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Warrior Work
Week 33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Seven Deadly Sins Illuminated
Instead of continuing each of the 7 separately, I have integrated them into this warrior work. Feel free to continue to contemplate
them separately and together.
“PEWSLAG”, my Humanities professor told us, “is an acronym I created to help you remember the 7 deadly sins. You might think of him
as a character with the 7 deadly sins as personality traits.” With that, I saw Pewslag as a mischievous little devil like the spirits in C.S.
Lewis’ classic story ‘The Screwtape Letters’. As you move through your day, Pewslag whispers in your ear,
PRIDE – “Don’t give them the time of day.”
“I can’t believe they are even talking to you.”
ENVY – “They don’t deserve that.”
“I should be the one getting that.”
“I hope it all falls apart.”
WRATH – “Don’t let them talk to you like that!”
“Did you see how they were looking at you?”
“You can’t do that to me!”
SLOTH – “It doesn’t matter….”
“It isn’t worth it…..”
“Who cares….”
LUST – “Look at that!”
“You deserve that!”
“Do what you want! (what they want doesn’t matter)”
AVARICE – “That’s NOT ENOUGH!”
“You need MORE!”
GLUTTONY – “Look how small that portion is!”
“Have them bring you a lot, you’re really hungry.”
“Drink till you drop.”
Those whisperings may all appear as random harmless thoughts (“What’s the big deal?”, Pewslag whispers) so what
makes them so deadly? And where is the counterbalancing force or forces in this picture? Let’s start with the number seven. When
bringing light to an issue, it is important to look at the macrocosm and the microcosm, the big picture and the little picture or what the
Native Americans call the track and the trail. The number seven in Hebrew, Sheh’-bah, comes from a root word meaning complete or full.
In turn, the verb in Hebrew for “to swear” means to come under the influence of seven things. The number three is the masculine, the
number 4 is the feminine, the soul and the body, yin and yang, harmony and balance. In Islam, Judaism and Christianity there are 7
days of creation, 7 days in the week. In Buddhism there are 7 heavens, 7 hells, the evil 7 in Babylonia were a group of demons that
appeared together. There are 7 Chakras and the 7 deadly sins are balanced by the 7 graces and the 7 sacraments.
If you Google the number seven and it’s meaning and symbolism you will find an amazing wealth of information but the key point is to
see it is a number of completeness; complete communion, complete separation. With that in mind, things that are deadly (void of life)
separate one from life, separate one from others, separate one from nature and even separate one from spirit – it has to be done willfully
because energy and spirit are everywhere and in everything but we can, with willful conscious intentional choices, separate ourselves
from others, armor up our hearts and close down our spirit.
That separation in turn moves us to the concept of sin, a Greek archery term meaning “to miss the mark”. What is the target, the mark,
the goal? All of the major religions agree on this point…..it is to be in communion with God. Now how that translates into practice and
dogma can be very different but they all use some very similar concepts regarding “losing the self”, emptying the self”, “dying to oneself”,
martyrdom, self sacrifice, fasting, purifying the temple of the body, etc. Wayne Dyer even incorporated this idea of separation in his
definition of EGO – E.dging G.od O.ut. Most of you are probably familiar with the phrase, “be impeccable with your words” from ‘The Four
Agreements’. The word impeccable means “to be without sin or flaw”. So as we move into each of the 7 deadly sins, I want
you to see more clearly how through willful conscious intentional choices, thoughts, feelings and actions, you are creating your personal
heaven or hell.
You are generating separation or actualizing togetherness all based on your personal targets, marks and goals. Each of these words
has no power without your energy, the infusion of your spirit and your intent which brings them to life as you brush on the canvas of your
day with your actions and words. As I shine some light on these 7 separations and the balancing unifications, be gentle on yourself and
the others whose energies and behaviors you may recognize.
Consider how you can use your energy through your words and actions to separate or to connect and how a great archer doesn’t focus
on the miss but refocuses on hitting the next target.
PRIDE – 1. Feeling great satisfaction regarding a possession, an act, quality or relationship by which one measures one’s self worth.
2. Exaggerated high opinion of oneself, conceit.
3. Arrogant or disdainful conduct. Haughty, acting superior in manners or mannerisms. Vanity is a manifestation of pride.
