Introduction

Surely, the subject of humility is so expansive and has so many facets to

it. Very humbly, I would like to submit that looking back in my life, I
cannot claim anything in the way of either much direct knowledge about
it or association with it. So, the question arises as to how I might speak
on it.

I still want to talk about it, cos I do know the value of it in two ways –
first and mostly through my failings in dealing with the lack of humility
and secondly by learning about it from others – lessons that I found very
valuable and am glad to have come across in life.

Thanks to my failings, I am very well aware what stands in the way of

gaining it and how this antonym of humility is embedded within us and
the way it affects us. What I am referring the all too familiar but
powerful hooded ‘cobra’ among feelings known as the ego.

I have seen that hood sway within me at times in subtle and

camouflaged manner and at times in open belligerent manner, but it
grows on you – it’s something like a bad habit that we do take a liking
towards –akin to alcohol-consumption or smoking. It makes you feel
very good about myself. But today we are not here to talk about this
addiction to ego but more on that which it tries to kill in our very soul -
the trait of humility !

Humility does not mean self-deprecation. Nor does it indicate a low self-
esteem. Humility, more often than not, is misinterpreted as a sign of
meekness and sometimes misunderstood to be a synonym of for
servility. But humility actually by itself is symbolic of power. History gives
testimony to such power, found latent in many a silent humble and
extraordinary leader.

True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too
highly or too lowly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us
how far we have come short of what we can be.” It is observed fact in
human nature that once someone achieves great things in life, he
becomes selfconfident because his morale is boosted. Having confidence
in oneself is important but having too much self confidence can ruin a
person. A person with immense self confidence thinks too highly of
himself and becomes egoistic. He feels that he has achieved all his
objectives and does not have the motivation to strive harder.

Humility keeps a person firm on the ground and makes him aware of
future goals that are still pending. As individuals, we have a number of
goals in life. So, it is important that we do not lose focus once we
achieve a goal. In fact, humility is about focusing on the unknown
instead of the known. So, a modest person, instead of gloating and
boasting of his past achievements, will focus on tasks he needs to
complete in the future, of which the outcome is unknown. So it is a
misconception that humility and modesty have a negative impact on a
person’s confidence level. In fact it has a corrective impact on self
confidence. It is not true that humility is equivalent to low self esteem. It
prevents people from going overboard and thinking that “you are it”. It
gives perspective.

Many people find it difficult to practice humility. One way to be humble

is by acknowledging that you may not have the answers to all the
questions and that you have a lot to learn. By doing so, you
automatically open the doors of knowledge and are on a road of lifelong
learning. By gaining more knowledge, you gain confidence and self
respect. This is why true humility is intelligent self respect

Definitely, ones personality – mirror of our soul - blossoms only when

one’s knowledge is supplemented by humility and discipline.

WHERE DO WE NEED HUMILITY ?

Any action or venture that involves other people or developing a rapport

with other members of society – demands first a patient ear and then a
humble bearing. The virtues of humility will promote reserved speech
and will call for greater attention to what is being said than putting up
pompous demeanor.

The desiderata (compilation) found in St Paul ’s church dating back to

ages before the advent of modern philosophers, says, “give every man
thy ear but few thy tongue; be on good terms with all but without
surrender.”
My spiritual mentor, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, guided me by simply
saying “you cannot always oblige but you can speak always obligingly”.

Tomas A Kempis, a medieval Christian writer wrote, “No man can safely
appear in public unless he himself feels that he would willingly remain in
retirement. No man can safely speak who would not rather be silent. No
man can with safety command who has not learnt to obey.”

HOW IS GREATNESS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMILITY

Greatness lies in being able to place oneself in the others shoes. To be

able to look at an issue from all possible stand points and then come to a
conclusion. Fairness and justice are sought by people today. But who
are the ones to hand them their true claim? People will trust only those
individuals who are able to bring themselves down to the level of the
people.

Every leader is not granted the epithet of ‘great’. What makes them
great? The philosophers give the answer. They envisaged a leader who
practiced humility – being neither assertive nor talkative yet strong and
capable. That is the spirit of a great man.

