Lately, I’ve given a lot of thought to the word “humility”. At first glance the word “humility” implies meekness or weakness, but let us explore the meaning of the word more deeply – I’m quite certain that the opposite is true.
The different dictionaries I researched state that “humility” is a modest or low view of one's own importance, an unassertiveness, or a lack of pride.
Merriam-Webster, the mostly used dictionary, calls “humility” freedom from pride or arrogance – ah! Now we’re getting somewhere!
In Wikipedia, we read: Humility is the quality of being humble. In a religious context, this can mean a recognition of self in relation to God or deities, and submission to said deity as a member of that religion. Outside of a religious context, humility is defined as the self-restraint from excessive vanity, and can possess moral and/or ethical dimensions. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, often in contrast to narcissism, hubris and other forms of pride. The term "humility" comes from the Latin word humilitas, a noun related to the adjective humilis, which may be translated as "humble", but also as "grounded", or "from the earth".
So, from this new perspective, the word “humility” means to be free of vanity, arrogance, narcistic tendencies, and the likes, but instead heaving a healthy sense of being grounded. Therefore, we must take a good look at our general demeanor and transform our ego image, what we thought was power, into humility – the true power.
We pride ourselves when we appear strong, but our ability to be humble and draw from this inner strength is really what counts. The outer perception of strength will fade away when life seemingly crumbles and all earthly, ego appearances disappear any time disaster strikes. Then it is even more important to draw from our inner strength; this knowledge of who we really are.
We can achieve all earthly blessings—a lovely home, a great family, the perfect job—and still gain an understanding of what our true power consists of, including spiritual knowledge. Eventually, however, the longing for material riches will subside. The ego will disappear into its native nothingness. Only our sense of comfort will remain, and even this sense of comfort will have evolved to a higher level of understanding. At this point in our unfoldment, our sense of humility will help us to stay on course, and our focus will be only on gaining more understanding of Universal Truth, spiritual awareness, God.
#inspiration
#thoughttheories
The different dictionaries I researched state that “humility” is a modest or low view of one's own importance, an unassertiveness, or a lack of pride.
Merriam-Webster, the mostly used dictionary, calls “humility” freedom from pride or arrogance – ah! Now we’re getting somewhere!
In Wikipedia, we read: Humility is the quality of being humble. In a religious context, this can mean a recognition of self in relation to God or deities, and submission to said deity as a member of that religion. Outside of a religious context, humility is defined as the self-restraint from excessive vanity, and can possess moral and/or ethical dimensions. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, often in contrast to narcissism, hubris and other forms of pride. The term "humility" comes from the Latin word humilitas, a noun related to the adjective humilis, which may be translated as "humble", but also as "grounded", or "from the earth".
So, from this new perspective, the word “humility” means to be free of vanity, arrogance, narcistic tendencies, and the likes, but instead heaving a healthy sense of being grounded. Therefore, we must take a good look at our general demeanor and transform our ego image, what we thought was power, into humility – the true power.
We pride ourselves when we appear strong, but our ability to be humble and draw from this inner strength is really what counts. The outer perception of strength will fade away when life seemingly crumbles and all earthly, ego appearances disappear any time disaster strikes. Then it is even more important to draw from our inner strength; this knowledge of who we really are.
We can achieve all earthly blessings—a lovely home, a great family, the perfect job—and still gain an understanding of what our true power consists of, including spiritual knowledge. Eventually, however, the longing for material riches will subside. The ego will disappear into its native nothingness. Only our sense of comfort will remain, and even this sense of comfort will have evolved to a higher level of understanding. At this point in our unfoldment, our sense of humility will help us to stay on course, and our focus will be only on gaining more understanding of Universal Truth, spiritual awareness, God.
#inspiration
#thoughttheories
RSS Feed