4. Magnificent; majestic.
The root of pride traces back from the old English "prud", to old French "prou, prud" to the Latin "prode". Interestingly, all these roots
mean "brave, virtuous, to be good". How then did PRIDE become the first and greatest of the seven deadly sins? What "mark" or "target"
did it miss, remembering that sin "is to miss the mark, the target". How are we to understand the positive versus the negative side of
pride since one word can represent such polar energies?
The answer is found in an easily missed every day emphasized perception and intent. Note that in the above definitions, measuring or
qualifying one's place in the societal ladder or "food chain" by one's power, possessions, or even personal achievements separates
rather than connects or joins. A person can do brave, apparently virtuous or good deeds, then be exalted by the community and thus feel
proud or pleasurably satisfied with their achievement, but if the intent behind their behavior was power rather than love, then the pride
becomes exaggerated, and arrogant or snobbish behavior results.
The Greeks called this energy "hubris" which was defined as excessive pride and wanton violence. In fact, hubris was at the heart of
Greek tragedy. "Pride comes before the fall", as Agamemnon demonstrates so well in the recent "Helen of Troy" mini series. .Lucifer, the
Lord of Light, fell from heaven because his pride, his measurement of self, would not allow him to serve beings that he considered
beneath him and the other angels. His pride transformed him into Satan, literally from Hebrew, meaning, "an adversary". As Milton put it
in Paradise Lost, " It's better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven."
Even Peter, the disciple of Jesus, was prone to pride. When Jesus was washing the feet of everyone present, a job done by the
lowliest person in the household, Peter said, "You can't wash my feet". His perception was that Jesus was "too good, too high" in the
measurement of things to be doing such a lowly job. But Jesus responded that if Peter didn't allow him to wash his feet then he was not a
part of his family, his mission - to love is to serve. Thus pride becomes the parent of discontent, ingratitude, and the other six deadly sins
of envy (jealousy), wrath, sloth, lust, avarice and gluttony; all of which miss the mark of love and service but promote separation and
exaggerated self importance.
The way to keep our self esteem at a positive, healthy level and to enjoy our achievements and even be proud of the achievements of
others, is to remain humble and focused on the target of love and service while courageously moving through the roles and worlds of our
lives without measuring our worth by what we have or have accomplished but by the quality of our love in both our own life and the lives of
those we touch.
"Do not starve your happiness for vanity. Do not starve your love for pride."
LUST – 1. from the Hebrew, ta’avah and avah – to desire eagerly, to long for, crave or have an appetite for.
2. from the Greek, epithumia – a noun versus a verb meaning desire or lust. Lust and desire as a noun or verb possess NO
necessary moral connotation (from WyCliffe’s Dictionary of Theology)
3. Desire – from the Latin, desideare/desiderate – to want, to long for, to wish for – from old French, desirer – of a star,
long for the light that is absent in the day i.e. “to wish upon a star”
You might wish to substitute or use the word passion, a powerful intense emotion. As a noun, passion, lust and desire are energies
that can be used to create or destroy, to possess or to share, to free or to imprison, to separate or connect. Sexual energy, often
associated with lust and desire, can be directed through tools or techniques to:
-revitalize one’s spirit
-to release pressure
-to nurture and recharge
-to create life
-to create connections
-to manipulate and increase one’s power and status
-to empower and evolve the human spirit (eros –from which erotica comes)
-to surrender one’s power and avoid responsibility for our choices
Interestingly, the terms lust and covet are used more in the positive sense than in the negative throughout the Bible (www.ecclesia.
org/truth/covet.html). Your focus becomes your reality so a great question to ask is, “What am I focusing on doing with this energy and
what is my INTENT?” Dr. Christian Northrup spoke at Celebrate Your Life in Scottsdale, Arizona in November 2006 and told the audience
that a loving Creator didn’t give you 8000 nerves in your sexual center without having a positive purpose for it, but too often our fear
of misusing this energy or not having clarity of intent behind it’s focus leads to it’s repression and stagnation which is frustrating and
unhealthy.
“It’s better to light a single candle then to curse the darkness.” Is your light a little flame or a raging fire? Does it warm and brighten
your days or is it burning you and those around you? The answer to those questions will enlighten you on whether your lust is a sin or a
virtue, a separating force or a connecting energy. It is in your will and in your hands!
