Humility and the light of others

Bronwen LoganArticles, English 2 Comments

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Being humble dims the light of our ego and consequently opens our heart to receive the light of others. Learning to be humble is quite a difficult task. From an early age, we accept praise as a reward for a job, task or deed well done. It becomes a massage to our ego. Our ego continues to grow but when this self assuring energy starts moving from our heart, the foundation of our love, to our head….we start moving away from our interconnections with others to oneself. This is a dangerous path to walk.

The human race is like a chain, we are only as strong as our weakest link. Being humble lets one reach out and be one with one another. If one’s ego becomes too bright, it will blind the individual to see any other way than their own way. It will diminish the connection between people until everyone is eventually alone, without love and without the radiant light of others. Not being able to see beyond one’s own boundaries will eventually lead to a dimming of all the light, creating a troubling world of darkness.

Humility, is a shade to our ego’s light, letting us continue to see the way in the connection with others. Keep the light on, but never so bright that we cannot see our way. This is done through humility.

I have grown up in a culture of where “man up” is an encouragement of strength of heart. I have come to realize this is a typically a western philosophy. When one reacts from emotion in a confrontational situation, it is seen as a strength in my culture. The Dalia Lama would speak of patience and tolerance as being an inner strength to these situations. The difference in these philosophies may be humility.

Humility gives an individual a calmness for reaction, learning to accept our greatest gift of the pause, the moment in time to reflect on response rather than to react. Emotional reactions through anger many times can produce responses that are ill-stated, mean or outright hurtful. In essence, these types of responses may not truly reflect one’s inner most being. Anger will cloud one’s mind to clearly respond to an adverse situation. Once a hurtful word or action is said or done, it can never taken back. It can scar a relationship beyond repair. Humility in turn, can help an individual into responses that are sincere and reflective of one’s kindness for others.

Humility creates a path of vision for others to see within our inner most heart. Without humility, one builds a wall that holds others out. In order to be one with one another, our barriers both physically and emotionally must crumble to enable our deepest feelings to shine. Without these barriers one can discover their True Self and be what we are meant to be.

Rob Lehman wrote, “We don’t let go into trust until we have exhausted our egos.” Being able to be vulnerable to open our heart to others happens only through humility and the ability to control our ego. To put our trust in others, is hard for many of us in as we have learned to be independent in our learning, studies and work. Personal success has been measured through our abilities to accomplish tasks with our own abilities. Asking for help, many times is seen as a sign of weakness rather than a way to seek answers to our questions and problems. Learning to put our trust in others allows one to grow in strength with the effort of many rather than one. Being able to be humble will enable one to trust others in the knowledge to finding one’s way.

Humility is a strength the allows our light from within to shine for others to see. Being humble is always in an internal battle with one’s ego, but with the ability within to let each coexist in harmony with each other, one learns to shine their inner light so others can see their way. All this can be done through humility.

Comments 2

  1. Avatar of Saint-Clair Audrey

    Of the 5 precepts, Humility is my favourite one for, if properly applied, it keeps one from anger and anxiety and opens the door to so many blessings.
    However, trusting everyone has brought many deceptions. Putting my faith in God is still my preferred approach.

    1. Avatar of Vikki Laskowski

      Trusting others, why, when, in what situation, what others? I will always try to trust myself first. First and foremost. Sometimes I am undecided about this or that ethical / moral issue. I’ll learn from others but only when their teaching rings true with me, with my soul, which I trust. For example : Buddha, Jesus, just to mention this 2 from a longer list of great teachers trustworthy in my eyes.

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