Humility is surprisingly empowering. Sincerely putting others first is an excellent way to get yourself ahead. Also, wwhen you decline to grab the credit for the good things you do, others will be much more willing to work with you. Quote from Mr J
KR: Humility in B G: The Bhagavad-Gita (13.08 <http://bhagavadgitaclass.com/bhagavad-gita-chapter-13-text-08-12/>) lists humility as the first of the twenty qualities that comprise wisdom. Significantly, the Gita mentions humility in a negative way to convey its subtlety: *amaanitvam*, absence of the craving for respect. 1 amanitvam 2 adambhitvam 3 ahimsa 4 ksantir 5 arjavam 6 acaryopasanam 7 saucam 8 sthairyam 9 atma-vinigrahah 10 indriyarthesu 11 vairagyam 12 anahankara eva ca 13 janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi- 14 duhkha-dosanudarsanam 15 asaktir 16 anabhisvangah putra-dara-grhadisu nityam ca 17 sama-cittatvam 18 istanistopapattisu mayi 19 cananya-yogena 20 bhaktir avyabhicarini vivikta-desa-sevitvam aratir jana-samsadi (BG 13 8-12)( May be if sub divided 24 elements also) 20 qualities: 1 Humility; 2 pricelessness; 3 nonviolence; 4 tolerance; 5 simplicity; 6 approaching a bona fide spiritual master; 7 cleanliness; 8 steadiness; 9 self-control; 10 renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; 11 absence of false ego; 12 the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; 13 detachment; 14 freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; 15 even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; 16 constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; 17 aspiring to live in a solitary place; 18 detachment from the general mass of people; 19 accepting the importance of self-realization; 20 and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance. Humility means that one should not be anxious to have the satisfaction of being honored by others. The material conception of life makes us very eager to receive honor from others, but from the point of view of a man in perfect knowledge – who knows that he is not this body – anything, honor or dishonor, pertaining to this body is useless. Nonviolence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. Tolerance means that one should be practiced to bear insult and dishonor from others. If one is engaged in the advancement of spiritual knowledge, there will be so many insults and much dishonor from others. Be tolerant and continue our progress with determination. Simplicity means that without diplomacy one should be so straightforward that he can disclose the real truth even to an enemy. Cleanliness is essential for making advancement in spiritual life. There are two kinds of cleanliness: external and internal. External cleanliness means taking a bath, but for internal cleanliness one has to think of GOD always This process cleans the accumulated dust of past karma from the mind. (5) Steadiness means that one should be very determined to make progress in spiritual life. Without such determination, one cannot make tangible progress. And self-control means that one should not accept anything which is detrimental to the path of spiritual progress. One should become accustomed to this and reject anything which is against the path of spiritual progress. This is real renunciation. The senses are so strong that they are always anxious to have sense gratification. If one can control the tongue, then there is every possibility of controlling the other senses. False ego means accepting this body as oneself. When one understands that he is not his body and is spirit soul, he comes to his real ego. Ego is there. False ego is condemned, but not real ego. In the Vedic literature (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 1.4.10) it is said, aham brahmasmi: I am Brahman, I am spirit. This “I am,” the sense of self, also exists in the liberated stage of self-realization. This sense of “I am” *is ego, but when the sense of “I am” is applied to this false body it is false ego*. One should try to understand the distress of accepting birth, death, old age and disease. There are descriptions in various Vedic literatures of birth. