To be virtuous means to make an intentional decision to always do the right thing, It means having thoughts that fuel your every action. My children heard this often when they were growing up, life’s best things cannot be bought or sold, they are honesty, truthfulness, and integrity. I was beseeching my children to be virtuous. Setting your intention to be virtuous must be grounded in knowing who you are; and in knowing how you are related to all other humans and to the entire universe.
Knowing that we all came out of the universe, not into it, and that we are connected at the basic level; that we breathe the same breath and have similar feelings and thoughts. With this understanding, we will relate to nature, animals, and one another so differently.
The collective consciousness of our world does not lend to the Oneness understanding that will cause us to do unto others as we will have them do unto us, that is virtuous doing. We learn from early to see things in terms of me and not we. We separate ourselves by gender, race, economic status, and religion. As a result of these self-imposed differences, we easily hate one another. And constantly create enmity against each other. Understanding the gravity of our Beingness, of our Oneness with the power that permeates the Universe will engender within us virtue.
What is virtue? The word virtue comes from the Latin root meaning Vir, for man. Initially, it meant manliness or valor. In our time virtue means moral excellence. Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor, tells us to “Look within, for within is the wellspring of virtue, which will not cease flowing, if you cease not from digging.” In other words, we are virtuous beings by nature. This understanding is contrary to what we have been taught. From birth, we are given a script, “you are born in sin and shaped in iniquity.” Give a dog a name and he will live up to it. Our world powerfully reflects this fallacy. If only we were assured that we are a true reflection of the power that maintains this amazing world. That we are divine beings; empowered from within to be virtuous.
What does it mean to be a divine being? According to Gregg Bradden, to be divine has nothing to do with religion, it just means that we are born with infinite capacity, particularly the capacity to transcend limitations. Our divine nature empowers us to be virtuous. The choice is ours. According to the philosophers Pico Mirandola, a devout Christian, and Emmanuel Kant, a humanist, the infinite capacity we are born with enables us to rise to the highest heights or sink to the lowest level. We, therefore, can choose to be virtuous.
To be virtuous means to have admirable character traits. Most often we think of virtue in terms of sexual impropriety. To be virtuous affects all aspects of our lives. For instance, the courage to speak up or speak out is a classic example of being virtuous. In other words, we are not hindered by fear when it comes to making the right decision. The stoic way also believes that a virtuous person will be temperate in all his or her ways, overindulging in anything is not virtuous. A virtuous person would deal with all situations from a place of wisdom.
To be intentional about being virtuous is grounded in understanding who we are. Only when we are clear that we are Divine Beings having a human experience will we be easily virtuous. Aristotle rightly said, “Virtue means doing the right thing in relation to the right person, at the right time, to the right extent, in the right manner, and for the right purpose.”
Alignment with the source is the key to a virtuous life. It does not matter what you choose to call the source, Buddha, Krishna, or God. What matters is your awareness of your need to be aligned so that you can live virtuously.
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