VIRTUE OF ALL THE VIRTUES

The essence of being human is to get elevated. Whether the elevation is through the body-mind-intellect mechanism or through the realisation of the self. By nature, a human being’s life journey is towards the realisation of the supreme good. A journey towards self-awakening for the realisation of supreme consciousness, a life jouney is a journey inwards to inner conscience for identification of right pathways for the move. How does one make the right move? Virtuosity needs to be imbibed and inculcated in the character traits of human beings that manifest in every domain of life pursuits. Virtues are character traits that are central to a person, not everyday habits. Virtue is a trait that makes a person reason well for an orderly or righteous way of living, thinking, deciding, and correctly engaging emotions and feelings.

1. Outline

Virtue is moral excellence and righteousness; goodness; rectitude (Theology) any of the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) or theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity).

It conditions and moulds the human being’s body-mind-intellect complex for higher elevation to realise consciousness of the self, i.e., the consciousness of divinity within oneself. It is to realise, inculcate, and lead a life of Dharma, the righteousness of the eternal order and ways, in all aspects of the life process. The body, mind, intellect, and spirit mechanism, elevation journey starts from a bottom-up direction through control and detachment of the body from the mind and the intellect from the spirit domain, toward final liberation from all attachments based on the body, mind, and intellect tripod mechanism for final submersion in the Divine consciousness, the Brahman, the infinity, or the Supreme God. It requires several life experiences, depending on the firmness of one’s detachments and divine devotion.

Each stage is to be controlled firmly through detachment and devotion for elevation to the next higher level.

2. Features

The fundamental question of ethics is not "What should I do?" but "What kind of person should I be?"

Virtue ethics treats moral virtue as crucial, in contrast to consequentialism and deontology. The former puts emphasis on the outcome of goodness, while the latter places emphasis on moral duty. While virtue ethics does not necessarily deny the importance of goodness of states of affairs or moral duties to ethics, it emphasizes moral virtue to an extent that other ethical dispositions do not.

2.1. Western philosophy

Pythagoras, the famous Greek philosopher, took up the issue of virtue first, as noted by Aristotle, another Greek philosopher. Pythagoras says the soul is immortal, and its cultivation is achieved by upholding the truth and leading an ascetic life.

The four classic cardinal virtues outlined by the Greek philosopher Plato are:

i) Prudence (includes wisdom and discernment), refers to appropriate action in appropriate time and sappropriate situation

ii) Fortitude (includes forbearance, strength, and endurance), to meet the challenges of fear, uncertainty, and intimidation.

iii) Temperance (includes self-control, abstention, discretion, and moderation) to display equanimity and steadfastness in any given situation.

iv) Justice (including fairness) to display righteousness and selflessness.

Aristotle was emphatic about the "Plurality of the Character Virtues" and "The Connection of the Character Virtues."

Aristotle, in his work Nicomachean Ethics, defined a virtue as the "golden mean" between two extremes: courage between cowardice and foolhardiness, and confidence between self-deprecation and vanity. He says in the Nicomachean Ethics that "at the right times, about the right things, towards the right people, for the right end, and in the right way, is the intermediate and best condition, and this is proper to virtue."

He elaborates in the Nicomachean Ethics:

i) Virtues of Thought: Wisdom, Comprehension, Intelligence, etc.

ii) Virtues of Character: Generosity, Temperance (Moderation), etc.

iii) Intellectual virtues: "arise and grow mostly from teaching."

iv) Ethical Virtues: "results from habit."

Aristotle’s elaborations are with reference to Feelings vs. Capacities vs. States

Feelings: "appetite, anger, fear, confidence, envy, joy, love, hate, longing, jealousy, pity, in general, whatever implies pleasure or pain"

Capacities: "what we have when we are said to be capable of these feelings"

States: "what we have when we are well or badly off in relation to feelings. If, e.g., our feeling is too intense or slack, we are well or badly off in relation to anger, but if it is intermediate, we are well off." 

Aristotle adds that:

"First, then, neither virtues nor vices are feelings."

"For these reasons, the virtues are not capacities either."

"If, then, the virtues are neither feelings nor capacities, the remaining possibility is that they are states of character."

Thomas Aquinas’s account of virtuous action requires that there be a likeness between a person and their actions in terms of the "notion of goodness."

