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    What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

    Are they personally interpreted or a teaching of the tradition? How do you feel about them? How do you follow them on a daily basis?
    Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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    #2
    Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

    As a new-ish Heathen I've found its the first "path" that has led/inspired me to make better choices in my life.

    With family and community being so fundamental to the original heathens, I've made some small steps in trying to build a better relationship with my nephews, as well as my own children. I've also begun to take part in more community projects , as well as to help out people in the group I'm affiliated with.

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      #3
      Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

      If I were a better person then I'd probably say that I stole the Zoroastrian ethic. Being a soul munching horror...

      Truth matters. Not so much because deception is inherently evil or anything. Deception can be vital. Truth is important because it allows for trust and society without certain minimal amounts of trust has a much harder time functioning. Also self deception leads to all kinds of stupidity so Truth matters twice over.
      life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

      Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

      "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

      John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

      "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

      Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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        #4
        Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

        I'm a moral relativist, philosophically, so I recognise that the ethics I practice and/or believe in are derived from a particular history and context, and aren't universal. I've absorbed some social mores from modernity, concerning basic manners and politeness. But on the whole, I try to avoid most kinds of specific ethical rulesets because they can be rather limiting, and have some problematic history. But one thing that has appealed to me, is an ethic of hospitality and reciprocity. It's something that, among ancient religions, I can really jive with. Hospitality was treated as a sacred duty, a moral imperative, and something under the protection of the chiefmost gods. And in modern life, I try to put 'being hospitable' into practice.
        Last edited by Louisvillian; 26 Jul 2016, 22:39.

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          #5
          Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

          Originally posted by thalassa View Post
          Are they personally interpreted or a teaching of the tradition?
          Part of the tradition, but they need to be personally interpreted in order to apply them. There's no great virtue in following a "code" that you don't understand well enough to know when to break it.

          image.jpg

          How do you feel about them?
          Good. They grease the rub that chafes human interection.

          How do you follow them on a daily basis?
          Aside from "right speech" (avoiding harsh speech is a rough one for me when I'm not face-to-face with someone), the others are so easy I barely need to think about them.
          Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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            #6
            Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

            I'm going to cheat and quote from the Bhagavad Gītā (12.13-15):

            "One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself [entitled] I'm a long way from achieving that, but it's a goal and something I try to always keep in mind.
            śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
            śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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              #7
              Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

              Be an asshole. That's my moral code.

              In all seriousness though, my Satanism has taught me that a defined set of moral rules leads to possible guilt and overall dissatisfaction with one's choices based on the set of rules. Therefore I have no defined set of moral/ethical rules, so when presented with a moral/ethical choice I can decide using the actual parameters and not some clumsy rules that don't include the complexities and intricacies of all different spectrums of outcomes and consequences.

              Long story short, I make them up and modify them according to the situation, to what best suits me.

              Check out my blog! The Daily Satanist

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                #8
                Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

                Hellenism doesn't come with a set of rules, although the gods are clearly hostile to certain forms of behaviour. As the Hindus would say, just follow your dharma. There are the Delphic Maxims, but these are the teachings of a group of sages, not part of religion. Like Aristotle and Confucius, I believe that ethics are natural: a good action is one which contributes to the long-term well-being of a rational agent in a specific situation.

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                  #9
                  Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

                  I bet we don't get any moral or ethics from our path. I figure most of us (and the entire world) probably have the same simple morals and ethics that are completely universal. Such as our paths are not universal I'm thinking it's something else.

                  Hey. Let's not be an asshole on earth.

                  I'm going with all of our morals pretty much being this by the sheer fact of being alive on earth.

                  Your god and my lack of god gives us the same don't be an asshole. So....I'm starting to go with no need for the god part. Something like that.
                  Satan is my spirit animal

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                    #10
                    Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

                    Lately, I've been partial to the Law of Thelema:

                    "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will."
                    When I first learned about it, I remember thinking that this could never work as a code; that it has no guidelines. After reading various explanations for it and understanding it a little better, it feels 'right' to me. 'Do What thou wilt' referst to following your true will, not your temporary wants of the moment. And since everyone's 'true will' comes from a divine source, there is no way for the 'true will' of one person to interfere with or hurt the the 'true will' of another person.