John Ruskin wrote in his ‘modern painters’: “I believe that the first test of a truly
great man is his humility. I don’t mean by humility dearth of his own power or hesitation in
speaking out his opinions; but a right understanding of the relation between what he can do
and say and the rest of the world’s sayings and doings.”

To be able to communicate on par with others requires humility. This is

what people expect when they speak to a superior. Bosses are never
liked; leaders are; because a leader leads, but a boss merely order
others and then follow behind the group.

In the same vein ‘the great’ have a real estimate of their own capacities.
They have no intention of feigning. For them a spade is a spade is a
spade – nothing else.

Examples of Humility

From the Socrates to Mahatma Gandhi, to Albert Einstein, many lives

are an infallible vindication to this fact.
SOCRATES AND HUMILITY

Instances are many where the ones whom history has recognised and
honoured, have concluded that their achievements are of infinitesimal
value in comparison to what remains unknown and unachieved. The
people of Athens heard the oracles verdict that the wisest man in
Athens was Socrates.

When questioned the philosopher, he replied “I know that I know not”.

A simple answer which conveys in depth the attitude of the truly great.
In a layman’s perception they are an ocean of wisdom and experience –
but they are aware of the true extent of their knowledge and intellectual
powers.
EINSTEIN AND HUMILITY

Albert Einstein when questioned on the future work on his unified theory
(QED) replied with an analogy which to this day acts as a driving force –
a source of inspiration for scientific research. Einstein said he was a little
boy playing with the least valuable pebbles and shells on the shore of a
mighty ocean which lay unfathomed and unexplained.

This was said in true spirit – for, after all his research, Einstein’s
dissatisfaction could be assuaged only when he came to accept this fact
– that he was but limited in his intelligence and power, whereas creation
had much more than he could master in a single life time.

GANDHI AND HUMILITY

One most Gandhi’s most outstanding traits shown was being humble. A
humble leader is confident about their ideas and visions, although he or
she is still open-minded to new ideas from other people. This leader is
not afraid to commit mistakes along the way, and usually leads by
example. Many leaders today send other people in their behalf, and they
are the ones who get money and credit for these actions.

Gandhi was self-assured about what his goals were and how he planned
to achieve them, although he was always open to ideas and opinions
from the people around him. His non-violent method of protesting
against the British caused thousands of people to follow him, and he was
the first one who shared this knowledge to the Indians, so they knew
exactly how they should protest, in order for them to succeed.

An example of Gandhi showing humbleness was when he lead the Civil

Disobedience Movement. Humility means paying the price. To do this,
he broke the rules, with the purpose of going to prison, and many of his
followers did the same. As more and more people got into jail, the
government was pressured to release them. Gandhi was the first one to
lead this movement, and he guided all his followers to do the same. He
knew about the risks that this could cause, but he still took the chance to
cause a change in his nation.

Also, Gandhi demonstrated humbleness by living in relative poverty

voluntarily. He made his own clothes, and he guided personally every
movement he made. This shows how he leads other citizens by showing
an example. Watching this frail man living in poverty trying to make a
difference in a peaceful way, inspired thousands of Indians to follow
him. Citizens from all over the country began to imitate some of the
characteristics of his way of living. They started to make their own
clothes of khadi, (cloth spun at home), while they burned any foreign
made clothes. “This also provided employment for poor people, thus
reviving the village’s economy”. This was a representation to the British
to show that they can be independent, thus they don’t need clothes
made from other countries.

In the eyes of generations to come, Gandhi stands out as an ideal, an

example, as a vindication to the fact that humility is indeed a hallmark of
the great.

Many more Examples exist like that of great social reformer, scholar,
philanthropist Ishwar Chandra Vidya sagar during the time of freedom
struggle. He was off to present a lecture when he came across an officer
at the train station

Humility & understanding of needs

Humility means understanding that the delights, pains and needs of

others are as important as our own, even though they don’t feel so.
When we are humble, we can laugh at our self importance and
sometimes, even, set it aside. We can see our own faults and the
strengths of others, and we recognize how much we have been given,
unearned.

Humility and understanding of limitations

Humility makes us aware of our personal limitations and the limitations

of humanity more broadly. We acknowledge that there is much we do
not know, that certainty is impossible, and that our understandings of
the world are provisional at best.

Humility opens us to growth and love.

