Humility Comes From Within

 

Photo Credit: Statustown | Ramakrishna

Humility Comes From Within

People with character may be bombastic or quiet, but they definitely have a level of self-respect. Self-respect cannot be considered the same as self-confidence or self-esteem. Self-respect is not comparative - it is not something that can be earned by being better than other people at something. One earns it by being better than one was before, by improving all the time, by being dependable on times of stress and tests, straight and honest in the times of temptation. This characteristic emerges in those who are morally dependable – self-respect arises through inner triumphs and not external ones!

Humility appears when we don’t live for happiness but live for holiness. The best life is oriented around excellence of the soul – Swamiji repeatedly says this – raise your soul consciousness – this excellence is nourished by inner joy and a quiet sense of gratitude and one begets tranquillity and inner calm as a by-product of successful moral struggle.

When we struggle against our own weaknesses, humility becomes our greatest virtue. One learns to make an accurate assessment of one’s own nature and place in the cosmos. It means being aware of being the underdog in one’s struggle against one’s own weakness. Humility reminds one that one is not the central focus of the universe, but that one serves a larger order.

Pride and ego are delusional – it is the central vice as it blinds us to our own weaknesses and makes us believe that we are better than we actually are. Because of pride and ego, we try to prove that we are better than others, it makes cold-hearted and cruel. Pride deludes us into thinking that we are the authors of our own lives!

One’s character is built through inner confrontation and transformation Through meditation and awareness practices one becomes more self-disciplined, considerate, and loving through countless small acts of self-control. With discipline, one begins to make right choices, desire the right things and execute the right actions. If one makes selfish choices, one becomes degraded and fragmented within, losing one’s core character. Lust, fear, vanity and greed lead us astray in the short term and traits such as courage, honesty, humility establish our character over the long term.

It is very difficult to achieve self-mastery on one’s own. Actually, individual will, reason, compassion and character are not strong enough to consistently defeat selfishness, greed, pride and self-deception. Everybody needs external assistance – and this is available to everyone in the form of a realised Master to guide one- - one just needs to have a strong desire to find such a Master.

One can see the world clearly only by quieting the self and by muting the sound of one’s own ego. Meditation under the guidance of a realised Master helps achieve inner quiet and peace, making one humble, compassionate, loving with a capacity for reverence and admiration.