So, now it's all about Robin and Barry. LoL!
turquoiseb: > Having rapped once this morning about the concept so often pushed out by > TM and TMers of it/them being "The Best," I thought I'd balance things > somewhat and rap about another concept. As much as I may appreciate > people whose aspiration -- like Olympic athletes -- is to become The > Best at something, I'm personally just not drawn that way. > > In both spiritual pursuits and more mundane ones, I'm more attracted to > folks who have learned the quiet joys of being ordinary. > > I just did an Amazon "Look inside this book" search of Maharishi's "The > Science of Being and Art of Living," looking for instances of a word. I > got zero results. None. Nada. Bupkus. This doesn't surprise me, because > in the many years I studied with him, I can't recall him having ever > used the word in any talk or lecture. > > But if you think about it, that *should* be a bit surprising, because > this word is the *basis* of many other spiritual teachings and > traditions. They give whole talks devoted to this word and concept. They > write whole books about it. Much of their daily practice is devoted to > achieving it. > > The word is "humility." > > The dictionary defines humility as "The quality or state of being > humble." Looking up humble, it is defined as "Not proud or haughty; > reflecting or expressing a spirit of deference." The Dalai Lama, in one > of his talks on this subject, has said, "Any sense of conceit or > self-importance gets in the way of cultivating the genuine altruistic > intention, and the most effective remedy against this is the cultivation > of humility." > > Isn't it interesting that the quality that Buddhism considers one of the > noblest and most altruistic intents one could have, so much so that it's > considered a "remedy" for its opposite, self importance, is something > that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi didn't even feel was worth mentioning? > > Different strokes for different folks, eh? > > Anyway, I'm a big fan of humility, in the sense of realizing one's > ordinariness and *lack* of self importance. This, to me, is a portal > that leads to the ability to better empathize with one's fellow human > beings. And that, of course, leads to the ability to be more of service > to them. > > There are a few folks here on Fairfield Life who I think -- based on the > things they write -- "get" humility. You see it in the way they describe > the "people on the street" they interact with (think Curtis and Marek) > and you see it in the things they aspire to or fail to aspire to (think > Xeno and some others, who have given up the one-pointed pursuit of > enlightenment in favor of the pursuit of just living a fun or meaningful > life). > > Then there are others, who *don't* seem content with being ordinary. > We've been told here that the "highest goal in life" is to aspire to > becoming enlightened. Or to create world peace by being so important > that the very thud of your buttocks on slabs of foam creates world > peace. Call me crazy, but I don't see a lot of humility in these > aspirations. > > I also don't see a lot of happiness and fulfillment in the people who > pursue them. > > It's as if they're never satisfied. There's this carrot dangling > somewhere on the end of a stick in front of them, and they won't allow > themselves to be truly happy until they've grabbed it. Sounds like a > dumb way to live one's life to me. > > Some people need big, enormous, ostentatious and above all IMPORTANT > goals in life. Enlightenment. World peace. I like people who have more > humble goals, like just trying to be as happy as they can in their daily > lives, and trying to do as much as they can to help the people they > personally interact with every day to be a little happier themselves. > Those goals sound just fine to me; I don't see why anyone would need > loftier ones. > > But then I have listened to a lot of songs by Bruce Cockburn, a guy who > "gets" humility, too. His lyrics and his way of looking at things may > have warped me. When he sings verses like the following, I get the > feeling he's actually onto something: > > To be one more voice in the human choir > Rising like smoke from the mystical fire > Of the heart > > Not "the" voice. Not even the lead singer. Just one more voice. Now > that's humble. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVfssmB4ok0 > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVfssmB4ok0> >
