, drink and other substances. But Headmind clings on to pleasure because it is frightened it will never come back. So it always wants more than Bodymind can tolerate.
Despair. Another word for this is 'hopelessness', or even, self-pity. When life gets difficult Headmind just wants to give up. Instead of looking at ways to overcome problems, or to learn how to cope with them, it wants to hide away. This is the basis for what I have elsewhere called the 'Victim position'.
Rage. Not to be confused with Anger, which is a natural emotion. Rage means not doing anything about emotions like anger and bottling them up to the explosion point. Headmind is typically frightened of emotions and would prefer to ignore them. But emotions, as I have written before, are the key to an interesting life. And, where anger is concerned, it can teach us to build better relationships with other people through honest, and constructive, communication. I have written several articles about rage before and you can find them here.
Sloth. This sin has a lot do with with clinging on to your comfort zones. Instead of taking risks, exploring new horizons, exercising your pasion, and finding out more about your personal genius, you settle back into a rut. Because it somehow seems safer that way. Not a good idea.
Vanity. This one is about self-satisfaction and is a reflection of your Ego: holding on to ideas that are past their sell-by date and refusing to be humble and learn anything new. It is closely related to sloth and the end-result is the same: emotional, mental and spiritual stagnation.
One final thought: the word 'repentance' does not mean 'remorse'. It means 'think again.'
'There is no sin except stupidity'. Oscar Wilde.
