Flaw or sin?

I was solving a New York Times crossword a few days ago, and it had a theme.

I don't like the American style crosswords much, what with the too full grids and concise clues. That is not to say that they are not clever; sometimes the clues are quite droll. They can be obscure, too. But I dislike the many references to films and baseball, basketball, football and Broadway and the research it involves to solve them. But the NYT Sunday puzzles are jumbo-sized and fun, often with a witty theme.

This theme however, set me thinking. It was the Seven Deadly Sins.

This is a very Christian concept. In the Christian doctrine sins can be venial or deadly, either those that can be absolved or those that guarantee eternal damnation. When you consider the so-called deadly sins damnation seems a bit harsh, I must say.

Pride, lust, wrath, avarice, envy, gluttony and sloth seem more like character flaws than sins that condemn you forever.

Weaknesses one is aware of, weaknesses one is trying to transcend, and admitting to them guarantees eternal damnation. Good grief.

To digress a bit, in the early days of our move to Calcutta, I used to get outraged by an elderly woman who used to combine her morning walk with picking flowers to offer to her gods and she used to blithely pick, pluck and loot our front patch from over the short boundary wall; she used to venture in and reap the overnight fall of the paarijat flowers too, until we arrived with our dog trying to establish territorial rights.

I remonstrated with her once, asking whether she ever sought permission to plunder our garden. She was surprised. Shocked, even. It is for her communion with her gods, so it is all right, she needs no permission or invitation, right? Who was I to quibble? I asked her if her god is happy with the idea of stolen offerings, and she smiled a superior smile and told me her god was a thief, too.

I got my moment of sweet revenge, though.

I used to have to take my young son with me wherever I went, because baby-sitting was a luxury I did not have. So there we were, my four year old and I, waiting out a monsoon shower when the sky seems to split open and pour down, sheltering under an awning among the fruit, vegetable, egg and flower vending stalls in Lake Market, anxiously monitoring the rising levels of run-off the drainage system couldn't cope with. There were a lot of people crammed with us. And my son( bless the cherub), piped up in a sweet high voice, "Lali, look, there is the flower thief." If that lady wasn't mortified she must be made of sterner stuff and looser moral fabric than I was brought up with. The stalls cracked up, I can tell you. :D

Is theft any better behaviour than envying a friend who seems to have it all? Or having one more slice of the cake than you know is good for you? Or being utterly, insanely and incomprehensibly attracted and beguiled by a person or a thing? Or venting justified, righteous anger? Or wanting to laze around for a day? Or wanting to buy everything from a book-shop? Or feeling good about your assets? How come theft doesn't feature in the category of deadly sins? Or murder? Or rape? Or embezzlement? Oh, silly me, it is probably in the commandments.

Indian philosophy has a different approach.

Kama- desire when it is excessive, Krodha- wrath, anger or temper tantrums, Lobha- avariciousness, greed and miserliness, Moha-delusion, enchantment and infatuation, Mada- overweening pride, vanity and arrogance, and Matsara- envy and jealousy: these are described as the six shortcomings one has to shed before realising one's potential and reaching an equilibrium. They are the Six Foes a person has to conquer before he or she can be called a Sthita Prajna, a balanced mind.

This is a view that acknowledges the need for constant vigil over one's own mind, the striving for personal growth; it certainly doesn't threaten damnation. A pragmatic view, in short. Actually, Indian philosophy assumes that the aspiration for perfection goes on, in a cycle of births, attainments, lapses and striving once again, until that balance is reached; after which you are at peace and one with the universe. There is nothing about eternal damnation; redemption is available for everybody, no questions asked.

This seems to me a more sympathetic approach than naming human weaknesses deadly sins and telling us that we will be damned for eternity for being human.

Think about it.

Cheers!