Humility: the Hypocrite's Holy Grail
Humility is the hypocrite's holy grail. Everyone talks about it; nobody practices it. And many of those who are most loud about it are the most arrogant ones in the bunch.
In the name of supporting humility, or in the name of fighting arrogance, are committed some of the worst atrocities on the planet. The worst abuses are done toward young women in the name of fighting "vanity." The innocent pride of life is confronted with hideous, overbearing, ensnaring arrogance of those arrogant enough to see themselves as the enforcers of the will of the collective. We see this as much with Soviet collective as we do with the Muslim society, the American country community or the Australian small town.
What is instilled is not real humility; it is self-abuse. The person does not actually becomes humble; the person becomes broken. What is inflicted upon the world is not humble people but broken people who frequently become destructive. Humility is not achieved at any stage in the process. What is achieved is personal fragmentation and self-abuse.
I have only known one credible teacher of humility. His name was Lama Choedak Rinpoche. He went to the effort of reaching out to the people in his audiences and approach them in a way that made sense to them. He didn't talk down, despite beingone of the world's most highly acclaimed Buddhist teachers, nor did he attack. He explained in a way that made sense.
It may be possible for more people to apply Lama Choedak Rinpoche's techniques, and that will make humility a less hypocritical concept. And that would actually achieve the positives that people who are against "arrogance" want to achieve without themselves acting from a position of greater arrogance.
In the name of supporting humility, or in the name of fighting arrogance, are committed some of the worst atrocities on the planet. The worst abuses are done toward young women in the name of fighting "vanity." The innocent pride of life is confronted with hideous, overbearing, ensnaring arrogance of those arrogant enough to see themselves as the enforcers of the will of the collective. We see this as much with Soviet collective as we do with the Muslim society, the American country community or the Australian small town.
What is instilled is not real humility; it is self-abuse. The person does not actually becomes humble; the person becomes broken. What is inflicted upon the world is not humble people but broken people who frequently become destructive. Humility is not achieved at any stage in the process. What is achieved is personal fragmentation and self-abuse.
I have only known one credible teacher of humility. His name was Lama Choedak Rinpoche. He went to the effort of reaching out to the people in his audiences and approach them in a way that made sense to them. He didn't talk down, despite beingone of the world's most highly acclaimed Buddhist teachers, nor did he attack. He explained in a way that made sense.
It may be possible for more people to apply Lama Choedak Rinpoche's techniques, and that will make humility a less hypocritical concept. And that would actually achieve the positives that people who are against "arrogance" want to achieve without themselves acting from a position of greater arrogance.
posted by Ilya Shambat at 4:42 PM
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