Another in my continuing series of posts on my 13 virtues. For more information see the beginning of my wisdom post here.
Dictionary Definition. Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: the quality or state of being complete or undivided.
Dedicant Handbook Definition. Honor; being trustworthy to oneself
and to others, involving oath-keeping, honesty, fairness, respect, self-confidence.
I’ve meditated on this virtue for months and I keep coming back to the concept of wholeness. I’m not sure if I like either definition I’ve used here. My favorite discussion of integrity was on a podcast that featured Thorn Coyle, a Feri Priestess. She said that to her, integrity was really integration of the disparate parts of the soul to form an undivided personal divinity. While much of what she said referred to specific Feri theology – the tripartite soul and its division – what struck me most was the idea of integrity being action which comes from an un-divided self. This implies that we have to be able to know ourselves well enough to know when we are acting from a divided sense of self. For example, how can we be honest – a quality the dedicant handbook attributes to integrity – if we do not understand when and why we are lying to others or ourselves?
The only problem with this approach is that someone can be undividedly bad, having integrity according to this definition by knowing why they are lying and doing it with their whole consciousness. So, I also see integrity as meaning that one must connect that whole self with one’s gods and the other virtues to form a whole of how one’s actions interact with the rest of the world. To have integrity, therefore, is to be able and willing to act from a grounded sense of self and one’s place in the world.
I believe this would mean most people would try to actively live in accordance with their own virtues and values and enact them in the world. So a hypothetical woman, who was unaware of her lies because she was coming from an internally divided place, would try to become whole through self-observation – like meditation – and discussions with trusted friends and her gods. When she started to have a sense of her own wholeness and her place in the world she would then begin to act with integrity, seeing her lies as not helpful to herself or the people she told them to. She would be more willing to see the hurt and confusion they caused, instead of being willingly or unwillingly blind to them because she was not acting with integrity. This awareness would then lead to acting in a truthful manner, because she had come to it from a sense of wholeness.
Others in this series:
Wisdom
Piety
Vision
Courage
Showing posts with label 13 virtues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 13 virtues. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
One word to sum up a religion
First off, I would recommend that everyone go and read this discussion on the Academic Pagans LiveJournal Community. It’s my jumping off point.
Some of my favorite one word descriptors were*:
Feri: Ecstasy (Alternately, paradox)
Reclaiming: Immanence
CR: Justice
CR: Truth
CR: Honor, Inspiration, Justice, Connection, Communion
CR: Truth, Honor, and Duty
Modern Paganism: Re-sacralisation
Wicca: Balance
I think these are all virtues and qualities that I aspire to, and it’s not surprising that these religions have inspired my own spiritual path. But I had a gut punch reaction to the discussion about Truth. It may describe why I’ve noticed myself leaning more and more towards CR as a spiritual path. Which has been surprising me. But that’s a discussion for another day.
My absolute favorite one word summary, the gut-puncher, is CR’s as Truth. Truth is honor, imbas, duty and justice. It also aides true community and hospitality. And these are all ideas I find are the core of my own growing sense of self and religious identity. What’s amusing to me is how hard I find many of these virtues. I am not comfortable and easy with truth, honor, or duty. And I find, at least, the gift for a gift idea of hospitality to be a little odd and limiting. But the more I work with them, the more I realize how good they are. How magical and freeing they can be.
I’m feeling the need to really think and meditate about Truth as the central idea of CR. It may not end up being the ultimate core summary of my own spirituality, but I think right now it’s a lesson I need to be working on and can easily see myself working on it for years.
*I took these from many different users, to give credit where it’s due read the entry and all the comments.
Some of my favorite one word descriptors were*:
Feri: Ecstasy (Alternately, paradox)
Reclaiming: Immanence
CR: Justice
CR: Truth
CR: Honor, Inspiration, Justice, Connection, Communion
CR: Truth, Honor, and Duty
Modern Paganism: Re-sacralisation
Wicca: Balance
I think these are all virtues and qualities that I aspire to, and it’s not surprising that these religions have inspired my own spiritual path. But I had a gut punch reaction to the discussion about Truth. It may describe why I’ve noticed myself leaning more and more towards CR as a spiritual path. Which has been surprising me. But that’s a discussion for another day.
My absolute favorite one word summary, the gut-puncher, is CR’s as Truth. Truth is honor, imbas, duty and justice. It also aides true community and hospitality. And these are all ideas I find are the core of my own growing sense of self and religious identity. What’s amusing to me is how hard I find many of these virtues. I am not comfortable and easy with truth, honor, or duty. And I find, at least, the gift for a gift idea of hospitality to be a little odd and limiting. But the more I work with them, the more I realize how good they are. How magical and freeing they can be.
I’m feeling the need to really think and meditate about Truth as the central idea of CR. It may not end up being the ultimate core summary of my own spirituality, but I think right now it’s a lesson I need to be working on and can easily see myself working on it for years.