ENVY – 1. From old French, envie and the Latin, invidia; to look at sideways, or from the corner of one’s eye, a metaphor suggesting
looking down on.
2. Painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined by the desire to possess the same advantage.
I’m going to move into another word that captures the energy of this concept with more light – if you are ever confused – without
fusion, look around for other words that can raise your awareness of the underlying intents and energies at work and reaffirm your intent
and ask the intent of those you are engaged with.
Jealous: 1. Envious, bitter or unhappy over another's advantages, possessions, or luck
2. Possessive of something or someone
3. Watchful and suspicious of anything or anyone that threatens loss of power or control over someone or something
4. Demanding loyalty by threat of force or mental, emotional coercion
The word jealous comes from the French word "gelos", the Latin "zelosis" and originally from the Greek "zelos" meaning competitive
rivalry. The word zealous arises out of this word also. Zealous people are very energetic and have strong goals whether they are
constructive or destructive, and jealous energy can appear flattering in one instant and dangerous in the next based on one's own goals
or position. Interestingly, competitive rivalry can bring out the best and the worst in people. In times of competition in the job market, the
dating and social world, even in the halls of church and state, our actions, responses and reactions shed light on who we and those
around us are at our core.
Through our socialization process, both men and women have been trained to groom themselves to be "a good catch". We
encourage "competitive rivalry" for the attention of allies and associates but we don't focus enough on what kind of human being we want
to be, what kind of human being we want to evolve into and what we want to create with our time here in ourselves, our relationships,
our jobs or our service to humankind. More and more we are becoming conscious of the rivalry between form and spirit. How do we
bridge the paradox of being in the world but not of the world? The key is going to the root of ourselves and our character and purifying our
INTENT, PERCEPTIONS AND BEHAVIORS!
The real ROOT of jealousy is the FOCUS on what we HAVE instead of who we ARE. Too often we get our sense of self esteem from
what we have, who we have, what we drive, where we live, what we wear, what we control, who we control instead of what we do with our
energy through our actions and words. If you want to study this concept on a much deeper level, Eric Fromm wrote a great book called,
"To Have or To Be". But since I am giving you thoughts for food to feed your soul, the next time you feel "jealous", take a mental or
physical step back and look at the intent you are moving from. Do you want to move from an intent of power and possessiveness? Do you
want to use/waste your energy trying to control and manipulate people and things to boost you ego and self importance?
When you move from love and light, then you can move enthusiastically(moving in or with the fire of God) in relationship with others
who have goals of evolving and growing together, who have no need of possessing or controlling one another.
“Love people and use things instead of loving things and using people”
WRATH - 1. Forceful, often vindictive (punishing/vengeful) anger
2. Intense anger often on a large scale (unconcerned with consequence)
3. Belligerence aroused by a real or supposed wrong personified as one of the seven deadly sins
4. Divine retribution for sin
5. Passionate energy that arises to stop evil
Wrath comes from the Old English word wraththu meaning "angry". Anger in turn comes from Old Norse angr meaning "sorrow", from
the Latin angor meaning "a strangling, anguish" and angere "to strangle" and lastly from the Sanskrit amhas meaning "pain, ugly and to
choke/squeeze".
Interestingly there are many degrees or measurements of this feeling that starts with anger and proceeds through resentment,
indignation, ire, rage, fury and WRATH. But even more interesting is that it all starts with pain and sorrow within us and morphs into an
outwardly destructive action that wants to release or vent that feeling of pain and anguish. Sorrow and pain can choke and squeeze us off
from our dreams, our view of the world and our friends. It can also open us to the core of our being and where our heart is! When it
separates us from others then we are in denial of our humanity and we have missed the mark of being energetic, loving beings.
SLOTH - "Vanity of vanity, all is vanity."
Ecclesiastes
Sloth derives from the old English "slou" which then became "slow". Thus sloth was someone who was lazy, slow or has an adversion
to work or exertion of most any kind. Vanity comes from a few Hebrew words that revolve around the idea of worthlessness,
purposelessness, or to act without meaning. The Latin word vanus or vanitas means "empty", "nothing" or "devoid of meaning or
purpose". This grew into the meaning of a vain person as one who takes excessive pride in "nothing" or rather ostentatious shows
regarding the use of wealth, clothing, and other possessions that at their heart are nothing. Interestingly, this vanity is at the root of sloth
because when the energy of sloth fills our being, we have the elucidation that everything we do is in vain. We are beings who are going to
die and nothing really matters. Sloth is akin to hopelessness. When you move from love, regardless of what you do or don't do, then you
can enjoy everything about the journey; you can see the energy behind the "maya", the illusion that is form, the vanity and the nothingness.
