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Mountain Ancestors Grove, ADF

A Year of Contemplation

You Were Born Good (Day 304)

10/31/2019

 
Picture
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)

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    About the Blog

    Awakening the desire to explore Stoicism, and how it relates to his existing beliefs, Rev. William committed to working through the text, The Daily Stoic, a year-long journey to awaken the Stoic mind. 
    How things are structured can be found in the first post. 

    About the Author

    Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Rev. William attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where in 2007 he graduated with a degree in Religious Studies, minoring in Psychology. Currently residing in Longmont, CO, he is one of the Priests and founder of Mountain Ancestors Grove.  He spends his time playing mandolin (and some guitar), writing, engaging in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education, community service, and sharing a larger vision of how a polytheist perspective can lead to greater human understanding, acceptance, and gods be good, peace. 

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