Dragon Friend

 Naga upon Buddha in Angkor, Camboya

                                                              

                                                                                                                                    

Purgatory Mountain according to Dante

It is not enough to see negative impulses in the heart; more necessary is to understand where they come from and how they are purged.

Specifically, the seven deadly vices are but creative energy masking qualities or virtues:

Pride is lack of Humility, its best antidote, born of unconditional service.

Envy is the absence of Benevolence, which can only be born out of compassion that knows the suffering of others.

Anger is lack of Patience, which requires forgiveness.

Sloth is lack of Diligence, which leads to laboriosity, making one a bee collecting honey wisdom.

Greed is absence of Charity, generosity that comes when one perceives that the Good and Beautiful abound, and to share them leads to happiness.

Gluttony is lack of Moderation, which comes by itself when even the body is convinced that such moderation will make it feel better.

Lust is the absence of Purity, which is not a repressive chastity, but a chastity of mind, body and emotion that comes from the intelligent use of creative energy.

Much has been said about inner transformation, but few put it into practice, probably because few overcome pride, which is the first step in Purgatory towards Eden –as the initiate Dante Alligieri taught.

Dante described beautifully the correlation of vices and virtues in his Divine Comedy.

There he describes his journey through Purgatory with Virgil. And both see how those who suffer from pride walk with heavy rocks on their back, and are encouraged to purge themselves learning from images of humility, as the Annunciation of Mary, who becomes a servant of the Light (Luke 1:38).

When carving stones with humility, one benefits from such alchemy.

Pride is what makes us envious and angry, qualities reflected by the apostle Cephas, nicknamed Peter:

You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church – Matthew 16:18

What hurts and makes one miserable is precisely the stone on which to work.

Many look and see only the literal, when they have to see themselves.

The seven negative energies are also known as Eros, Dragon, Snake, Kundalini or even Satan, opposing force that keeps beings as slaves of the physical, unless one knows how to reverse its direction and make it creative.

Such creative/destructive energy is condensed light, an unstoppable force. Therefore, fighting the Serpent is suicidal. For every severed head comes another, as with the Hydra of Hercules.

The only option is then to turn its heads into a protective shield. 

Very suggestive are the statues of the Buddha under the Seven Headed King Cobra, like the one above.

These images are not to frighten nor to be condemned. And when one ignores their wisdom, one self-condemns to wander without eyes, ears, mind  and heart.

Whoever has ears, let him hear.

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