And you will be applying the warrior paradox from the Toltec tradition of Juan Matus that says, "Act as if everything is important. Realize
NO THING is important."
AVARICE – from the Latin, avere, “to covet” (see lust) with the emphasis on money, too strong a desire for wealth or money; GREED.
(see envy) Here again is the focus on getting our sense of self from what we have instead of who we are.
“All conflict arises from greed and possessiveness”
SunTzu, The Art of War
GLUTTONY – from the Latin, glutton, to gulp down
-one who eats, drinks, works etc to excess.
The challenge with gluttony is that the person can be chasing the dopamine rush from the food, drink etc or their ego can be driving
them to excess because they “deserve it”. They perceive their excess as befitting their status. Carlos Castaneda tells a great story about
dragging his mentor, Juan Matus, to a talk on the rainforest. Afterwards, Carlos spoke admirably about the speaker and his love for the
environment. Don Juan replied, “I don’t believe him. How can he love the rainforest so much when he has no love for himself? He is easily
60 or more pounds overweight and he smokes excessively. He will be dead long before the rainforest.”
Each of the seven deadly sins separates us from others, from what we would serve and even life itself. To love is to serve and both
love and enthusiastic service connects us to energy and spirit, to each other and to God. It is your choice to separate or to connect and
those willful conscious intentional choices determines whether you live in hell or in heaven. Love yourself and let your love and light
illuminate your path!
Peter Hill is a Master Instructor of TaiChi and Martial Arts He entertains, educates and empowers students of all ages and
encourages them to cultivate their gifts and share them with others. He can be reached at www.worldtaichi.com or
jempeh@cox.net
By Peter Hill, Copyright 2009
www.getittogether.net
Warrior Week Home >>
Week 33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Seven Deadly Sins Illuminated
Instead of continuing each of the 7 separately, I have integrated them into this warrior work. Feel free to continue to contemplate
them separately and together.
“PEWSLAG”, my Humanities professor told us, “is an acronym I created to help you remember the 7 deadly sins. You might think of him
as a character with the 7 deadly sins as personality traits.” With that, I saw Pewslag as a mischievous little devil like the spirits in C.S.
Lewis’ classic story ‘The Screwtape Letters’. As you move through your day, Pewslag whispers in your ear,
PRIDE – “Don’t give them the time of day.”
“I can’t believe they are even talking to you.”
ENVY – “They don’t deserve that.”
“I should be the one getting that.”
“I hope it all falls apart.”
WRATH – “Don’t let them talk to you like that!”
“Did you see how they were looking at you?”
“You can’t do that to me!”
SLOTH – “It doesn’t matter….”
“It isn’t worth it…..”
“Who cares….”
LUST – “Look at that!”
“You deserve that!”
“Do what you want! (what they want doesn’t matter)”
AVARICE – “That’s NOT ENOUGH!”
“You need MORE!”
GLUTTONY – “Look how small that portion is!”
“Have them bring you a lot, you’re really hungry.”
“Drink till you drop.”
Those whisperings may all appear as random harmless thoughts (“What’s the big deal?”, Pewslag whispers) so what
makes them so deadly? And where is the counterbalancing force or forces in this picture? Let’s start with the number seven. When
bringing light to an issue, it is important to look at the macrocosm and the microcosm, the big picture and the little picture or what the
Native Americans call the track and the trail. The number seven in Hebrew, Sheh’-bah, comes from a root word meaning complete or full.
In turn, the verb in Hebrew for “to swear” means to come under the influence of seven things. The number three is the masculine, the
number 4 is the feminine, the soul and the body, yin and yang, harmony and balance. In Islam, Judaism and Christianity there are 7
days of creation, 7 days in the week. In Buddhism there are 7 heavens, 7 hells, the evil 7 in Babylonia were a group of demons that
appeared together. There are 7 Chakras and the 7 deadly sins are balanced by the 7 graces and the 7 sacraments.