*I took these from many different users, to give credit where it’s due read the entry and all the comments.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Courage
Another in my continuing series of posts on my 13 virtues. For more information see the beginning of my wisdom post here.
Dictionary Definition. Mean mental or moral strength to resist opposition, danger, or hardship.
Dedicant Handbook Definition. The ability to act appropriately in the face of danger.
School House Rocks’ “Zero, My Hero”“Well, there are all kinds of heroes, you know.
A man can get to be a hero
For a famous battle he fought...
Or by studying very hard
And becoming a weightless astronaut.
“And then there are heroes of other sorts,
Like the heroes we know from watching sports.
But a hero doesn't have to be a grown up person, you know,
A hero can be a very big dog
Who comes to your rescue,
Or a very little boy who's smart enough to know what to do…”
I have a version of “Zero, My Hero” by the Lemonheads and I always love the beginning of the song, which is the quote I gave above. In the legends from Ireland, hero’s like Cuchulainn and Fionn mac Cumhaill are courageous. Fearless in battle, they are not scared of death, let alone their enemies. I honestly don’t know if this type of courage really exists outside of the battle field. Everyone I know who has experienced fight or die scenarios – from soldiers to trauma victims –don’t see their time in immediate danger as courageous. Instead, they see the moments afterwards, when healing and helping others and themselves, as when they were most courageous. Which is why I love the song lyrics so much, because following your dreams, studying hard, taking an opportunity to do the right thing, healing from trauma, facing your inner shadow, these are the acts of courage in any situation from the battle-field to the back yard. And these are the heroic acts mentioned. (None, of which are done by the number 0, but that does not negate the coolness of the number.) So while the dictionary definition and the dedicant handbook definition give similar meanings for the word, when I think of real courage, I just start singing “zero, my hero, how wonderful you are.”
Others in this series:
Wisdom
Piety
Vision
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Vision
Another in my continuing series of posts on my 13 virtues. For more information see the beginning of my wisdom post here.
Dictionary Definition. A manifestation to the senses of something immaterial: the act or power of seeing.
Dedicant Handbook Definition. The ability to broaden one’s perspective to have a greater understanding of our place and role in the cosmos, relating to the past, present and future.
My first association with the word was as a lightly defined corporate buzzword used to make upper management feel good while essentially doing nothing for the larger organization. A strongly negative definition to say the least. There was a strong enough initial response I considered not using Vision as one of my own virtues, and writing this essay as to why I thought it was not a virtue but a buzzword. However, in order to do so I spent a lot of time in thought and meditation on whether or not to include Vision in my virtues. After a few weeks of thinking things through I decided to keep Vision as a virtue because it has the ability to be much more than a buzzword. Vision, to me, is the ability to plan and envision the future after fairly assessing the past and present.
One of the many ideas that drew me to ADF as a religious and spiritual system was the idea that the founder had a vision for the future. He has set goals and those goals are still alive in the current organization. I see them referred to as directions to keep the organization striving towards excellence and that vision also allows ways to assess growth and change over time.
Others in this series:
Wisdom
Piety
Dictionary Definition. A manifestation to the senses of something immaterial: the act or power of seeing.
Dedicant Handbook Definition. The ability to broaden one’s perspective to have a greater understanding of our place and role in the cosmos, relating to the past, present and future.
My first association with the word was as a lightly defined corporate buzzword used to make upper management feel good while essentially doing nothing for the larger organization. A strongly negative definition to say the least. There was a strong enough initial response I considered not using Vision as one of my own virtues, and writing this essay as to why I thought it was not a virtue but a buzzword. However, in order to do so I spent a lot of time in thought and meditation on whether or not to include Vision in my virtues. After a few weeks of thinking things through I decided to keep Vision as a virtue because it has the ability to be much more than a buzzword. Vision, to me, is the ability to plan and envision the future after fairly assessing the past and present.
One of the many ideas that drew me to ADF as a religious and spiritual system was the idea that the founder had a vision for the future. He has set goals and those goals are still alive in the current organization. I see them referred to as directions to keep the organization striving towards excellence and that vision also allows ways to assess growth and change over time.
Others in this series:
Wisdom
Piety
Friday, September 7, 2007
Piety
Another in my continuing series of posts on my 13 virtues. For more information see the beginning of my wisdom post here.
Piety
Dictionary Definition. Fidelity to natural obligations b : dutifulness in religion
Pious: marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to divine worship b : marked by conspicuous religiosity.
Dedicant Handbook Definition: Correct observance of ritual and social traditions, the maintenance of the agreements (both personal and societal) we humans have with the Gods and Spirits. Keeping the Old Ways, through ceremony and duty.
