Doubly fallen

Some people who have restricted their behaviours in the past to attempt to live a more "pure" lifestlye develop massive complexes after turning away from the pure lifestyle behaviours.

I have encountered people like this, who used to be vegetarian, and not drink alcohol etc, because thats what the religion they followed told them to do, but obviously they never actually made the choices based on developing a higher taste in the first place, so that's why they cannot maintain the behaviours.

The strange thing is that they become very threatened by anyone who continues to maintain the pure life style behaviors - that they themselves have determined to leave behind - and they then look on those who maintain the behaviors as repressed, and not embracing life!

(What a complete and utter load of delusion that notion is... that one embraces life by being really loose and just following each momentary passing whim of selfish sense gratification! )

In talking to these types, it becomes very obvious... the freedom they seek is to be able to do whatever they want and they have this sort of arrogance that they can cope with the consequences of their actions too. They also present these arguments justifying their positions as if they were really "logical" but they actually don't make any sense.

It seems like people just like to feel good about themselves - whatever they do, regardless of what it is, so they just live by justifications.... and build up philosophies that support their current position in life.

Of course I have to be careful too in this area, both in making sure I don't make justifications, and also in making sure I don't hold others to my own standards of purity.

I have come to see that that is one big problem that can develop, is assuming the standards that fit with my values and perceptions should be held over others, this is just me trying to make myself as the center yardstick of the actions of others, which isn't my true eternal position anyway.