                    The love part is still a bit murky to me, and something that I'm still exploring and trying to understand. If anyone has come across any good articles/essays explaining this part of the law, I'd love to read them as I'm having trouble finding anything that explains it clearly to me.

                    But it feels right so far, from my understanding of it as of right now. And I like the idea of finding my true will or destiny or what have you and using that as my guide.

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                      #11
                      Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

                      Originally posted by Medusa View Post
                      I bet we don't get any moral or ethics from our path. I figure most of us (and the entire world) probably have the same simple morals and ethics that are completely universal. Such as our paths are not universal I'm thinking it's something else.

                      Hey. Let's not be an asshole on earth.
                      The outcome of "not being an asshole" might be the same, but I think there is a difference between "because god told me so," "because my religion teaches me that we are all connected in a great web of divine energy," and "because less people will probably want to punch me out."

                      There are a number of things that I do because my understanding of the world around me (and in this regard, my religion is very strongly informed by the science) because to do otherwise would violate the sacred trust that I believe we are given when it comes to our existence, sure those things are backed up by actual data, but even if it wasn't, reciprocity and responsibility are such that it would still be that way.
                      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                      sigpic

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                        #12
                        Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

                        I think that the idea of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" it just common sense. Belief systems may have decided to claim it as their own,but it is mainly "get along to get along" do good,and good will come to you,and the ever popular, "It takes a village". and the whole Karma concept.
                        MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

                        all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
                        NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
                        don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




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                        nothing but the shadow of what was

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                          #13
                          Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

                          Originally posted by thalassa View Post
                          The outcome of "not being an asshole" might be the same, but I think there is a difference between "because god told me so," "because my religion teaches me that we are all connected in a great web of divine energy," and "because less people will probably want to punch me out."

                          There are a number of things that I do because my understanding of the world around me (and in this regard, my religion is very strongly informed by the science) because to do otherwise would violate the sacred trust that I believe we are given when it comes to our existence, sure those things are backed up by actual data, but even if it wasn't, reciprocity and responsibility are such that it would still be that way.
                          I personally don't care what reason a person has for not being an asshole. I'm all thumbs up!
                          Satan is my spirit animal

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                            #14
                            Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

                            The do unto others mantra doesn't go far enough, and is thus faulty in my opinion. What one man calls acceptable another may deem a breach of their consent. The latter should be forgiving if it had no lasting impact (such as finding someone open a door for you patronizing as a woman) but the former cannot assume others might like something (such as inebriated sex) just because they themselves do.

                            My religion is what I make it, at the moment and, as such, it does not inform my morality greatly. Most of my morality is a combination of the culture I live in, a sense of compassion and ability to empathize, and my experiences at the school of life through trial and error.

                            My morality will likely influence my religion's ethics more so than the other way round. As my faith has no teachers, no holy books, no individual to whom one can idolize or admire, there is no precedence. I just hope to do the best I can.
                            I'm not one to ever pray for mercy
                            Or to wish on pennies in the fountain or the shrine
                            But that day you know I left my money
                            And I thought of you only
                            All that copper glowing fine

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                              #15
                              Re: What ethical/moral "rules" do you get from your path?

                              Originally posted by Briton View Post
                              The do unto others mantra doesn't go far enough, and is thus faulty in my opinion.
                              This is an opinion many people hold so not talking directly to you, Briton, just in general. I think 'do unto others' is genius in its simplicity because the meaning grows as our level of empathy does.

                              What's polite and decent is to treat others the way they wish to be treated. For someone who is only just developing empathy, 'treat others how you would like to be treated' works just fine. As we grow in our awareness of culture and individuality, we realise not everyone likes to be treated in the same way. So we develop a more nuanced approach. However, we are still treating people the way we ourselves would like to be treated - with due respect to our preferences.

                              My faith gives me the principle of equality with everyone and everything. No one and nothing holding more intrinsic worth than the other.

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