 According to Thomas Aquinas, all acts of virtue are prescribed by the natural law, since each person's reason naturally dictates that he acts virtuously. But if we speak of virtuous acts, considered in themselves, i.e., in their proper species, thus not all virtuous acts are prescribed by the natural law: for many things are done virtuously, to which nature does not incline at first; but that, through the inquiry of reason, have been found by men to be conducive to well living. Therefore, we must determine if we are speaking of virtuous acts as under the aspect of virtuous or as an act in its species.

He defined the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) as being natural and revealed in nature, and they are binding on everyone. He further added three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. Overall, he categorises the virtues as imperfect (incomplete) and perfect (complete). A perfect virtue is any virtue with charity; charity completes a cardinal virtue.

 2.2. Indian Philosophy

2.2.1. Truth and Divine Consciousness

The Upanishads deal with meditation, philosophy, consciousness, and ontology. The Great Sayings or the "Mahāvākyas" of the Upanishadas tersely say Brahman is one and infinity, which have a profound significance as pointers to Reality. Consciousness of the Supreme Being is the foremost virtue.

i. Prajnanam Brahma (प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म)– Consciousness is Brahman, Aitareya Upanishad, Rig Veda.

ii. Aham Brahmāsmi (अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि) - "I am Brahman", or "I am Divine," Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajur Veda.

Iii. Tat Tvam Asi (तत् त्वम् असि)– That Thou Art, Chandogya Upanishad, Sam Veda.

iv. Ayam Atma Brahma (अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म) – This Self is Brahman, Mandukya Upanishad, Atharva Veda.

This "brahman is the Whole," "brahman is ātman" and "brahman is this (very) self."

"Be not self-conscious; be conscious of the self," so says the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.

yadā viniyataṁ chittam ātmanyevāvatiṣhṭhate

niḥspṛihaḥ sarva-kāmebhyo yukta ityuchyate tadā

It is when the controlled chitta (mind) becomes fixed and focused exclusively on God. It is then simultaneously and automatically weaned away from all cravings of the senses and desires for worldly enjoyment. At that time, one can be considered to have yukt, or perfect Yog.

It urges us to give up material desires and thereby situate ourselves in consciousness of our true selves. The more we live in harmony with our spiritual identity, the less we worry about our material image because we understand that it is peripheral to our actual self. Once we start relishing the fulfilment of our true spiritual identity and glory, the need to be self-conscious and seek flickering pleasure through a positive self-image in the world disappears.

 2.2.2. brahmavihārā

Virtue ethics are character traits of a person and not his actions. The brahmavihārā (sublime attitudes, lit., "abodes of Brahma") are a series of four Buddhist virtues that include:

i. loving-kindness or benevolence (mettā);

ii. compassion (karuṇā),

iii.emphatic joy (muditā) and

iv. equanimity (upekkhā)

The practitioners, as per the Buddhist tradition, through these practices take birth in the realm of the Brahma. The same tradition also emphasises the noble path of a virtuous life to realise divine consciousness.

2.2.3. The eight elements of the noble path are:

(i) Acorrect view, an accurate understanding of the nature of things, specifically the Four Noble Truths ((a) the truth of misery or suffering, (b) the truth that misery originates within the craving for pleasure, (c) the truth that this craving can be eliminated, and (d) the truth that this elimination is the result of following a methodical way or path),

(ii) correct intention, avoiding thoughts of attachment, hatred, and harmful intent,

(iii) correct speech, refraining from verbal misdeeds such as lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, and senseless speech,

(iv) correct action, refraining from physical misdeeds such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct,

(v) correct livelihood, avoiding trades that directly or indirectly harm others, such as selling slaves, weapons, animals for slaughter, intoxicants, or poisons.

(vi) correct effort, abandoning negative states of mind that have already arisen, preventing negative states that have yet to arise, and sustaining positive states that have already arisen,

(vii) correct mindfulness, awareness of body, feelings, thought, and phenomena, and

(viii) correct concentration and single-mindedness.

The eight-fold noble path the followers need to follow for the realisation of divine consciousness

2.2.4. "The unexamined life is not worth living," is a famous dictum attributed to the famous Greek philosopher Socrates. He asserted that life is meant to pursue truth and wisdom.

In search for truth, Socrates was tried (399 B.C.) and found guilty of two charges of asebeia (impiety) against the pantheon of Athens and corruption of the youth of the city-state; the accusers cited two impious acts by Socrates: "failing to acknowledge the gods that the city acknowledges" and "introducing new deities."