If you Google the number seven and it’s meaning and symbolism you will find an amazing wealth of information but the key point is to
see it is a number of completeness; complete communion, complete separation. With that in mind, things that are deadly (void of life)
separate one from life, separate one from others, separate one from nature and even separate one from spirit – it has to be done willfully
because energy and spirit are everywhere and in everything but we can, with willful conscious intentional choices, separate ourselves
from others, armor up our hearts and close down our spirit.
That separation in turn moves us to the concept of sin, a Greek archery term meaning “to miss the mark”. What is the target, the mark,
the goal? All of the major religions agree on this point…..it is to be in communion with God. Now how that translates into practice and
dogma can be very different but they all use some very similar concepts regarding “losing the self”, emptying the self”, “dying to oneself”,
martyrdom, self sacrifice, fasting, purifying the temple of the body, etc. Wayne Dyer even incorporated this idea of separation in his
definition of EGO – E.dging G.od O.ut. Most of you are probably familiar with the phrase, “be impeccable with your words” from ‘The Four
Agreements’. The word impeccable means “to be without sin or flaw”. So as we move into each of the 7 deadly sins, I want
you to see more clearly how through willful conscious intentional choices, thoughts, feelings and actions, you are creating your personal
heaven or hell.
You are generating separation or actualizing togetherness all based on your personal targets, marks and goals. Each of these words
has no power without your energy, the infusion of your spirit and your intent which brings them to life as you brush on the canvas of your
day with your actions and words. As I shine some light on these 7 separations and the balancing unifications, be gentle on yourself and
the others whose energies and behaviors you may recognize.
Consider how you can use your energy through your words and actions to separate or to connect and how a great archer doesn’t focus
on the miss but refocuses on hitting the next target.
PRIDE – 1. Feeling great satisfaction regarding a possession, an act, quality or relationship by which one measures one’s self worth.
2. Exaggerated high opinion of oneself, conceit.
3. Arrogant or disdainful conduct. Haughty, acting superior in manners or mannerisms. Vanity is a manifestation of pride.
4. Magnificent; majestic.
The root of pride traces back from the old English "prud", to old French "prou, prud" to the Latin "prode". Interestingly, all these roots
mean "brave, virtuous, to be good". How then did PRIDE become the first and greatest of the seven deadly sins? What "mark" or "target"
did it miss, remembering that sin "is to miss the mark, the target". How are we to understand the positive versus the negative side of
pride since one word can represent such polar energies?
The answer is found in an easily missed every day emphasized perception and intent. Note that in the above definitions, measuring or
qualifying one's place in the societal ladder or "food chain" by one's power, possessions, or even personal achievements separates
rather than connects or joins. A person can do brave, apparently virtuous or good deeds, then be exalted by the community and thus feel
proud or pleasurably satisfied with their achievement, but if the intent behind their behavior was power rather than love, then the pride
becomes exaggerated, and arrogant or snobbish behavior results.
The Greeks called this energy "hubris" which was defined as excessive pride and wanton violence. In fact, hubris was at the heart of
Greek tragedy. "Pride comes before the fall", as Agamemnon demonstrates so well in the recent "Helen of Troy" mini series. .Lucifer, the
Lord of Light, fell from heaven because his pride, his measurement of self, would not allow him to serve beings that he considered
beneath him and the other angels. His pride transformed him into Satan, literally from Hebrew, meaning, "an adversary". As Milton put it
in Paradise Lost, " It's better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven."
Even Peter, the disciple of Jesus, was prone to pride. When Jesus was washing the feet of everyone present, a job done by the
lowliest person in the household, Peter said, "You can't wash my feet". His perception was that Jesus was "too good, too high" in the
measurement of things to be doing such a lowly job. But Jesus responded that if Peter didn't allow him to wash his feet then he was not a
part of his family, his mission - to love is to serve. Thus pride becomes the parent of discontent, ingratitude, and the other six deadly sins
of envy (jealousy), wrath, sloth, lust, avarice and gluttony; all of which miss the mark of love and service but promote separation and
exaggerated self importance.
