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Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

Date: Mon Jul 7, 2003 6:54 am
Subject: Degrees of Righteousness om_namah_shi...

http://sulekha.com/chpost.asp?for...ilosophy&show=0&cid=65769

Someone has raised an interesting question with regard to Gandhi's
statement that Ahimsa (nonviolence) is the highest Dharma
(duty/obligation/righteousness). They have asked, "If Ahimsa is the
highest Dharma, then what is the lowest Dharma?"

In My Father's House are Many Mansions (and I go to prepare a place
for you)

There are many decent people in the world, but then there exceptional
people who believe that to pluck a flower is to affect a distant
star. Not only do they simply believe this and pay mere lip service
to it, but they live their belief in their daily actions. They do not
simply talk the talk; they walk the walk. Yet there are those who are
not even enclined to pay lipservice and talk the talk.

The lowest degree of righteousness is the recognition and admission
that one is unrighteousness.

Another way of putting this is to say that there are those who at
least admit that there is such a thing as righteousness, that it
exists, while others deny the existence of righteousness. As
Dostoevsky points out in his novel "Brothers Karamazov", if there is
not God then all is permitted, concentration camps are permitted,
cannibalism is permitted, torture is permitted, and, afterall, why
not, if nothing matters. Might makes right.

This first step of righteousness is that righteousness which the
prodigal son attains when, in a foreign land, feeding the swine of a
cruel master, he realizes that he would be better off as a hired hand
on his father's estate.

This is the "apotreptic" moment, the moment of turning about:
conversion.

The recognition that there is such a thing as holiness, and that it
is to be desired, is the beginning of holiness. - Sitaram

There are degrees of faith, degrees of glory, degrees of wisdom,
degrees of wickedness. Almost everything and anything admits of
degrees, which is why we have scales and balances and thermometers
and rulers, and which is why educational institutions grade and rank
and grant the degrees which we call diplomas.

Perfection is a process, not a quantum leap.

Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a
habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.

Likewise, degeneration and depravity is a process, like the Portrait
of Dorian Grey, progressing from unpleasant, to revolting, and thence
to a monstrous loathsome hideous abomination.

For example, most religious renunciates and celibates will have
occasional moments where they lust in their hearts, yet they abstain
from action. The fact that they entertain such thoughts of temptation
is a flaw, but their struggle to resist and their abstention from
action is righteousness. There are possibly a few who are on a higher
level of righteousness and never even entertain the thought. Yet
there are those who are tempted, but nurture and savor the thought,
and fantasize, and progress from thought to action (possibly to
repent afterwards and once again renew their struggle). Yet there was
once one Bishop who not only had an affair, but cast his sacred
vestments upon the bed and asked his lover to lie upon the sacred
vestments. There is a certain point in the process of depravity
beyond which the Portrait of Dorian Grey begins to ooze pus, and then
there is a further point at which you begin to smell something before
you even see it.

There are those who kill infants. Then there are those who kill
infants before their mothers' eyes. And then there are those who cut
off the mother's eyelids and bind their heads, so they do not even
have the option of looking away. We clearly recognize the possiblity
of degrees of cruelty and depravity.

Monks on Mt. Athos vow to abstain from all dairy products and eggs
during the 40 days prior to Easter. Once, a monk fell prey to the
temptation to take an egg and cook it over the oil lamp before the
holy icons in church. During confession, he stated that the devil
tempted him to do these things. The devil suddenly appeared and
said, "This is a slanderous lie. Yes, I did tempt him to eat an egg,
but I never DREAMED that he would cook it over the lamp before the
holy images!"

====================

Degrees of Enlightenment

http://www.buddhistinformation.com/to_understand_buddhism.htm

In our society, there are those who are intelligent and those who are
not, those with great ability and those with less. How do these
things come about? The Buddha told us that they are due to our
varying degrees of delusion. Our innate wisdom and abilities are
temporarily lost due to this delusion, but are not truly or
permanently lost. If we can break through this delusion, then we will
be able to recover these abilities. Therefore, the Buddha's teachings
show us how to rid ourselves of delusion and to uncover our innate
abilities.

