Why Is It So Darn Hard To Draw Within The Lines?

 

Pretty things are hard to resist

At a superficial level we can't stay within the lines because we are greedy. We want, we desire, we crave. More often than nought what we crave is something that's going to hurt us. Just browse through the sacred scriptures of any faith, philosophy or religion. The add-ons change but the core message remains the same. Someone wants what isn't theirs to posses. 

Buddhists name this 'improper desire'. Jews and Christians have named this craving 'sin'. Naming and giving examples is all well and good. But it falls short of explaining why we have these cravings and why it's  so easy to give into them.

 For years I have returned to this question and I'm no nearer to a satisfying answer than when I started. My research indicates that Original Sin was more of a political statement than a theological one. Karma has more potential but it requires some serious logic twisting. Jung is a deep and dark cave to which I keep returning only to once again get lost. The closest that I've come to an answer is to blame it all on instinct. 

Perhaps we can do no better than the Fourteenth Dalai Lama who while not being able to explain the why, acknowledged the truth that people do seem to be predisposed to improper desire.

So there you have it. A no answer answer.

Teaser:

Next time I'll be looking at why Ancestral Sin was more a political than theological statement. For that we need to look at Mary the mother of Jesus and to the War of the Sexes that continues to plague Christianity. 

Brian