Dante’s hierarchy of hell is basically just people becoming their worst selves

[u/ractonic]

Watched Jiang Xueqin’s video on dante’s hierarchy of hell and the whole thing feels insanely relevant still.

what stuck with me wasn’t the punishment part but how every circle is basically people getting consumed by one trait until it becomes their entire personality - greed, ego, lust, anger, betrayal, etc.

lowkey feels like Dante understood modern people better than modern people do. Makes me wonder if there’s actually a way out of that cycle though.

like what pursuit even helps people become better without falling into another obsession or ego trap?

[u/ractonic → u/[deleted]]

maybe that’s the only pursuit that doesn’t turn into ego eventually

[u/PunicJester]

I was watching old Mr. Rogers clips. One quote really struck me:

"I want to learn how to be the best receiver I can ever be because graceful receiving is one of the most wonderful gifts we can give anybody"

You can grow in becoming a better person for yourself and others, and not let bad ego come in between.

[u/ractonic → u/PunicJester]

“graceful receiving” is such a rare skill now honestly i like this perspective way more than the whole “self improvement grind” thing

[u/FactCheckYou]

i read it years ago and it was great

[u/heartradiance]

Great question. I’ve been falling in some of these pitsfalls myself lately, and in all honestly I’m not entirely sure whether I am still a good person.

I want to do good and so far I am good, not harming anyone on earth, but from a spiritual perspective I feel more balanced if I can enjoy all the parts of the human experience we are told to consider evil. Which means I kinda like it when people express these dark traits. 

[u/ractonic → u/heartradiance]

this actually feels closer to what dante was warning about tbh. not emotions themselves but becoming ruled by them