In Buddhism, the standard for proper enlightenment is the pure mind
from which wisdom arises. It is the wish of all Buddhas that we
attain this proper enlightenment. This is the level or degree of an
Arhat and is similar to attending a university to earn an
undergraduate degree. Therefore, Arhat, Bodhisattva and Buddha are
titles similar to degrees of enlightenment attained in Buddhism.
Those who achieve proper enlightenment are called Arhats. Arhats do
not have illusory or misleading thoughts and viewpoints. They do not
dwell on the rights and wrongs of others, or on thoughts of greed,
anger, ignorance or arrogance.

The Flower Adornment Sutra explains the forty-one levels of
Bodhisattvas, all of which have these levels of enlightenment. After
breaking through the very last degree of ignorance, perfecting wisdom
and enlightenment, one achieves the "Perfect, Complete Enlightenment"
that is Buddhahood. Therefore, Buddha, Bodhisattva and Arhat are
common titles, not a specific name for a specific person. They are
titles similar to those of Doctorate, Master or Graduate degrees. For
example, in the name Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Guan Yin represents great
compassion and kindness. The title of Bodhisattva is similar to a
Masters Degree. Presently, people have misconceptions about Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas, thinking these names are specific beings. They do
not understand that these titles refer to any being who possesses
those characteristics. Buddha or Bodhisattva, when added to a name is
simply referring to a specialty.

http://www.beloit.edu/~philorel/weeklywisdom/WeeklyIII-27.html

The difference in degrees of enlightenment comes from the ability to
carry over what is brought about in meditation to everyday life. The
main realization is that reality is at its basis nothingness,
emptiness. Things without context are meaningless; their meaning
changes across contexts. So, for the fish, the ocean is
a "translucent palace"; for the fisherman, it is the horizon; for an
astronaut (not his example, he used "heavenly being") it is
a "shimmering" blue field. The errors come not just from thinking
anything is in itself something, but from thinking it is what it is
not in a particular context. Every context gives one determinate
meaning. Through sitting meditation we come to realize the emptiness
of all things-that is we come to recognize them as they are outside
of context at the same time becoming aware of our own context making
practices. Through increased meditative sensitivity to the fluidity
of meaning, we enact enlightenment. His (Dogen's) form of Zen
Buddhism became one of the most popular forms practiced in Japan.
Dogen directly influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his views have
been constructively contrasted with Jean-Paul Sartre's and Martin
Heidegger's.

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/jhanas/jhanas01.htm

The four jhanas and the four immaterial attainments appear initially
as mundane states of deep serenity pertaining to the preliminary
stage of the Buddhist path, and on this level they help provide the
base of concentration needed for wisdom to arise. But the four jhanas
again reappear in a later stage in the development of the path, in
direct association with liberating wisdom, and they are then
designated the supramundane (lokuttara) jhanas. These supramundane
jhanas are the levels of concentration pertaining to the four degrees
of enlightenment experience called the supramundane paths (magga) and
the stages of liberation resulting form them, the four fruits
(phala).

http://www.nwlink.com/~pauld/northlake/sermons/Sermons_Dotson_2001-07-
15.html

It may seem to you that a systematic approach to mysticism is a
contradiction in terms and is particularly troubling with respect to
Zen, which admits, even promotes, the possibility of instantaneous
enlightenment. And many a Zen Master would approve of that intuition.
But in fact, a lot of mystic traditions - for example: the Catholic
Saints, the Jewish Kabbalists, the Sufis - speak of stages of
spiritual progress or degrees of enlightenment. One reason seems to
be practical - a need to be able to talk about a particular
experience at all. But perhaps more importantly, describing lesser
enlightenments can help prevent a person `on the path' from becoming
stuck in a place that is not their end goal.

The tradition of using the ox to talk about Zen is rooted in
fragments like the following (credited to the Zen Master Pai-chang):

A petitioner asked a Zen Master "What is the Buddha?"

The Zen Master replied "It is like seeking for an ox while you are
yourself on it."

A modern day equivalent might be "It is like looking for your glasses
when they are already on your face" except that this does not convey
the worth of an ox. In the economy of the time, an ox was everything -
factory, engine, transport, cash, food - the ox was a "pearl of
great price", if you will allow the mixing of Zen and Christian
metaphors.

