I really enjoyed the illustration of your ideas. This subject can be difficult to wrap your head around, but I think that you support your arguments well with the diagram. When it comes to the concept of wrath, I am more familiar and in tune with the concept of wrath as conceptualized by eastern thought. In the Tibetan Book of the Dying, for example, there is a section on the Wrathful Deities. At the moment death, the dying person goes through several stages called Bardos. The person has visions of paradise and visions of hell. One of those hellish visions is the wrathful deities, which are shown as demons and monsters. A naive person may find these visions fearsome and scary. The dying person is advised not to be fearful or attracted to these visions, but instead see them for what they are: the restless active essence of pure consciousness. Indeed, their wrath removes the obstacles of ignorance and help one achieve self awareness and enlightenment. Unfortunately, no one has attempted to describe these conceptions of wrath in the more precise and scientific language of the west, though they appear in the iconography and thought of eastern religion.
Your approach on the subject is more in tune with the systematic and down-to-earth process that we take in the west. It's designed to improve one's mental functioning in the here and now. I don't have much to add, except that the concept should also be seen in the context of the differences that exists between us humans. For example, men and women are prone to wrath in different ways. There are certain things that could incite wrath in you as a woman, while those things may not bother me at all as a man, and vice versa. There may also be cultural differences. Broadly speaking, people of northern European descent have a repution for being less excitable than their southern European counterparts. They express wrath in different ways. Do you think that those group differences, like gender and culture, come into play in your conceptualization of wrath?
Hey @litguru,
thank you for the additions, I welcome them! It's the beauty of the comment section that a given topic can be enriched by what the readers have further to say. I will have a look into the given link.
I wonder, If I will be able doing that, once my last hour has come. Now I am warned :)
Yes, I agree about the systematic approach, it's very much designed for us westerners.
I see my piece as part of a bigger picture within the different approaches of what interests me and what stylistic means I choose. I enjoy switching between literature, art, science, philosophy, life stories and doing different things in form and expression.
You are right, the dimension in this text alone seems rather shallow, I have thought about making additions myself. I decided against it because I wanted to be as brief as possible. You know I have certain difficulties with that - LOL - the work begins where the above exercise ends.
It has the broader aim of dealing with one's maturation. For this, it requires problem naming. You and I have already established that different ways lead to identifying what someone might have a problem with in the first place. Whereas, of course, the scholarly Christians and Buddhists and all religions have long known what the human weaknesses are.
Here it was a matter of finding the stairs in one's intimate sphere for oneself using the example of rage - "fortunately" we have seven sins in total and their sub-categories :-D - that lead to where one would like to develop. If wrath is not necessarily a tormenting side of existence for the reader him or herself, then he or she will surely find another un-virtue, I have no doubt! HaHa :D
I certainly agree that there are differences (very much so!) of a cultural nature and that men and women differ in this as well, in fact each person is unique in their own way. Even the form of the day may decide.
It is reflected in the individual himself who wants to do something with this exercise. One does not need to take cultural or gender differences into account here, because one is carrying out a process in an intimate way (you with yourself).
A person who suffers from melancholy, for example, would probably choose a different un-virtue for himself to do the exercise. Telling a fish to save itself from a river flood by climbing onto a tree would certainly be pointless :)
Just go with the flow 😆
I think this is a wonderful approach at describing your concepts. I haven't given careful consideration to these issues before, so seeing illustrations is very helpful.
Yes, good call. It can quickly become unruly when you have too many concepts up in the air.
Maybe it depends on how aware the person is of the "sin" at any given moment. Someone who is aware of their propensity for wrath and takes deliberate steps to change feelings/behaviors, may not be a slave to it or any other sin. Being aware of all sins at every moment is exhausting, however, so very few of us can achieve this level of self mastery, as you point out. Religious practitioners from the east have developed systems to control extremes emotions and behaviors, but they often developed these systems in the comfort of their monestaries, away from the pressures of the real world. So one has to question how applicable their teachings are to the rest of the world. Same goes for the stoics, who are very much in fashion today, they were usually men of means with all the time in the world to think and ponder such matters. So I wonder how universal their teachings really are. We assume that these learned individuals spoke in terms that transcend class, age, culture, and gender. Still, a part of me wonders.
Great topic! Thank you @erh.germany :)
You need not to answer on this. I use this space as a reminder for me - maybe will write about it one day.
So what the men did, basically acting against their own teachings, is to avoid worldly, that is, sexual desires in the form of abstinence and celibacy. The logical consequence of this was the avoidance of the feminine and thus their demonisation as impure seductresses or ambitious heads of households (to support themselves and their brood). The intelligent teachings themselves state that "avoidance" is merely the other side of the coin and that any persona non grata will become more of a problem the more one tries to banish this persona. The banishment of sexuality and thus of fatherhood and motherhood led quite naturally to what today is probably psychologically called "repression" and "compensation of repression".
I consider the Christian Reformation, i.e. the abandonment of celibacy within the priesthood, to be correct, but here too I would not be dogmatic and now demonise celibacy by all means. They should remain personal decisions, not imposed or punishable ones.