I like both definitions given above. I especially like the phrases “marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to diving worship” and “the maintenance of the agreements…we humans have with the Gods and Spirits.” While ADF’s definition seems to focus heavily on ritual as the most important way to fulfill our duties to the Kindred, I like the dictionary’s emphasis on reverence and devotion which can happen both inside and outside of formal ritual. While ritual and sacrifice are the main ways I show reverence and devotion, I also show piety in other ways like prayer, study, meditation and action. I worship so many beings, consequently there are many ways to approach them and many ways to give to them honor, thought, energy, attention and praise.
When I began to examine piety as a virtue I conflated it with sanctimoniousness. I now understand, from personal experience, it is not necessarily related to piety. After a year of meditation, study, prayer and ritual I’ve come to know that piety is the sense of reverence I feel in the woods and the corresponding need to protect that beauty and miracle by cleaning litter I see as I wander down a trail, saying a prayer of thanks for the beauty of a vista, offering some organic fertilizer to native plants or even donating money to California State Park system. The Land gives to me in abundance, and I can only hope that my acts and gifts of piety give back even a fraction that which the Earth Mother and Land Spirits have given me.
Others in this series:
Wisdom
Piety
Dictionary Definition. Fidelity to natural obligations b : dutifulness in religion
Pious: marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to divine worship b : marked by conspicuous religiosity.
Dedicant Handbook Definition: Correct observance of ritual and social traditions, the maintenance of the agreements (both personal and societal) we humans have with the Gods and Spirits. Keeping the Old Ways, through ceremony and duty.
I like both definitions given above. I especially like the phrases “marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to diving worship” and “the maintenance of the agreements…we humans have with the Gods and Spirits.” While ADF’s definition seems to focus heavily on ritual as the most important way to fulfill our duties to the Kindred, I like the dictionary’s emphasis on reverence and devotion which can happen both inside and outside of formal ritual. While ritual and sacrifice are the main ways I show reverence and devotion, I also show piety in other ways like prayer, study, meditation and action. I worship so many beings, consequently there are many ways to approach them and many ways to give to them honor, thought, energy, attention and praise.
When I began to examine piety as a virtue I conflated it with sanctimoniousness. I now understand, from personal experience, it is not necessarily related to piety. After a year of meditation, study, prayer and ritual I’ve come to know that piety is the sense of reverence I feel in the woods and the corresponding need to protect that beauty and miracle by cleaning litter I see as I wander down a trail, saying a prayer of thanks for the beauty of a vista, offering some organic fertilizer to native plants or even donating money to California State Park system. The Land gives to me in abundance, and I can only hope that my acts and gifts of piety give back even a fraction that which the Earth Mother and Land Spirits have given me.
Others in this series:
Wisdom
Friday, August 31, 2007
13 Virtues - Wisdom
There are many tasks involved in finishing the Dedicant's Path in ADF. One of these is to write about the 9 virtues. The requirement reads as such:
Dictionary Definition. Accumulated philosophic or scientific learning : Knowledge : ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : Insight : good sense
Dedicant Handbook Definition. Good judgment. The ability to perceive people and situations correctly, deliberate about and decide on the correct response.
Of the two, I prefer the dictionary definition provided here. One reason is because it includes “accumulated philosophic [and] scientific learning.” Education is an essential part of wisdom, which is missing from the dedicant handbook definition. While I believe that an iron-age Celtic woman could be wise with little or no formal education in a pre-literate society, to be uneducated - and uninterested in being educated (either through self-study, group-study, or more formal styles of education) - is an unwise choice in modern society and leads to serious gaps in a person’s understanding of the universe. This intellectual source is the first of three that I believe are necessary for wisdom.
Before I can discuss the next aspect vital to wisdom, I must take issue with the dedicant handbook’s use of “correctly” in its definition, as in “the ability to perceive people and situations correctly”. While some situations may have a correct way of being perceived, most do not. Also, I would argue that humans even more rarely have a correct way of being perceived. In my own definition I would substitute the word clearly for correctly. Clearly could involve seeing many sides, not just one correct side, as the term “correctly” implies. I feel that clearly perceiving a situation or a person calls for emotional maturity and intelligence that creates empathy and compassion. This emotional component is the second source of my three aspects of wisdom.
To round out my personal definition of wisdom, I think much can be gleaned from the Irish legends regarding the salmons of wisdom. Druids and poets would often wait for years to catch a salmon that had eaten the hazel nuts of wisdom and so could bestow wisdom upon those who ate them in turn. From these legends I can understand another source of wisdom. It is wisdom gained from ecstatic spiritual practices, especially meditation. I see these legends as metaphorically speaking of searching the still space within for wisdom, or in an Irish Celtic context imbas. Ecstatic practices allow a person to discover inner truths and insight, in other words to eat the salmon of wisdom. This may take years to consciously develop, but is necessary to create real and well-tempered wisdom.
