82. The failed experiment

The audio recording is available at https://youtu.be/AV5G2uFxLr4. 

When the Synod of Trent (1545-1563) defined the seven main sins, actually tried to limit the deviations of the individual self. Originally, there were eight human behaviours, which the gnostic Evagrios Ponticus, who lived in the 3rd century, called logismoi. Later, one of these, despair, was replaced with envy, and then pride was removed, leaving the seven types of erroneous manifestations of the soul. What the Synod forgot was that these manifestations of the soul, like others, could be addressed through the increase of self-awareness, and through the teachings of our Initiation Master, who aims for universality, and not necessarily needed to be declared as unmanageable main sins, upon which the majority of moral behaviours would be based. The things that still remain unresolved are as follows:

a) gluttony, hunger for life: The desire for more of everything—food, drink, travels, partying—because there is nothing after life. Take advantage of everything now because, as in the old scripture, tomorrow doesn’t exist. In other words, live for today, carpe diem, which correctly understood, means live in the present. Hunger for life is nothing but immoderation, the loss of balance between matter and spirit, sinking into matter. The satisfied hunger for life is often called well-being, but in reality, it represents a bad existence because it does not serve the attainment of existence. Quite the opposite. Achieving existence is a task set for everyone, so it is neither good nor bad. Thus, when someone speaks of a welfare society, it refers to a materialistic, lazy, and comfortable society. Hunger for life and comfort can be managed through the practice of spiritual balance, moderation, and selflessness.

b) parsimony: This is also a negative behaviour form connected to matter and comfort, essentially selfishness. It is the sibling of gluttony or hunger for life because I do not give what I have to others, or if I give, I give little so that I can keep more for myself. Parsimony is a desire for quantity of possession, so it is also immoderation. Furthermore, it signifies a constant attachment or bond to something or someone. In parsimony, we fail to recognize that the One has provided everything for us to find existence in our lives, to find the path back and to begin walking it. In our ignorance, we misjudge and confuse the goal (existence) with the tool to achieve it (life).We want to possess what is not ours. We do not realize that everything has been lent to us, including our family and children. The excessive desire for possession of matter can lead us to identify with that desire, thus becoming slaves and servants to the desire itself. Spiritual treasures are above material treasures and represent the real wealth. Once we find them, we cannot lose them, and we will strive to give some to others. The more we give, the more we will have. Parsimony can be managed through moderation and selflessness.

c) excessive sexual desire: Immoderation that occurs when a person confuses their biological sexual reproduction with their body desires. Sexual desire is a normal human trait, without which there would be no conception, childbirth, or humanity. Yet those who do not recognize within themselves the "half-human" (the woman or the man) experience an unfulfilled desire for union, for the body. The spiritual person easily finds their other half, as they say, their partner, or if they have already started on the path of initiation, they might even renounce it, because they feel and know the other half within themselves. Excessive sexual desire has led to sexuality becoming a business, a distortion, a loss of purpose, where the man became a "male" and the woman a "female." It becomes a bodily, animalistic behaviour, sensitivity, meaning emotional, senseless indulgence. Excessive sexual desire's opposite is purity, virginity which can be achieved through love. Virginity means normal behaviour, but not completes renunciation, because one cannot renounce the one they love, and only through love can the other half of the human be known.

Those whom I love, I know, and those I know, I love. Knowledge means self-knowledge, when I seek and find the "little god" in the other person. One half of a person seeks connection with the other half, and does not wish to possess them. Possession is not important; what matters is the coming together of souls, human unity, and the fulfilment of completeness. The goal is to reach the point where, when two people get to know each other, they are not two, but three. At this point, there is no longer sexual desire, but mutual respect, dissolution, which can be achieved through learning. It is worth noting that excessive sexual desire (the degree of excess is not specified) led the Church to link sexuality to the body, and the body to sin. With this erroneous approach, the institutionalized Church drastically reduced the number of Christians. As an opposite example, we can see the growing number of Muslims (we observe the manipulative migrations and mass movements of the early 21st century), where pure sexuality is seen as a virtue and a religious duty.

In the 20th century, we have already reached the point where some countries recognize not only men and women, but also common or intersex individuals, because in soft and comfortable liberalism, it is allowed for everyone to decide where they want to belong (gender). What kind of sin would intersexuality have been considered in the still normal 16th century? How will these people alleviate their excessive sexual desires when they decide which gender to present each day of the week? Here, we are not talking about excessive sexual desire, but of corporeality, degeneration, animal behaviour, or people who are treated as objects in the human market, sold and bought as spare parts of the machinery. Excessive sexuality can be healed through moderation and conscious love.