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam the world of the unborn, the child’s stay in the womb of the mother, its suffering, etc., are all very graphically described. It should be thoroughly understood that birth is distressful. Because we forget how much distress we have suffered within the womb of the mother, we do not make any solution to the repetition of birth and death. Similarly at the time of death there are all kinds of sufferings, and they are also mentioned in the authoritative scriptures.. And as far as disease and old age are concerned, everyone gets practical experience. No one wants to be diseased, and no one wants to become old, but there is no avoiding these. As for detachment from children, wife and home, it is not meant that one should have no feeling for these. They are natural objects of affection. But when they are not favorable to spiritual progress, then one should not be attached to them. (10) Happiness and distress are concomitant factors of material life. One should learn to tolerate, as advised in Bhagavad-gita. One can never restrict the coming and going of happiness and distress, so one should be detached from the materialistic way of life and be automatically equipoised in both cases. Generally, when we get something desirable we are very happy, and when we get something undesirable we are distressed. But if we are actually in the spiritual position these things will not agitate us. (5) In short, the craving for respect from others is the force that drives most people. This craving originates from their false ego, which misleads them foundationally into believing that their self-identity is their material body. Additionally, the false ego also makes them imagine that their self-worth is the net worth of their talents and treasures, their positions and connections. It impels them to overtly and covertly display their assets before the world in the desperate hope of earning respect. When they don’t get the respect that they think is their right, they feel humiliated. Humiliation, then, is nothing but false ego frustrated. On the other hand, humility is an entirely different ball game, one that those shackled to false ego can scarcely comprehend. That’s because the driving force of the lives of the humble is not the craving for respect, but the longing to serve: That’s why they have no need for the pleasures that the false ego dangles before everyone. So, whenever the false ego tempts them, they are able to reject it determinedly and consistently. Now we have to decide what we are going to be; Let us go through the epics and Puranas where the avatars and the Sanathana dharma kings and Rishis lived. Rama could have stayed with all the humiliation of the forest without vying with the Surpanakha. He needs to have entered into remorse feelings and hunting all around for wife; after all, why would Ravanan and co be killed; Why such a learnt, from Guru Surya, shall burn the nation, just because, some ignorant, set fire to the tail? Why would Bharatha such a scholar should talk ill of mother; Why would one who taught the Vishnu sahasranama, to the world, should fight and beget the 3 women to be forcefully married to Kuru vamsam princes? Why would Janaka pay so much for cows and learn that Rishis holding heads high towards the GOD shall also receive them? Why would DRONAR go and beg King Drupada for a cup of milk and serve the retinue of Duryodhana and also train all the sons of the Kings? why would Draupadi laugh, knowing fully well, it is not humility to do so?. Thus, life is doing the present Karma and expending the past Karma. After all, Drona refused to teach Karna on discrimination. Bhishma remained silent on some pretext as composed even though he could have killed Duryodhana in one fight in the assembly itself, but did not. It was not humility. He had the knowledge. So why would Krishna in B G advocate all these 20 – 24 qualities? Simple. UNLESS YOU FOLLOW ALL THESE AS A WORM ON THIS EARTH, YOU ARE NOT WORTH TO ATTAIN THE REALISATION. ONCE DECIDED, THEN RENUNCIATE IN TOTO ALL. DO NOT SHOW YOUR POMP AND WEALTH, DANCE AND DO MAGICS. THAT IS WHY KARMAYOGA WAS HEIGHTENED; ONE NEED NOT GO TO PLACES AS 99% OF THE GODMEN CANNOT PART EVEN THEIR ROBE, WITHOUT ANYTHING IN RETURN; AND YOU FEED A BEGGAR ON THE STREET SO YOU ARE BETTER THAN HIM. THEN WHY SO MUCH OF QUEUE? BECAUSE CONSCIOUSNESS IS GUILTY AND TRYING TO SEEK REMEDIES UNDER THE SHELTER OF THOSE, AND THEY INTURN, LIVE A KING’S LIFE AS GODMEN. KR IRS 12 5 23 On Thu, 11 May 2023 at 16:13, Jambunathan Iyer <[email protected]> wrote: > Humility is surprisingly empowering. Sincerely putting others first is an > excellent way to get yourself ahead. Also when you decline to grab the > credit for the good things you do, others will be much more willing to work > with you. > > > N Jambunathan Rengarajapuram-Kodambakkam-Chennai-Mob:9176159004 > > *" What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you > become by achieving your goals. If you want to live a happy life, tie it to > a goal, not to people or things "* > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZoqxT-6wNJiyB96ctz6gv8UCZEL_SsQTN1JsFGNbcNYCuA%40mail.gmail.com.