====================

Degress of Charity

http://www.sephardicsages.org/8.html

The RAMBAM's (Maimonides') Eight Degrees of Tzedakah (Charity)

There are eight degrees of tzedakah, each one superior to the next. A
person reaching the highest degree is the one who upholds the hand of
an Israelite reduced to poverty by handing that person a gift or
loan, or by entering into a partnership with him or her, or by
finding that Israelite work in order to strengthen that person's
hand, so that she or he will have no need to beg from others.
--Mishneh Torah 10:7-15

1) (the best) Giving a loan or getting him a job, so that he won't
need to ask for charity any more.

2) The giver doesn't know who he is giving to, and the poor doesn't
know who he is getting from.

3) The giver knows who he gave to, but the poor doesn't know who he
is getting from.

4) The giver doesn't know who he gave to, but the poor knows who he
is getting from.

5) Giving straight to the poor, before he even asks.

6) Giving after he asks.

7) Giving, but not enough.

8) Giving sourly, sadly. However, even this kind of charity is a
Mitzvah.
The Hebrew word tzedakah comes from the root tzade/dalet/koof, which
means "justice' or "righteousness." It is commonly known
as "Charity," though this is not an exact translation. God commands
us to pursue justice (tzedek) in the famous verse from Deuteronomy
16:20: "Justice, justice shall you pursue". A righteous person is
called a tzadik. It is a mitzvah, an obligation, to perform tzedakah,
acts of righteousness and justice.

Mishneh Torah "Second Torah" Maimonides' Mishneh Torah is the most
comprehensive code of Jewish law ever compiled. It comprises fourteen
books and is also known as the Yad Hazakah, "Strong Hand.' Maimonides
(known as the Rambam, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon) was born in Cordova,
Spain, in 1135 and died in Egypt in 1204

====================

http://www.lightplanet.com/response/answers/filtyrags.htm

In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord tells us that there are degrees
of righteousness and a certain degree (more than Scribes and
Pharisees) is necessary to get into heaven.

http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Noah

Noah's being "perfect in his generation" implied to some Jewish
scholars that his perfection was only relative. Moreover, his late
entry into the ark (Gen. 7, 12-16) can be seen as an act of one who
is of little faith. Later commentaries find two degrees of
righteousness, which they demonstrate as a metaphor for a man who is
cold: the fully righteous person would set up a fire - that is, help
the others. A person who is not absolutely righteous would only get
himself a coat - and be warm while others are cold, just like Noah
was safe while all other men besides his family died.

http://www.aros.net/~wenglund/Definitions.htm

The scriptures teach that there are many degrees of faith in God,
ranging from no faith, to full faith (Mt 5:28; 6:30; 8:26; 13:31-32;
17:20; Lk 7:9; 10:25-28; 17:5; Act 6:5, 8; 11:24; Rom 12:3, 6; 14:1;
1 Cor 13:2; 1 Thes. 3:10; 2 Thes 1:3; Jm 2:5), just as there are
varying degrees of righteousness (2 Cor 9:10), knowledge (Col 1:10),
love (1 Thes 3:12), and laws and that mankind is encouraged by God to
grow and/or increase in these things (Matt 13:30; Lk 17:5; 2 Cor
9:10; 10:15; Eph 4:15-16; 1 Thes 4:10; Col 1:10; 1Pet 2:2; 2 Pet
3:18).

http://www.turkishdailynews.com/past_probe/04_26_98/featurep.htm

Plato was fully convinced of reincarnation and he offered a theory on
how the soul gradually ascends or descends through nine degrees of
righteousness in a series of rebirth experiences.

http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/justcath.htm

If God simply saw us as Christ, if he gave us Christ's own personal
righteousness, then we would all be rewarded equally in heaven. We
would all be as righteous as Christ and so we would all be rewarded
equally. Since Scripture clearly teaches that there will be different
degrees of reward in heaven (1Cor. 3:12-15), we must conclude that we
will have different degrees of righteousness.

