It is only when one realizes his own nothingness that God comes and fills him with Himself. Where man is, God is not; where man is not, God is! God cannot enter the heart of the self-seeking person. He who is full of himself considers himself as above others and so puts a limit on himself. God is without limit. How can the limitless enter the limited?
“O Ye who seek God: see that you do not set yourself above others. Give up all that you are and all that you have, empty yourself of all “self”, cast the ego out, and you stand face to face with God.”
Wondrous are the words of the Sufi saint, Abu Hassan:
Brothers! This is the law:
He who cometh nigh to God
Loseth what he hath,
Aye, he loseth himself,
But gains instead the gift supreme,
The gift of humility.
A man may strive to be humble, but for all his efforts, may become all the more proud. There is such a thing as the pride of humility; it is a very dangerous thing, for it is too subtle to be discerned by the inexperienced. There are some who will take great pains to be humble; they make humility impossible. How can a man be humble who is all the time thinking of how best he can be humble?
Such a man is all the time occupied with himself; but true humility is freedom from all consciousness of self, which includes freedom from the consciousness of humility. The truly humble man never knows that he is humble.
The truly humble man accepts everything as coming from the hands of God. He knows that in himself there is nothing praiseworthy. All the good that is in him is from God, and the praise that men give him belongs to God. When the young man called Jesus “Good Teacher”, Jesus quietly said, “Why call me good? There is no one good but God.”
“Humility,” says Lacordaire, “does not consist in hiding our talents and virtues, in thinking ourselves worse and more ordinary than we are, but in possessing a clear knowledge of all that is lacking in us, and not exalting ourselves for that which we have, seeing that God has freely given it to us, for with all His gifts, we are still of infinitely little importance.”
So the truly humble man may accept sometimes the praise which men give him, and quietly passes it on to God, keeping nothing for himself.
The man who is not truly humble behaves in a very unnatural manner when he is not praised by men. He becomes upset, loses his patience and even becomes angry. He repulses them with his irritation and creates for them an awkward situation. Sometimes he suppresses his feelings and remains silent, but he cannot forget the things that are said about him; they haunt him again and again, and do not give him peace of mind.
The humble man makes no fuss. He is at harmony with himself and others. He is gifted with a wondrous feeling of peace. He feels safe and secure, like a ship in the harbour, unaffected by howling storms and lashing waves. He has found refuge at the Lotus Feet of the Lord, and the storms of changing circumstances have no power over him. He feels light as air. The burdens which we carry all our life – the burden of the self (ego) and its desires – he has laid aside, and he is ever calm and serene. Having given up everything, he has nothing to lose, and yet everything belongs to him, for he is of God, and God is in him. Having broken the bondage of desire, he is as happy with a piece of dry bread as with a sumptuous meal. In every situation and circumstance of life, he blesses the name of God.
He who would be humble regards himself as a student. He learns many new things, but what is more difficult, he unlearns many things he has learned. A scholar came to a Saint and said, “O Seer of the Secret, tell me what I may do to live the Life Divine.” And the Saint said to him, “Go, unlearn what thou hast learnt and then return and sit before me.”
He who would walk the way of humility must renounce his earlier ways of living. He must give up the opinions he has formed, the standards to which he is accustomed. He must have a new outlook on life. The things the world would worship are to him of no value. His values are so different from those of other men. Rich food, fine houses, costly dresses, positions of power and authority, the applause of men, honours and titles, no longer attract him. He feels drawn to a life of simplicity. He is happy in living a hidden life in the hidden Lord. He is dead to the world; he is alive in God. At times he actually behaves like one dead.
Yes, the truly humble man is, in that sense, the “dead” man. He has “died”. God alone lives in him. His self (ego) has been annihilated, has vanished into God, and only God remains. God works in him and through him, emits radiance through his eyes, and speaks in his words. On his feet, God walks the earth; and through his hands gives His benedictions to all.
Such men are the real strength of the world – its illumination and inspiration. To see them is to commune with God, for God dwells in them. They are the living, moving temples of the Lord. They are the ones who keep the world intact, though they do not know it themselves. The whole earth depends on them without anyone being aware of it. Their hearts and minds are in tune with the great heart and mind of humanity. They are in complete accord with all that lives. They give their love to all living beings, as though they were the sons of the one sweet mother. They have broken all fetters and entered into the freedom of the children of God. God does their will, because they have merged their will in His. God fulfils their least desire, for it is He who desires all their desires. They are the little saviours of humanity.
I wish each one of you to follow the lesson of humility, born of love and simplicity.
