First of all, the virtues also bring great advantages.
The greatest!
But they usually don’t bring them immediately.
That’s the only difference.
The reward is huge, but later or… a little later.
Yes, lying could enrich us,
selfishness could protect us,
and unscrupulousness could bring us strength…
It is not enough to answer that virtuous
people are always happier

or that good is always rewarded.
These claims cannot be proven
, and there are numerous counterexamples.
A person of integrity can be persecuted.
A generous person can be exploited.
A courageous person can die defending someone else.
This is where the fundamental distinction
between comfort and the universal good comes into play.

If virtues were valuable

only for the benefits they bring us,
then we would have to give them up when those advantages or comforts disappeared.
But if love, truth, inner freedom and good have value in themselves,

then their manifestation may be preferable

even when it involves sacrifices.
For example, if we are sincere and necessarily at least a little wise,

a long, comfortable life,

but dominated by cowardice, lies and selfishness

it is not, in fact, preferable

a more difficult life, but lived with love, courage and integrity.
This is not a mathematical proof.

It is a fundamental choice

regarding what we consider to make a truly valuable existence.
And this, in my opinion, is precisely the core of a person’s quest.

An essential distinction:
To manifest virtues
does not mean to become a moralist.

The strong manifestation of virtues
should not be confused with the repression of impulses, moral rigidity,
or the constant
attempt to correspond to an external ideal.

Genuine virtue must be accompanied by intelligence and discernment.
Compassion without discernment can foster destructive behaviors.
Courage without discernment can become recklessness.
Discipline, justice, and truth without love
can become cruelty.
Misunderstood humility can become servility.
Detachment can degenerate into indifference.
Therefore, it is not the mere intensity of a quality
that transforms it into a spiritual virtue,
but its harmonization with truth, love, freedom, and discernment.
This is important for the system of the 12 Abheda virtues:
they should not be developed as 12 separate performances,
but as complementary manifestations of a unitary inner transformation.
So a life in which we powerfully manifest the spiritual virtues

is preferable because

It allows us to be freer, more clear-headed, more loving, stronger on the inside,

less influenced by circumstances

and better able to experience the profound fulfillment of existence.

But the ultimate reason is not that virtues help us get more out of life,

but that they fundamentally transform the quality of the being living that life.

It is worth cultivating spiritual virtues
not only for what we gain through them,
but especially for what we

are no longer compelled to be.
As selfishness, fear, attachment, and ignorance
lose their power over us,
our essential nature can manifest itself more and more freely.

IN MY OPINION, SPIRITUAL

VIRTUES AND ABILITIES ARE THE CURRENCY OF THE UNIVERSE.

Leo Radutz