III. Growing in Righteousness: Progressive Justification

In chapter 10 of the Decree On Justification, Trent teaches that the
just man is "renewed day by day" (2Cor. 4:16) and that by "mortifying
the members" of the flesh (Col. 3:5) and presenting them
as "instruments of justice unto sanctification" (Rom. 6:13, 19) we
can "though the observance of the commands of God . . . faith
cooperating with good works, increase in that justice received
through the grace of Christ and be further justified . . . "

http://www.aros.net/~wenglund/3degrees.htm

The medieval Jewish document known as the Zohar frequently speaks of
the multiplicity of rewards that await mankind in the world to come.
Zohar Exodus 144b says, AThere is an infinity of grades in the
supernal spheres, each differing from the other. Zohar Genesis 224b
speaks of Aall the degrees of the righteous in the future world.
Zohar Genesis 63a, after citing Daniel 12:13 (the last verse in the
book) adds, Daniel then said, "I know full well that the dead will
rise up in various classes, some righteous and some wicked, but I do
not know among whom I shall be found." Zohar Genesis 130a declares,
There is in the next world a gradation of glorious abodes and
resplendent lights, each outshining the other. As the works of the
righteous differ in this world, so do their places and lights differ
in the next world. The same idea is found in Zohar Genesis 193a-b,
which, after comparing the Torah or law of Moses to the tree of life
(citing Proverbs 3:18), says, And whoso takes hold upon the tree of
life [Torah] in this world will also keep hold on it in the world to
come, since the grades assigned to souls in the next world correspond
to their state on departing from this world. Now the tree of life
ramifies into various degrees, all differing from another, although
forming a unity, in the shape of branches, leaves, bark, stock, and
roots. All the faithful ones of Israel lay hold upon the tree of
life, some grasping the stock, some the branches, some the leaves,
and others, again, the roots. But those who exert themselves in the
study of the Torah grasp the very trunk of the tree, and so lay hold
upon all.

In Zohar Deuteronomy 267b, Rabbi Judah says, Happy those to whom the
love of their Master cleaves; there is no limit to their portion in
the other world, to which Rabbi Isaac added, Many are the abodes of
the righteous in the other world, one above another, and highest of
all that of those to whom was attached the love of their Master, for
their abode is linked with the palace that surpasses all, the Holy
One, blessed be He, being crowned in this one.

We must examine 1 Corinthians 15:39-44:

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of
men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of
birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but
the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial
is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from
another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is
sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in
dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is
raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual
body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Commenting on the apostle Paul declaration about Athe third heaven (2
Corinthians 12:2), Joseph Smith said, APaul ascended into the third
heavens, and he could understand the three principal rounds of
Jacob's ladder--the telestial, the terrestrial, and the celestial
glories or kingdoms, where Paul saw and heard things which were not
lawful for him to utter. I could explain a hundred fold more than I
ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the
vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive
them (History of the Church 5:402). Zohar Exodus 30b also compares
the different heavens to rungs of a ladder.

The second parable is that of the talents, wherein the Lord gives
different amounts of talents to three servants. Two of the servants
invest the talents to make more money, while the third hides it in
the ground. The first two servants receive rewards commensurate with
the stewardships they have fulfilled, but the single talent given to
the third servant is taken from him and given to the one who had ten
talents after doubling what had been entrusted to his care, while the
unprofitable servant is punished (Matthew 25:14-30).

St. Ephraim Syrus (mid-fourth century), in his Hymns on Paradise,
speaks of Paradise as a mountain divided into three levels, the
lowest for penitents, the next for the righteous, and the highest for
the triumphant. At the summit of the mountain is the glory of God.

The Zohar frequently notes the concept of three level of reward in
the hereafter for varying degrees of righteousness, based on whether
one has only a soul (Hebrew nephesh), a soul and a spirit (rûah.), or
a spirit, soul, and super-soul. Zohar Genesis 245a says AThere are
three souls belonging to the celestial grades. In Zohar Genesis 206a,
we read Athat nefesh, ruah., and neshamah are an ascending series of
grades. Zohar Genesis 206a notes that

Nefesh is the lowest of the three, ruah. Is a grade higher, whilst
neshamah is the highest
of all and dominates the others. These three grades are harmoniously
combined in those men who have the good fortune to render service to
their Master. For at first man possesses nefesh, which is a holy
preparative for a higher stage. After he has achieved purity in the
grade of nefesh he becomes fit to be crowned by the holy grade that
rests upon it, namely ruah.. When he has thus attained to the
indwelling of nefesh and ruah., and qualified himself for the worship
of his Master in the requisite manner, the neshamah, the holy
superior grade that dominates all the others, takes up its abode with
him and crowns him, so that he becomes complete and perfected on all
sides; he becomes worthy of the world to come and is beloved of the
Holy One.

