Deriving the Seven Deadly Sins

The following is not intended as an argument that proves anything. Rather, it’s a bead of thoughts, where one thought more or less logically follows from the previous, as beads on a necklace.

Imagine a human being as composed of body, emotions, thoughts, and awareness. (Adding intuition, mind, and/or aesthetic sense doesn’t materially change the argument.) Body, emotions, and thoughts change constantly. I don’t have the same emotional or mental nature or body that I had at the age of five. If anything in me is “me,” it is something which has remained constant from birth and which is here with me now. It’s what my name refers to. What is that me? The only candidate, as far as I can see, is awareness.

A religious person might suggest that soul, not awareness, is our true self. But there are problems with saying that our soul is something entirely different from our awareness. I certainly expect to be aware if, in fact, I find myself in some post-death destination like heaven or hell. So awareness is, at least, part of the soul.

If awareness is not all of the soul, then logically there must be part of soul outside of awareness. But if there’s a part of our soul outside of our awareness, then why should be care about it? It may be right now in heaven, or hell, or sitting atop the Eiffel Tower, but I’m not aware of it. It seems that either awareness and soul are identical, or awareness contains soul.

Another idea is that our mental nature, our stream of thoughts and feelings, constitutes our real self.

Let’s suppose that awareness is our real self and that it’s aware of an ever-changing stream of physical, emotional, and mental sensations. And let’s suppose that a saint or yogi or holy person is someone who has realized their true nature as consciousness itself. Let’s suppose, too, that the realization gives them a blissful state of mind with a peace beyond all understanding. A state of mind that, for the sake of argument, we’ll call the supreme achievement open to a human person.

To help other people achieve that state of mind, sages might recommend we realize our identity as awareness itself and become less attached to our physical, emotional, and mental aspects, which become something we have rather than something we are. They might advise that we dwell in consciousness itself more and occupy ourselves less with the particular entities which happen at the moment to be our stream of sensations. In other words, that we move our focus from the ever-moving waves to the still, eternal ocean itself.

What practices might those who are realized and wise recommend to those who seek realization? A practice can be framed positively or negatively, as a do or a don’t.

Do try to lessen attachment to the body. Don’t commit the bodily sins of lust, sloth, and gluttony, which re-enforce excessive attachment to bodily sensations.

Do lessen attachment to the emotions. Don’t commit the emotional sins of lust, pride, envy, anger, or greed. Lust involves both body and emotions, so it’s listed twice. Pride and envy are emotions; pride gloats over one’s high position; envy fumes over one’s low position. Anger arises when a desire is frustrated or goes unfulfilled.

Greed, perhaps, is a mental sin which contains the emotional components of pride in one’s wealth and envy of those who have more.

So, we arrive at the last bead of our necklace: that lust, sloth, gluttony, pride, envy, anger, and greed are best avoided if someone believes there is a supreme realization and wishes to attain it.

Theistic religion condemns the seven deadly sins of lust, sloth, gluttony, pride, envy, anger, and greed as sins, as something against the will of some God pictures as a person who has likes and dislikes. We’ve just derived them in a philosophical/metaphysical way independent of the suppose will of some God.