The way to keep our self esteem at a positive, healthy level and to enjoy our achievements and even be proud of the achievements of
others, is to remain humble and focused on the target of love and service while courageously moving through the roles and worlds of our
lives without measuring our worth by what we have or have accomplished but by the quality of our love in both our own life and the lives of
those we touch.
"Do not starve your happiness for vanity. Do not starve your love for pride."
LUST – 1. from the Hebrew, ta’avah and avah – to desire eagerly, to long for, crave or have an appetite for.
2. from the Greek, epithumia – a noun versus a verb meaning desire or lust. Lust and desire as a noun or verb possess NO
necessary moral connotation (from WyCliffe’s Dictionary of Theology)
3. Desire – from the Latin, desideare/desiderate – to want, to long for, to wish for – from old French, desirer – of a star,
long for the light that is absent in the day i.e. “to wish upon a star”
You might wish to substitute or use the word passion, a powerful intense emotion. As a noun, passion, lust and desire are energies
that can be used to create or destroy, to possess or to share, to free or to imprison, to separate or connect. Sexual energy, often
associated with lust and desire, can be directed through tools or techniques to:
-revitalize one’s spirit
-to release pressure
-to nurture and recharge
-to create life
-to create connections
-to manipulate and increase one’s power and status
-to empower and evolve the human spirit (eros –from which erotica comes)
-to surrender one’s power and avoid responsibility for our choices
Interestingly, the terms lust and covet are used more in the positive sense than in the negative throughout the Bible (www.ecclesia.
org/truth/covet.html). Your focus becomes your reality so a great question to ask is, “What am I focusing on doing with this energy and
what is my INTENT?” Dr. Christian Northrup spoke at Celebrate Your Life in Scottsdale, Arizona in November 2006 and told the audience
that a loving Creator didn’t give you 8000 nerves in your sexual center without having a positive purpose for it, but too often our fear
of misusing this energy or not having clarity of intent behind it’s focus leads to it’s repression and stagnation which is frustrating and
unhealthy.
“It’s better to light a single candle then to curse the darkness.” Is your light a little flame or a raging fire? Does it warm and brighten
your days or is it burning you and those around you? The answer to those questions will enlighten you on whether your lust is a sin or a
virtue, a separating force or a connecting energy. It is in your will and in your hands!
ENVY – 1. From old French, envie and the Latin, invidia; to look at sideways, or from the corner of one’s eye, a metaphor suggesting
looking down on.
2. Painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined by the desire to possess the same advantage.
I’m going to move into another word that captures the energy of this concept with more light – if you are ever confused – without
fusion, look around for other words that can raise your awareness of the underlying intents and energies at work and reaffirm your intent
and ask the intent of those you are engaged with.
Jealous: 1. Envious, bitter or unhappy over another's advantages, possessions, or luck
2. Possessive of something or someone
3. Watchful and suspicious of anything or anyone that threatens loss of power or control over someone or something
4. Demanding loyalty by threat of force or mental, emotional coercion
The word jealous comes from the French word "gelos", the Latin "zelosis" and originally from the Greek "zelos" meaning competitive
rivalry. The word zealous arises out of this word also. Zealous people are very energetic and have strong goals whether they are
constructive or destructive, and jealous energy can appear flattering in one instant and dangerous in the next based on one's own goals
or position. Interestingly, competitive rivalry can bring out the best and the worst in people. In times of competition in the job market, the
dating and social world, even in the halls of church and state, our actions, responses and reactions shed light on who we and those
around us are at our core.
Through our socialization process, both men and women have been trained to groom themselves to be "a good catch". We
encourage "competitive rivalry" for the attention of allies and associates but we don't focus enough on what kind of human being we want
to be, what kind of human being we want to evolve into and what we want to create with our time here in ourselves, our relationships,
our jobs or our service to humankind. More and more we are becoming conscious of the rivalry between form and spirit. How do we
bridge the paradox of being in the world but not of the world? The key is going to the root of ourselves and our character and purifying our
INTENT, PERCEPTIONS AND BEHAVIORS!
The real ROOT of jealousy is the FOCUS on what we HAVE instead of who we ARE. Too often we get our sense of self esteem from
what we have, who we have, what we drive, where we live, what we wear, what we control, who we control instead of what we do with our
energy through our actions and words. If you want to study this concept on a much deeper level, Eric Fromm wrote a great book called,
"To Have or To Be". But since I am giving you thoughts for food to feed your soul, the next time you feel "jealous", take a mental or
physical step back and look at the intent you are moving from. Do you want to move from an intent of power and possessiveness? Do you
want to use/waste your energy trying to control and manipulate people and things to boost you ego and self importance?