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/6304/apoclds.html

Like the Apocrypha, the character of the Pseudepigrapha is not
uniform. Some of them, like the Treatise of Shem, which deals with
astrology, are clearly of little interest to Latter-day Saints. But
others are of extreme interest. For example, the History of the
Rechabites, also called the Narrative of Zosimus, preserves an
ancient but mixed-up tradition about people leaving Jerusalem at the
time of the prophet Jeremiah and being led by the Lord across the
ocean to a land of promise (VII-IX). The Book of Enoch teaches that
the spirits of the dead are segregated into special areas according
to their degrees of righteousness to await the resurrection and the
judgment (1En 22). Second Enoch (23:4) teaches the premortal
existence of the soul, and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
(Tlevi 2-4) refer to three heavens or degrees of glory. Second Baruch
stresses the free agency of man and teaches that the consequences of
Adam's sin were limited to physical death and that each person is
responsible for his own sins. The Testament of Adam (3:1-5), the
Apocalypse of Moses (14,15), and the Vita Adae et Evae (29,30)
describe how Adam called his posterity together shortly before his
death, blessed them, and prophesied all that would happen to them
down to the end of the world. This event is also described in
Doctrine and Covenants 107 as the gathering at Adam-ondi-Ahman. (D&C
107:53- 56)

http://www.insightministries.com/resources/studies/trialoffaith.htm

From Faith to Faith

In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote some principles
that help to clarify the truth of believing to the saving of the
soul. He considered himself to be a debtor "both to the Greeks, and
to the Barbarians," and that he was "ready to preach the gospel to
you that are at Rome also." (Rom.1:14-15)

Then he wrote: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it
is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" (Rom.1:16-17)

The gospel of Christ is the means of bringing spiritual understanding
to us, which then releases the power of God for salvation. That
salvation is available to everyone who believes it is for them. One
of the definitions of the word, "believe," is "to act in accordance
with" what is claimed to be believed. There must be a corresponding
action to what we say we believe, otherwise, what is claimed is
really just presumption.

If we don't believe the gospel pertains to us, then it won't help us.
This truth can be illustrated by remembering that Jesus came into the
world for the sins of all mankind. But is all mankind saved? No. Why
not? Is it because there was something lacking in Jesus'
propitiation?

Of course not. The reason all mankind is not alive in Christ is
because not everyone believes that what Jesus did applies to them.
All who believe it applies to them, and who in faith appropriate that
provision, are released from the sin they inherited in Adam and are
in the process of having their soul saved.

What does the text mean when it says the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith? Does God have varying degrees of
righteousness, or is there more than one kind of faith?

The first faith we have is an imputed faith that is a gift. It is the
measure of faith given to all mankind that is spoken of in Romans
12:3. Every person has been given that prescribed measure of faith
within their spirit. Not everybody uses it, but the gift is available
for all who will use it.

If that measure of faith isn't utilized, it will ultimately serve as
an indictment against us. This is because the initial enlightenment
that comes through it is also a gift. It is not something we can work
up - neither is it received by merit. It is the provision that God,
as a responsible Creator over his creation, made available to all who
have ever lived. Unfortunately, many people don't make use of that
provision, which of itself is an affront to God.

Scripture says, "Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will
he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot,
counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common
thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Heb.10:29 NKJ)

Why do you think scripture records how Jesus, as he went about
healing the people of their various maladies, often said to them, "If
you have faith," or "if you can believe," your request will be
granted? Where did those people get their faith? It was already in
them. God provided the gift of faith in seed form in every person who
has ever lived upon the face of this earth. That gift is what enables
one to receive the gospel.

For instance, you might have been an agnostic with no prior exposure
to the truth. Then the gospel came to you, and for some reason, your
spirit was stirred and you could believe the truth you heard.

Where did that ability come from? God put it there. It was his gift
to all mankind to enable us to become spiritually regenerated.
Therefore, all mankind is left without excuse if we don't make use of
his provision.

The above text also says the gospel of Christ reveals the
righteousness of God from faith to faith. We're to grow in our trust
of God from the faith he initially gave to us to a dimension of faith
that is our own.

