Often the deepest teachings, which may also be the simplest, are hidden behind the complicated and somewhat abstruse formulas of the great religions. It would seem that their priests wanted to mix the waters, believing that it was easier to guide people in this way. That’s why Damanhur doesn’t want to be a religion, because it doesn’t want to lead people, but inspire instead.
An example of this confusion, perhaps the most evident, comes from what classical Christianity considers sins, those errors that would prevent men, after death, from accessing the grace of God. Sins would be of seven different kinds: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and laziness.
In reality, these can simply represent opportunities for growth, if we consider that they actually represent very human tendencies that we can learn to master and not the terrible temptations of some evil Lord.
The stairs leading up
To be clear, greed is not just about being stingy, it means thinking that what you are depends on what you have. It is when one thinks “I am nothing, but if I have something, then I am worth something.” But if we make this an object of meditation, we can overcome it because it is realized to have value also for other reasons, for example for our divine nature.
Envy is not only envy, but it is every time you think “If I don’t look to others I don’t know what to say and what to do.” When instead we learn to feel with one another, with a group of people, we can open ourselves to a new dimension.
Laziness is every time we think: “There is nothing in me that is worth the effort”, but when we realize that inside us there is something bigger than any value ever imagined before, we can discover new, inner riches.
Anger is when we don’t care about the others anymore, so much so that we don’t have the problem of how we communicate with them. Analyzing it to the point of exceeding it, we enter the kingdom of Love.
Gluttony is when you think that all that matters is outside of us and should be consumed quickly and in great quantity. But when we discover how to enjoy what we consume, that sensory perception can become a form of meditation, we suddenly realize that the world we live in still has many secrets to reveal.
Lust is the desire above all for another body to rejoice and when we learn that the other body to rejoice represents another person, we enter the ability to communicate, therefore not to be alone.
Pride is when you think you already know everything, and that you have the possibility to express a judgment on everything and every person. However, when we know how to transform this logic, even if only for a moment, we discover with joy that the universe is different and surprising!
If I understand it–it does not limit me
These “sins”, which in a religious vision offend God, are in reality what shows us our human limits and which therefore, in a path of awareness, offers us the cue to start a work of refinement. In fact, when a person understands what Greed is in him, he can no longer be stingy!
The Hall of Metals, in the Temples of Humankind, is dedicated to the path of transformation of the individual, in the different phases of life. On the floor, five figures are reproduced in mosaic representing those that for Falco Tarassaco are our most obvious limits, which enclose and cause all the others: Selfishness, Pessimism, Deceit, Unconsciousness, and Passivity. They are depicted on the ground because realizing their presence is the first step towards overcoming them.
So, think for a moment about yourself and ask yourself which of these five is the most present in your life. At this point, you know what you have to do! Smile at yourself, roll up your sleeves and…..
good luck with your personal growth!
