Image by John Hain from Pixabay
The human being is born with an inclination toward virtue.”
Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 2.7.1-2
Anyone reading this blog still hung up on the whole “original sin” thing? Well, if you’re one of those folx, please allow me to offer you a liberating perspective:
“Original sin” is bullshit. It’s a lie, sold to others for the purposes of control. Once we know it’s bullshit, however, and we choose to still believe it… well, that’s a different problem entirely.
The rules and restrictions of culture and society are the elements that create selfishness and other-ing, as well as delude us into believing our nature is to be those things.
Most Buddhists call the concept of being born good “Buddha nature” and Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, Tibetan meditation master and founder of Naropa University, called the same principle “basic goodness”.
Our practices of religion and philosophy must strip away the coverings that hide that principle from us. If what we’re practicing is making us more selfish, more distrustful, more fearful, and more miserly, we need to ask ourselves: are those the things I want to represent me?
Before we answer, remember: We were born GOOD.
(See y’all tomorrow - for November, and a whole month of exploring the principle of Acceptance, Stoically known as - Amor Fati)
“Original sin” is bullshit. It’s a lie, sold to others for the purposes of control. Once we know it’s bullshit, however, and we choose to still believe it… well, that’s a different problem entirely.
The rules and restrictions of culture and society are the elements that create selfishness and other-ing, as well as delude us into believing our nature is to be those things.
Most Buddhists call the concept of being born good “Buddha nature” and Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, Tibetan meditation master and founder of Naropa University, called the same principle “basic goodness”.
Our practices of religion and philosophy must strip away the coverings that hide that principle from us. If what we’re practicing is making us more selfish, more distrustful, more fearful, and more miserly, we need to ask ourselves: are those the things I want to represent me?
Before we answer, remember: We were born GOOD.
(See y’all tomorrow - for November, and a whole month of exploring the principle of Acceptance, Stoically known as - Amor Fati)
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