Faith must become ours so that we can be established in
righteousness. The righteousness we received initially was imputed to
us by God through Jesus Christ, but we must allow truth to work in us
until we become "righteous, as he is righteous." (1 Jn.3:7)

Paul's letter to the Romans continues: "For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." (Rom.1:18 NKJ)

How does one suppress the truth in unrighteousness? By not allowing
it to do its work within. The truth of God requires response, and the
preaching of the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
Therefore, if the gospel is preached and we don't respond to it by
allowing it to work change in us, we're suppressing the truth in
unrighteousness.

If truth is heard, but not responded to, it must be explained away
and replaced with a lie. This brings forth the wrath of God "because
what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to
them." (Rom.1:19 NKJ)

Notice that truth was made known in them not just to them. When truth
is heard, the gift of faith witnesses to it. But if that witness is
not honored, the heart is hardened and unrighteousness results.

The text goes on about the invisible things of God being clearly seen
by the things that are made. However, because those who once knew God
didn't glorify him as God, and neither were thankful, they began to
degenerate. That process began when they suppressed the truth in
unrighteousness.

The way to progress from faith that is a gift to the dimension of
faith to live by is to allow the truth to have its way in us. As we
do that, we are identifying with truth, which in turn requires that
we live by faith.

http://www.nazarene-friends.org/articles/Are%20You%20a%20Righteous%
20Person.htm

That there are degrees of righteousness is shown in the case of Judah
and Tamar. [Genesis 38:24] Though engaging in what some today would
consider sexual immorality - remember the Law had not been given yet -
Judah acknowledges that Tamar was "more righteous" than he. [Compare
also 1 Samuel 24:17.]

Sitaram The question has been asked: how would you prevent the two
extremes of basing one's judgement sometimes blindly on that of
others and at other times stubbornly on one's own liking and
convenience?

We all have an inner voice of conscience, naturally present from the
earliest age. There is no trick in learning to listen to it. The
trick is to learn NOT to listen to it, to ignore it, which is
something we learn through years of practice, until some of us become
quite reprobate and incorrigible and conscienceless and wicked.

St. John Climicus book, "The Ladder of Divine Ascent", is the source
of many rustic proverbs in modern Greek culture. One proverb has to
do with a horse, who does not realize how slow he is running while
alone, but when he joins a stampeeding herd of horses, then he
becomes quite self-conscious of the fact that he is not running very
fast at all. Of course, Climacus was speaking of people who make some
spiritual endeavor alone, and then enter a spiritual community such
as a monastery or ashram and realize that their private efforts were
meagre in comparison with what others do.

Our first yardstick or touchstone is the voice of our inner
conscience. Our second measure is how we compare to those around us.

It is not necessarily true that what the majority does makes it "OK".
It is often the case that what the majority does is recognized by the
majority as wrong or imprudent. Many people broke the laws regarding
alcohol during the Prohibition era, and many use alcohol today (and
find various excuses for their indulgence), yet we all came to
realize the drawbacks of a legal system such as Prohibition, and we
all know the dangers of alcohol and addictive behavior. Most of us
have bad eating and exercise habits, yet the general public is quite
aware of the dangers of a fatty diet, and of overeating, as well as
the importance of regular exercise.

I write the above with a view to the questioner's phrase: "basing
one's judgement sometimes blindly on that of others."

There is a verse in the Greek Septuagint version of the Psalms which
may be translated "Excuses, excuses in sins."

Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips.

Incline not my heart unto words of evil, to make excuse with excuses
in sins" (Ps. 140:3,4 Septuagint).

The just shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: but let not
the oil of the sinner fatten my head. For my prayer also shall still
be against the things with which they are well pleased.

I have written the above in response to the questioner's phrase: "at
other times stubbornly on one's own liking and convenience?"

The road to Hell is paved with excuses and good intentions.

It is not so hard for us to know right from wrong. What is difficult
for us is the ADMISSION to ourselves that we know right from wrong,
but that we are in the wrong. What is even MORE difficult is turning
ourselves about and reforming ourselves after we admit the truth to
ourselves.

Sometimes we "follow the crowd" or are swayed by flatterers or
seducers, and other times we seduce and fool ourselves with lies to
ourselves and excuses and justifications.

But in the end, we know in our heart of hearts what the truth is and
we know that we are the slow horse.

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