|
Part Three - The Path of Life
Chapter 18 Humility and Self-Denial
1) Humility
3. Taking a Humble Position and Placing Others above Oneself
World Scripture
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Philippians 2.3
Whoever proclaims himself good, know, goodness approaches him not. He whose heart becomes dust of the feet of all, Saith Nanak, pure shall his repute be. Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 12, M.5, p. 278 (Sikhism)
A gentleman does not grieve that people do not recognize his merits; he grieves at his own incapacities. Analects 14.32 (Confucianism)
Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, “God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.” But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 18.10-14
He does not show himself; therefore he is luminous.
He does not justify himself; therefore he becomes prominent.
He does not boast of himself; therefore he is given credit.
He does not brag; therefore he can endure for long.
It is precisely because he does not compete that
the world cannot compete with him.
Is the ancient saying, “To yield is to be
preserved whole” empty words?
Truly he will be preserved, and all will come to him.
Tao Te Ching 22 (Taoism)
He who knows the masculine but keeps to the feminine,
Becomes the ravine of the world.
Being the ravine of the world,
He dwells in constant virtue,
He returns to the state of the babe.
He who knows the white but keeps to the black,
Becomes the model of the world.
Being the model of the world,
He rests in constant virtue,
He returns to the infinite.
He who knows glory but keeps to disgrace,
Becomes the valley of the world.
Being the valley of the world,
He finds contentment in constant virtue,
He returns to the Uncarved Block.
Tao Te Ching 28 (Taoism)
In the barren north, there is a sea, the Celestial Lake. In it there is a fish, several thousand li in width, and no one k nows how many li in length. It is called the leviathan. There is also a bird, called the roc, with a back like Mount T’ai and wings like clouds across the sky. Upon a whirlwind it soars up to a height of ninety thousand li. Beyond the clouds and atmosphere, with only the blue sky above it, it then turns south to the southern ocean.
A quail laughs at it, saying, “Where is that bird trying to go? I spurt up with a bound, and I drop after rising a few yards. I just flutter about among the brushwood and the bushes. This is also the perfection of flying. Where is that bird trying to go?” This is the difference between the great and the small.
Similarly, there are some men whose knowledge is sufficient for the duties of some office. There are some men whose conduct will benefit some district. There are some men whose virtue befits him for a ruler. There are some men whose ability wins credit in the country. In their opinion of themselves, they are just like what is mentioned above. Chuang Tzu 1 (Taoism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
If you stay in a low position and try to put everyone else in a higher position, no walls will block your way. (230:35, April 15, 1992)
Goodness is quiet when evil is active because it cannot act in conjunction with evil. Goodness emerges only after the evil departs. (Way of God’s Will 1.1.2)
Evil started from one being who was arrogant and put himself in a high position. The opposite of arrogance is humility. Our first task is to be humble. We must take the position opposite to what Satan takes delight in, or else we cannot succeed. Instead of being arrogant, we must put ourselves in the position to sacrifice and do things at the cost of our lives. (52:302, January 9, 1972)
People who justify themselves cannot enter the Kingdom of God. The position of absolute faith is not a place to justify yourself. Rather, someone else should defend you while you keep silent. In the Kingdom of Heaven, you cannot be proud of your achievements. What you thought was one hundred percent might from God’s viewpoint be only one percent. Therefore, a self-centered person cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of God starts from absolute faith. When you live by absolute faith, you cannot insist on your own opinion… Instead, you must rely on other people who defend you and declare that you are correct. That is the only way to establish the correctness of your opinion according to the standard of absolute faith. If you are not living this way, than you had better change and live by the absolute standard; only this way can you establish the Kingdom of Heaven. (46:79-80, July 25, 1971)
If you are clinging to God, it is okay to boast that God is helping you. God likes to hear people proclaiming His works. However, if you boast about your own doings, everything you did will be shattered. (342:11, December 29, 2000)
What kind of being is God? Does He say, “I am God Almighty! I created you to serve Me. Love Me and sacrifice everything for Me!”? A being who says such a thing is not the true God. God has set the tradition of sacrifice and service by changing babies’ soiled diapers and cleaning up after feeble and doddering parents. God wants you to live by this tradition and be His textbooks for education in meekness and humility. (116:68, December 20, 1981)
Some people follow God’s Will for a time but then abandon it. Some people when they learn of God’s Will do not want to separate from the secular world; they may go back and forth for a time but end up living no differently than secular people. Some people think that they are living for God’s Will, but whenever they do something good they brag about it. Finally, there are people who sacrifice for God’s Will yet still feel ashamed that they did not do more. They are always looking at things from the perspective of God’s Will, not from their own perspective. Among these four categories of people, only those in the last category will last all the way to the end. (89:232, December 1, 1976)
America emerged as the fruit of history, but now she must go back and connect with the Cause of history. In other words, she must rediscover God. America is the most powerful nation in the West, but on its way back should it continue increasing? Or should it decrease? This is a question. In seeking for God, America should lower itself. Why do arrogant people need to learn humility? It is to return to the Cause. However, you [who are returning to the Cause] should not only be humble. Sometimes you need to assert yourselves. You cannot just be humble all the time. Powerfully march forward! This means advance to the result. (117:93, February 14, 1982)
|