Humility enhances personal life since it means you have to Revere the
elders, Be content with what you have and develop goodwill towards all.
Bear no ill will towards anyone

Humility and education

Education should confer humility. Education without wisdom and

wisdom without humility are like husks without grain. Humility should
not mean mere bending of the head. Only an attitude free from egoism,
ostentation and attachment can be called humility. Today, neither
teachers nor parents are able to teach such humility to the children
because they themselves have not cultivated that attitude. The water
that you can draw from a tap depends on the nature of the water in the
tank. Today teachers and parents have not filled their minds with sacred
divine feelings. How can they expect to infuse the children with such
feelings

SPIRITUAL meaning

It only means that one is not involved in ONE self BUT WITH EVERY SELF
AROUND. For, the same Self pervades all beings - call it God, Atma, Spirit
or Energy.

“Love lives by giving and forgiving; Self lives by getting and forgetting.”
- Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes
men as angels.”
- Saint Augustine

In Chinese philosophy, water is attributed the quality of humility. In fact

Chinese Taoist “How did the great rivers and the seas get their kinship
over the hundred tiny streams? Through the merit of being lower than
they; that was how they get their kinship.”

CONCLUSION

Humility does not mean you think less of yourself but it does mean you
think of yourself less

The truly humble and tolerant man shall live not merely in the pages of
history but in the hearts of men

I do not think that my lessons for humility are done. Am still learning and
hope to do so always. For, in matters of lessons in humility, when you
think that you have learnt it is also the moment that you have actually
lost it
Humility—A Virtue in Disrepute

If you think humility is a virtue much sought after, go out on the highway
and watch people drive. People’s driving habits may vary slightly from
place to place, but on average, drivers today are super aggressive. They
cut each other off at the blink of an eye. They thread their way from lane
to lane in a great race and at great risk to beat out the other guy. Are
those the actions of someone awash in humility and respect for his
fellow man?

Or look at the trend today to exaggerate on one’s resume, or even to

put things on the resume that absolutely have no basis in fact. Humble
this isn’t. It involves deception and dishonesty, and the real agenda is
about looking good and achieving the goal regardless of the costs or
consequences.

In most corporate cultures, ‘looking good’ is the name of the game, not
actually taking the risk of producing and creating for the good of the
company. Humility is perceived as complete foolishness, as behavior
that is totally mal-adaptive to the competitive business environment.
The super competitive ones seem to have a powerful, unspoken agenda
and the achieving of that agenda is the only goal. The end justifies the
means. Virtues like honesty, humility, and respect are seen as
unacceptable handicaps to reaching that end or goal.

One of the fathers of economics, Adam Smith, in his famous work,

Wealth of Nations, glorified the power of self-interest. He theorized that
the ‘invisible hand’ of individual self-interest would reconcile the public
benefit with the individual pursuit of private gain. He emphasized the
importance of permitting individuals to follow their self-interest as a
means of promoting national prosperity. In a recent popular movie, A
Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe plays the part of a mathematician, Mr.
John Forbes Nash Jr., who in real life created a new theory for which he
received the Nobel Prize in economics. The theory of the real life Mr.
Nash in essence said Adam Smith was wrong. Nash proved using
complex mathematics that there was at least one equilibrium point
(within a system of competing players or competitors trying to win a
game): "a collection of strategies by the various players such that no one
player can improve his outcome by changing only his own strategy."
(from "John Nash and ‘A Beautiful Mind" by John Milnor) So selfishness
in a competitive situation has been dethroned, thanks to the
mathematical theories of John Nash, as the best way to improve one’s
economic lot. Working together with other people for a common goal
offers new possibilities, but requires very different skills than being a
self-centered Lone Ranger. Working cooperatively within a group, or at
least being willing to honestly negotiate with others in that group,
requires that each person show respect to others, knowing full well that
each person will have very different opinions on possible key issues. So if
their ideas and opinions are not in unison, what forms the mortar upon
which this mutual respect is based?

Even though their ideas may differ, the members of a group can still
have a common goal that binds them together. And they can respect
each other. But what is that respect based on? The bonds that tie any
group of people together into some form of community are based on
what they have in common, not upon the things in which they differ.

