Guru Habit 1 - Humility

The first Guru Habit is Humility.

In contemporary life, humility is more important than ever. The more successful we become, both as individuals and as a family, through our development of science and technology, the more essential it becomes to preserve humility. For the greater our material achievements, the more vulnerable we become to pride and arrogance. Dalai Lama Facebook Post 14th Jan 2011

Humility is a virtue, and not highly regarded in the Western world. In the west the ego is highly valued, and often overinflated, people are often full of themselves, and it can be quite tiring listening to all that BS!

Photo by NASA Goddard

Lack of Humility is evident by the constant desire to "Exert our own will, vs accepting and being grateful for all that is given"

The Ego is often a sense of identity, people exert an enormous amount of energy to appear a certain way or maintain a certain image reflective.

Why is Humility to important?

In the primal beginning, we were all together, a single source, undifferentiated, we did not know nothing but bliss and that was the problem.

So the creative power decided to create a grand scheme, a scheme where we could know ourself as separate individuals, through taking on the garment of the mind, of which ego is its primary clothing.

The ego is a sense of self, separate from each other, a healthy ego is required to survive in this world, if we did not have an ego, we would not survive on this planet.

However the ego is meant to serve us, not to control us. See the ego tries to fill in this void of the soul by creating an "artificial" soul here on the physical plane by physical things, and thats were the problem starts.

An inflated ego, does not leave any room for anyone else let alone the divine. We have to empty ourself, dissolution of our false importance is required. Us as separate individuals have really nothing to hold on to, everything physical is temporary, changing, hence not the truth.

The remedy for the Ego, is:
1. Contemplation of its Opposite Values (Humility, Compassion & Love)
2. Self-Less Service (Sewa)
3. Company of Seekers of Truth (Satsang)
4. Meditation (Including Yoga, Pranayama, Qi Gong)

Contemplation of its Opposite Values (Humility, Compassion & Love)

"As you think, so you are", the repetition of values, bringing images and thoughts of humility to mind everyday, can develop habits automatically.

Here is a daily affirmation for humility:

I hereby affirm that I will undertake all actions today with a sense of humility, as I recognize that the ego is a poor substitute for my soul.

Self-Less Service (Sewa)

Self-Less service to others can make teach you a lesson in Humility, I have seen doctors, lawyers clean people's shoes and toilets in the temples.

One does not need to do any of these, but doing actions of humility in our lives can teach one humility practically. Practice Humility in action in your everyday environment, at Work, at Home, a Charity, in your place of Worship, by doing volunteer work to benefit any worthwhile cause.

Company of Seekers of Truth (Satsang)

Do you expect to find a lion in a herd of sheep? If you want to change your behavior and values, there is no more powerful way than to change the company of people you keep.

In today's day of the internet, one can even keep company virtually, although this is limited in certain ways. Joining a charity or a spiritual group like the "Art of Living" is a good way to find positive people.

Meditation (Including Yoga, Pranayama, Qi Gong)

One of the most powerful way of self change is any form of meditation. In this category I include seated meditation, moving meditations like Yoga, Qi Gong, and Pranayama. Meditation is very powerful, because it connects you to your true self, automatically shedding all false emotional and mental layers.  Its like a washing machine for your mind, however it does take some self work, and effort.

Progress in meditation in any form (Moving and Non-Moving) depends on two things:
1. Quality of Teacher
2. Dedication of Practice by the Student

It sad, that no-one gives guidance on the right habits to develop, often in the Eastern traditions, the Guru provides this, even parents in today's fast pace lives do not value these great Virtues, brainwashed by a bombarding of mindless images in the form of advertisement, entertainment and bad company.

Hope this article has brought some contemplation of the most important habit of Humility.

To finish I ask:  "Why be the Wave when you can be the Ocean", why cling on to a limited expression of yourself when you can be an infinite expression of one, by letting go of the attachment of the Ego and a temporary sense of identity.


"Your way begins on the other side. Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color. Do it now.
You're covered with a thick cloud. Slide out the side.
The speechless full moon comes out now."
~Rumi


Wishing you Love, Compassion & Peace of Mind,

Kirpal


This work by Kirpal Chauhan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License