Check, the Sloth & anger as spiritual impediment/enslavement, And then of 'lust':
"Healthful hunger can be appeased by using the sense of taste to select the right foods, but greed for food can never be satisfied and compounds its ill effects by choosing an unhealthful diet. Similarly, physical union for procreation is as nature intends, but indulgence is never appeased, and is destructive to health and the nervous system, disturbing the entire mental, neural, and spiritual faculties." & "Jesus said that not only is the physical act of adultery sinful, but that, according to spiritual law, a lustful gaze involves the committing of adultery in the mind. It is a common occurrence, especially in modern permissive societies, for men and women to leer at each other with sensuous thoughts and yearning. This attraction seems to flatter the recipients, some of whom even attire themselves or adopt other ruses in order to draw that kind of admiration. It is not only sinful to bestow lustful glances, but it is equally wrong willfully to awaken sex thoughts in the opposite sex, and also to feel flattered by such attentions. According to human law, unless there is physical adultery, there is no cause for condemnation. Human law passes no judgment on lascivious mental behavior. But the Divine Law condemns mental adultery also, because without its advent, physical adultery would not be enacted." Seems a practical spiritual warning too about 'lust'. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > "We might say that all the sins which are due to ignorance can be > > > > reduced to sloth, which pertains to the negligence by which a person > > > > refuses to acquire spiritual goods because of the attendant labor." > > > > > > > > -Thomas Aquinas > > > > > > > > > > Spiritually, > > > > > > " "Sin" requires a complex definition. It is not a transgression against > > > an arbitrary code of behavior decreed by a whimsical God. The Creator > > > made human a spiritual being, a soul endowed with an individualization of > > > His own divine nature. He gave to the soul, evolved from its own Self, > > > the instruments of a body and a mind with which to perceive and interact > > > with the objects of a maya-manifested universe. > > > > > > If man lives in perfect harmony with the machinations of these > > > principles, he remains a spiritual being in charge of his body and mind. > > > Sin is that which compromises that perfect self-mastery. It has its > > > automatic negative effect to the degree of the influence of delusion with > > > in it -involving no condemnation of an irate God. Man's free-will > > > actions simply harmonize and strengthen the expressed essence of his soul > > > perfection or weaken and degrade it into mortal enslavement." > > > > > > -Discourse 27 > > > Yogananda's > > > The Second Coming of Christ > > > The Resurrection of Christ Within You > > > > > > Yes, is a good consideration about that degradation into mortal > > > enslavement. As a conservative and old meditator by experience, i see > > > there is a lot of practical spiritual truth in these summation. Is fair > > > warning as it is instruction. > > > > > > > continuing on with 'anger' as an impediment: > > "One can measure one's emotional self-control by testing it on those nearest > and dearest to him. If he can neutralize his impulses to become angry (or to > vent any other acrid emotion) in response to provocations, then he is > developing himself in the spirit of the law as admonished by Jesus. To > control the external expression of anger while seething within creates an > inner vibratory heat that cooks one's brain like a slowly baked potato. > Lahiri Mahasaya gave those methods of meditation by which one can instead > roast the seeds of strong impulses. Scientific meditation harmonizes the > whole being, creating an inner calmness of self-mastery." !Meditation! > > In experience that seems is good practical spiritual advice. >