Many men have found in serving in the armed forces, especially during
war-time, that the bonds that develop between them are extremely
powerful; in spite of the fact that in their civilian jobs they might have
been at extreme ends of the social, educational, and status ladders.
What soldiers have in common is that they have suffered similar
deprivations, and similar harsh social, physical, and sometimes combat
environments. They have been tempered together in the same heat,
whether it is in battle or just the riggers of military life. They truly
discover that they have a common humanity that is far more important
than all the differences that we are told in civilian life are so important.

The community bonds that form within various encounter groups,

whether they are religious, marriage, or business groups are based on a
similar premise. As these members initially try to form a common
community bond, they discover as they become more and more honest
with each other that they have many irreconcilable differences that they
will never agree on. But in the act of sharing at this level of honesty, they
can make an important discovery about the other members of the
group. They discover that others have suffered and learned, picked him
or herself up and dusted themselves off, and kept on their journey
despite all their setbacks. It becomes apparent that everyone has
exhibited at some level some very real courage in the face of adversity.
The group develops a deeply shared appreciation for each other’s
humanity. And having that in common supersedes the less important
perceived differences, those differences that in the beginning of the
group sharing may have seemed so important. Each member of the
group, if they have really bonded as a group, has developed a new
respect for every other member. And without knowing it, each member
has grown immensely in their own humility. Humility is a necessary by-
product of true community bonding. A lack of humility exists when an
individual Lacks the connection to other people. It is very hard to have a
high regard and respect for other people, and not have humility.

Try to imagine in your mind a person whom you have known very well
and for whom you have tremendous respect and admiration. Visualize
that person and recall the feelings that person has brought forth in you.
Then try to ‘act as if’ other people that you meet are as worthy of that
respect as the person you visualized. Yes it will be an ‘act’ in the
beginning, but an amazing transformation may take place over time.
One might actually begin to see people in a different light. The reality is
that we really don’t know many other people well, even those people
we think we do. So we are giving them the benefit of the doubt. And by
giving them respect, a strange thing often happens. People have a strong
sense of when others are respecting them, and they often times try to
live ‘up’ to that respect. So changing our perception of others can have
very positive effects on what others do and who they become. This is
especially true of children. If children believe that their parents see them
as good, they will try to live up to that expectation. And it is just as true
for adults. Keep in mind the opposite is also true. If we expect little, they
will offer us little. But a person who can easily offer respect to others is a
person that possesses the very valuable gift of humility, a gift that has
the power to transform a human environment.

In scripture we find the following: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or

vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each
of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the
interests of others." (Philippians 2:3-4) In I Peter 5:5 it says: "… clothe
yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes
the proud but gives grace to the humble." Although this advice may be
counter-cultural, it seems to be compatible with Mr. Nash’s thesis of
people working cooperatively to accomplish the desired goal. Perhaps
there is great wisdom and utility in those words!
It is just about time for my yearly lesson in humility, and I am beginning
to get nervous. Each academic year, at some point, I am forced to
confront either my own humanity, or that of one of my students. Those
lessons are often extremely uncomfortable, and always arrive
unexpectedly.
My first experience with that sort of wake-up call was a few years ago in
my first year of teaching. My course that semester, a sort of freshman
humanities seminar, touched on some fairly sensitive issues about
personal faith, organized religion, and gender. Most of my students
seemed to be struggling with at least some of the issues. But one
student, to all appearances, seemed entirely untouched by our
discussions.
The young woman, I'll call her "Elisha," had an answer for everything.
While other students opened themselves up and questioned some of
their deeply held beliefs, Elisha delivered a pat, simplistic, and entirely
predictable response to any challenge to her personal views and
convictions. A liberal-arts education seemed to be having absolutely no
effect on her. I began to wonder if, perhaps, she wasn't human at all, but
an automaton, set to smile, look cute and perky, and parrot back a close-
minded catechism.
At the very least, I told myself, this young woman had clearly never
known tragedy. She had undoubtedly been raised in a perfect family in
an upper-middle class suburb and had sailed through life without having
to face any challenges. How else could I make sense of her apparent
complacency?
It was only toward the end of the semester, when I ran into Elisha at a
local restaurant, that I had to question my own assumptions. Elisha,
complete with perfect ponytail and preppy clothes, sat feeding a
severely mentally and physically disabled man sitting next to her. She
introduced me to her brother, who smiled and drooled on his shirt, and
to her parents, two fairly meek and haggard-looking middle-aged
people.
After making polite conversation, I walked away dazed. Because of my
own feelings of inadequacy in reaching Elisha, because I could not get
her to express my own cynicism and doubt, I had reimagined her as
somehow incapable of confronting life, as less experienced, mature, and
self-aware than I was. I had even gone so far as to assume that her
sunny disposition meant that she had had no experience with hardship.
In actuality she probably had more opportunity than many of my other
students to consider issues of justice, injustice, diversity, inclusion, and
pain in the world. That encounter taught me to resist the urge to judge
students or assume that certain exterior qualities bespeak inner
conformity. In the intervening years I have tried to retain that lesson,
and to apply it daily, but it didn't end my own education. Each year has
led to new epiphanies in the classroom, often conceived in difficult
circumstances.
Last year my lesson involved the death of my grandmother. Do you
know how many times I have made light of students' loss of
grandparents? I'm sure I'm not the only professor who has joked about
the timing and frequency of such occurrences. "My papers are due next
week, I wonder how many students will kill off their grandmothers to get
an extension?" Or, "Is there a limit to how many grandparents one kid
can lose in a college career?"
Even when I had the decency to believe the students, I was often
somewhat dismissive of their emotional distress. Life, after all, is full of
losses. They were lucky to have known their grandparents into
adulthood.
What I realized last year, however, is that the trauma you experience
from the death of a family member or a friend is not necessarily about
the person. My grandmother, frankly, was a hard woman. She was also
in her late 90s, suffering from dementia, and more than ready to
relinquish this world. To be honest, I had very little emotional
connection to her. However, she was my last living grandparent, my last
tie to the world that came before me. I felt the loss of that line of
communication very keenly. It was the end of an era for me and left me
aware not only of my own mortality and connectedness to family, but
also of my students' potentially similar feelings.
This year, with that newfound knowledge, I have tried to be more
sensitive to the emotional traumas that students are going through. r, it
means that I take the time to look them in the eyes, to show some
simple human kindness in the face of their loss.
Each of those lessons stays with me. When I find myself too easily
categorizing students and their life experiences, assuming that I know
their particular pain, or rolling my eyes over their excuses for missing
class or deadlines, I remember the acute shock of finding myself in the
wrong, of not treating my students with the humanity that we all
deserve.
I have no doubt that at some point this year, I will be caught out again. It
may be difficult, but both I and my teaching will benefit from the
experience.
Introduction

-how can I speak on this

- 2 reasons
- “cobra” ego

what is not humility

-self deprecation
- power

What is humility

> intelligent self respect

> “how far we have come short of what we can be”
> observed fact on self confidence
> corrective not negative

How to practice humility

>Don’t have the answers

> Open the doors to knowledge and go down the road to lifelong
learning
> personality and humility

Where do we need humility

> collaboration
> St paul desiderata – “give every man”
> Baba – “you cannot always oblige..”
> Thomas kempis - “no man can command in safety without first
learning to obey”

How is greatness associated with humility ?

> Put in others shoes
> John Ruskin quote – “first test of humility”
> communicate on par
> lead by example + not a boss
> real estimate of capacities
Examples of Humility

Aware of limitations to knowledge even if history honored

Example – Socrates

ST – oracle verdict
Q –“I know that I know not”
Example – Einstein

Pt - Unified theory
Q - “Little boy playing with pebbles..”
PL – creation is much more than he could master in one lifetime

Example – Gandhi

Self assured + open minded

Ahimsa & Civil disobedience
Living in Poverty

Example – Ishwar Chandra vidya sagar

Lecture and Officer

Humility to understand humanity

– Share Pains, delights, desires

PL – you have been given things unearned

Humility to understand limitations

PL – certainty is impossible & understanding is provisional

Humility in personal life

-goodwill, peace and love

Education & Humility

PL – water in the tap is the same as the water in the tank

Philosophical meaning
Indian
Q - “Love lives by giving…”
Chinese

Conclusion

-means not to think less of yourself but of yourself less

-live in the hearts not pages of history
- its when you say you have it that you lost it

Virtue in Disrepute