When you move from love and light, then you can move enthusiastically(moving in or with the fire of God) in relationship with others
who have goals of evolving and growing together, who have no need of possessing or controlling one another.
“Love people and use things instead of loving things and using people”
WRATH - 1. Forceful, often vindictive (punishing/vengeful) anger
2. Intense anger often on a large scale (unconcerned with consequence)
3. Belligerence aroused by a real or supposed wrong personified as one of the seven deadly sins
4. Divine retribution for sin
5. Passionate energy that arises to stop evil
Wrath comes from the Old English word wraththu meaning "angry". Anger in turn comes from Old Norse angr meaning "sorrow", from
the Latin angor meaning "a strangling, anguish" and angere "to strangle" and lastly from the Sanskrit amhas meaning "pain, ugly and to
choke/squeeze".
Interestingly there are many degrees or measurements of this feeling that starts with anger and proceeds through resentment,
indignation, ire, rage, fury and WRATH. But even more interesting is that it all starts with pain and sorrow within us and morphs into an
outwardly destructive action that wants to release or vent that feeling of pain and anguish. Sorrow and pain can choke and squeeze us off
from our dreams, our view of the world and our friends. It can also open us to the core of our being and where our heart is! When it
separates us from others then we are in denial of our humanity and we have missed the mark of being energetic, loving beings.
SLOTH - "Vanity of vanity, all is vanity."
Ecclesiastes
Sloth derives from the old English "slou" which then became "slow". Thus sloth was someone who was lazy, slow or has an adversion
to work or exertion of most any kind. Vanity comes from a few Hebrew words that revolve around the idea of worthlessness,
purposelessness, or to act without meaning. The Latin word vanus or vanitas means "empty", "nothing" or "devoid of meaning or
purpose". This grew into the meaning of a vain person as one who takes excessive pride in "nothing" or rather ostentatious shows
regarding the use of wealth, clothing, and other possessions that at their heart are nothing. Interestingly, this vanity is at the root of sloth
because when the energy of sloth fills our being, we have the elucidation that everything we do is in vain. We are beings who are going to
die and nothing really matters. Sloth is akin to hopelessness. When you move from love, regardless of what you do or don't do, then you
can enjoy everything about the journey; you can see the energy behind the "maya", the illusion that is form, the vanity and the nothingness.
And you will be applying the warrior paradox from the Toltec tradition of Juan Matus that says, "Act as if everything is important. Realize
NO THING is important."
AVARICE – from the Latin, avere, “to covet” (see lust) with the emphasis on money, too strong a desire for wealth or money; GREED.
(see envy) Here again is the focus on getting our sense of self from what we have instead of who we are.
“All conflict arises from greed and possessiveness”
SunTzu, The Art of War
GLUTTONY – from the Latin, glutton, to gulp down
-one who eats, drinks, works etc to excess.
The challenge with gluttony is that the person can be chasing the dopamine rush from the food, drink etc or their ego can be driving
them to excess because they “deserve it”. They perceive their excess as befitting their status. Carlos Castaneda tells a great story about
dragging his mentor, Juan Matus, to a talk on the rainforest. Afterwards, Carlos spoke admirably about the speaker and his love for the
environment. Don Juan replied, “I don’t believe him. How can he love the rainforest so much when he has no love for himself? He is easily
60 or more pounds overweight and he smokes excessively. He will be dead long before the rainforest.”
Each of the seven deadly sins separates us from others, from what we would serve and even life itself. To love is to serve and both
love and enthusiastic service connects us to energy and spirit, to each other and to God. It is your choice to separate or to connect and
those willful conscious intentional choices determines whether you live in hell or in heaven. Love yourself and let your love and light
illuminate your path!
Peter Hill is a Master Instructor of TaiChi and Martial Arts He entertains, educates and empowers students of all ages and
encourages them to cultivate their gifts and share them with others. He can be reached at www.worldtaichi.com or
jempeh@cox.net
By Peter Hill, Copyright 2009
www.getittogether.net
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