For me wisdom is based on the triad I have discussed above: intellectual, emotional, and spiritual sources. While each on its own is important, it is the combination of the three that leads to the deep wisdom that is a virtue.
Written discussions of the Dedicant's understanding of each of the following nine virtues: wisdom, piety, vision, courage, integrity, perseverance, hospitality, moderation and fertility. The Dedicant may also include other virtues, if desired, and compare them to these nine.(Suggested 125 words min. each)
I have given a few months thought on these and come up with 13 virtues for myself. 9 of them are from the ADF dedicant's manual, 3 of them are virtues that are personally important to me regardless of spiritual path, and one comes directly from my own intrestes in CR.
This is the first in a series of 13, and is from the ADF Dedicant's Path.
Wisdom
Dictionary Definition. Accumulated philosophic or scientific learning : Knowledge : ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : Insight : good sense
Dedicant Handbook Definition. Good judgment. The ability to perceive people and situations correctly, deliberate about and decide on the correct response.
Of the two, I prefer the dictionary definition provided here. One reason is because it includes “accumulated philosophic [and] scientific learning.” Education is an essential part of wisdom, which is missing from the dedicant handbook definition. While I believe that an iron-age Celtic woman could be wise with little or no formal education in a pre-literate society, to be uneducated - and uninterested in being educated (either through self-study, group-study, or more formal styles of education) - is an unwise choice in modern society and leads to serious gaps in a person’s understanding of the universe. This intellectual source is the first of three that I believe are necessary for wisdom.
Before I can discuss the next aspect vital to wisdom, I must take issue with the dedicant handbook’s use of “correctly” in its definition, as in “the ability to perceive people and situations correctly”. While some situations may have a correct way of being perceived, most do not. Also, I would argue that humans even more rarely have a correct way of being perceived. In my own definition I would substitute the word clearly for correctly. Clearly could involve seeing many sides, not just one correct side, as the term “correctly” implies. I feel that clearly perceiving a situation or a person calls for emotional maturity and intelligence that creates empathy and compassion. This emotional component is the second source of my three aspects of wisdom.
To round out my personal definition of wisdom, I think much can be gleaned from the Irish legends regarding the salmons of wisdom. Druids and poets would often wait for years to catch a salmon that had eaten the hazel nuts of wisdom and so could bestow wisdom upon those who ate them in turn. From these legends I can understand another source of wisdom. It is wisdom gained from ecstatic spiritual practices, especially meditation. I see these legends as metaphorically speaking of searching the still space within for wisdom, or in an Irish Celtic context imbas. Ecstatic practices allow a person to discover inner truths and insight, in other words to eat the salmon of wisdom. This may take years to consciously develop, but is necessary to create real and well-tempered wisdom.
For me wisdom is based on the triad I have discussed above: intellectual, emotional, and spiritual sources. While each on its own is important, it is the combination of the three that leads to the deep wisdom that is a virtue.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Walking Meditation
I walk around my office complex almost every day at lunch. I began it as a way to help heal from the repetitive stress injuries that come from working on a computer all day. Quickly I noticed an increase in aerobic capacity and hiking endurance. I believe that it’s because my walks add to the work I already do at the gym, not just because I walk at lunch. The more you exercise (within limits) the quicker you notice improvements. I’ve also noticed that it’s a wonderful way to decrease stress. My body relaxes at the 30 minute mark, and the last ten to fifteen minutes I feel like the stress of the day has evaporated. It’s very refreshing.
I also use this time to let my mind wander or pay attention the trees and wildlife that surround my nature park - maple, willow, live oak, roses, lavender, jasmine, crows, other birds I cannot identify, ants, bees, bumble bees, crickets, etc. Recently, I created a simple prayer bead bracelet that I use to recite a chant for my 13 virtues. I can chant them silently to myself, or ponder what I mean by wisdom, or what integrity really is.
More than walking, I think what is truly valuable is giving my mind 45 minutes most days to do some semi-constructive thinking or just time to let my mind and body relax. Seated meditation can do this, but walking enables me to practice all sorts of observations as well as meditation techniques like breath control or chanting in a totally different context than the seated meditation style.
I also use this time to let my mind wander or pay attention the trees and wildlife that surround my nature park - maple, willow, live oak, roses, lavender, jasmine, crows, other birds I cannot identify, ants, bees, bumble bees, crickets, etc. Recently, I created a simple prayer bead bracelet that I use to recite a chant for my 13 virtues. I can chant them silently to myself, or ponder what I mean by wisdom, or what integrity really is.
More than walking, I think what is truly valuable is giving my mind 45 minutes most days to do some semi-constructive thinking or just time to let my mind and body relax. Seated meditation can do this, but walking enables me to practice all sorts of observations as well as meditation techniques like breath control or chanting in a totally different context than the seated meditation style.
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