At trial, the majority of the dikasts (male citizen jurors chosen by lot) voted to convict him of the two charges; then, consistent with common legal practice, they voted to determine his punishment and agreed to a sentence of death to be executed by Socrates's drinking a poisonous beverage called hemlock.

3. Virtue theorists

What really matters for kindness in everyday interactions is not empathy but capacities such as self-control and intelligence, as well as a more diffuse compassion. (Paul Bloom, "Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion")

Most virtue theorists would also insist that the virtuous person is one who acts in a virtuous way as the result of rational thought (rather than, say, instinct).

The three questions

The modern philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre proposed three questions as being at the heart of moral thinking:

-Who am I?

-Who ought I to become?

-How ought I to get there?

4. Remarks

Everything immanates from the Supreme Consciousness or Being. No virtue is insular or isolated. If there are plurality of virtues and in same length there are also hierarchy of virtues. The highest one of couse is that conditions for the realisation of the consciousness of the self and ultimately the Supreme Cosciousness.

The concept of liberation, or Moksha, is the core of Indian philosophy. It is ingrained in the Vedas, upanishads, and scriptures. It is an essentiality in the Sanatana Dharma, the eternal way or the eternal order. This way it refers to truthfulness, honesty, asceticism, forbearance, humility, purity, chastity, and a steady demeanour. In other ways, Swami Sivananda said, "Serve, love, give, purify, meditate, realise; Be good, do good, be kind, be compassionate."

i. Eternal Dharma, i.e., universal and fixed eternally

ii. Swadharma: Duties performed according to one's condition and nature.

Liberation is the transmigration of a soul through the endless pangs of birth and death towards its final migration into Divine Consciousness and God Realization. Where there is no Sun or Moon to light rather it is the manifestation of divine light and consciousness all the ways.

na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śhaśhāṅko na pāvakaḥ

yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama

Sri Krishna said, "Neither the sun, the moon, nor fire can illumine that Supreme Abode of Mine." "Having gone there, one does not return to this material world again."
Liberation is a journey from the pangs of birth and death, all sorrows, attachments, and bondages, towards fullness, infinities, and a fuller realisation of Divine Consciousness.

It has been observed by sages and noted in the scripture that the evanescent approach to the life processes need to be supplanted by an enduring one to facilitate towards the convergence of the life processes towards realisation of elevating experiences and consciousness. As all the rivers and streams move towards a larger one and finally towards the ocean, so all the life processes are always on the move for higher elevation to converge with the divine for fuller consciousness and liberation.

In the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, it is observed

uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet

ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ

Elevate yourself through the power of your mind and do not degrade yourself, for the mind can be both your friend and your enemy.

The highest virtue is to be conscious of oneself and unite it with the consciousness of the divine, or the Supreme Being.

sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaṁ sarva-bhūtāni chātmani

īkṣhate yoga-yuktātmā sarvatra sama-darśhanaḥ

The true being, uniting his consciousness with God, sees with an equal eye all living beings in God and God in all living beings.

One of the important questions in the theories of virtue is: Who is to be considered steadfast in any circumstance?

sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣhā samādhi-sthasya keśhava

sthita-dhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣheta kim āsīta vrajeta kim

Arjun said, "O Keshav, what is the disposition of one who is situated in divine consciousness?" How does an enlightened person talk? How does he sit? How does he walk?

prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān

ātmany-evātmanā tuṣhṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadochyate

duḥkheṣhv-anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣhu vigata-spṛihaḥ

vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita-dhīr munir uchyate

yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas tat tat prāpya śhubhāśhubham

nābhinandati na dveṣhṭi tasya prajñā pratiṣhṭhitā

Sri Krishna said: "O Parth, when one discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind and becomes satisfied in the realisation of the self, such a person is said to be transcendentally situated."

One whose mind remains undisturbed amidst misery, who does not crave for pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.

One who remains unattached under all conditions and is neither delighted by good fortune nor dejected by tribulation is a sage with perfect knowledge.

If virtue is a character trait, then the foremost one is Consciousness of the self, which is based on steadfastness and evolves through Karma (duty), Janana (knowledge), Dhyana (meditation), and Bhakti (devotion).

-Asutosh Satpathy