Humility. Humility is the conscious awareness and acceptance of Eternity as your own body.

Humility is the time that you spend in love — in love with existence itself.

When you don’t love existence, you feel that you’re separate from existence. You’re separate from this world, and you stand back from it. You hide.

Humility is courage in that it’s the open acceptance of your own perfection.

Humility is the ability to see … through darkness … and perceive light, not only on the other side of darkness, but in darkness itself.

Humility means that we’re willing to take tremendous chances with our life, with our death and that which lies beyond.

Humility in its simple form is an image that is applied in the I Ching — a mountain within the Earth, the hexagram of modesty or humility. The mountain exists within the Earth. We don’t see it, but its strength and power are there.

Humility is something that exists and has a strength and power but is unseen.

Humility is the most important quality in the spiritual life.

There is no quality that is more important because whatever qualities and powers you possess, if you do not have humility, they’re all in vain; whereas if you have humility, you’re halfway to God-realization.

Humility is not enough, but I say it’s the most important quality that you can possess in your arsenal of spiritual qualities, because it is the only one that, when it is lacking, spiritual growth stops.

The absence of humility is ego. Ego stops all spiritual growth.

Just as during an eclipse we fail to see the sun because the moon gets in the way, so the light of knowledge, of dharma, of truth, is eclipsed by the ego. Even though just beyond it there may be nothing but light and perfection, unless we can break through the ego, or dissolve the ego, there is no spiritual progress.

You are happiest when you are humble.

You are most miserable when you are very egotistical.

The ego sense suggests that, “I am the body. I am the mind. I am temporal. I exist in this world. I was born at a certain time. I’ll die at a certain time. The space in between those times is what I call my life. The time after that is my death. Then there’s my rebirth.”

The sense of ego is the sense of separativity: “I am a finite individual. I suffer. I feel joy. I feel pleasure. I feel pain.”

Ego synthesized is … selfhood. The sense of self-importance. That you really matter.

And nothing could be further from the truth.

Humility means freedom — freedom in its earliest stages — because it provides growth, and growth takes you out of the cycle of change that you’re currently in, which is stagnation.

Humility leads to absence, to the void and beyond.

It’s very easy to be humble when no one else is around.

There’s no reason for us to demonstrate our superiority because no one challenges it. So we can sit and be humble.

When we interact with others, the ego manifests.

We have to show that we’re superior or that in some way that we know more. We’re more spiritually advanced, we love more, we’re kinder …

Or, we’re not as developed. We’re the worst.

Everyone is better, everyone meditates better than I do.

That’s ego — the best or the worst.

Humility accepts moderation. Humility feels that there is someone, somewhere, who can do anything I can do, better.

Except for one thing. No one can be better at being me.

I have no importance. I will come and go in this world and be forgotten. That’s freedom.

Yet at the same time I am important, in the sense that I do have a role to play in this cosmic game, that there is something for me to do.

I may ease the suffering of another, I may give joy …

Or I may die in the attempt.

But I must play my role, be it great or small.

That’s humility. Without self-importance, without self-indulgence.

The ego seeks fame, fortune. Humility doesn’t seek at all — it accepts. The ego wants to climb the highest mountain so it can stand on top. Humility is content to be in the valley or to be on top of the mountain or anywhere in between.

Humility knows that whatever is the dharma — whatever is truthful and right — will eventually persevere.

Humility accepts that God places each one of us in the right place at every single moment. Not a moment too soon and not a moment too late.

When Hamlet speaks, shortly before his death, and he says, “There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” What’s to come is to come and what is, is. What will be, will be.

There’s a deep understanding of his destiny. He recognized that his death was imminent. He sensed it. But that death was proper because God does everything perfectly. Eternity does everything perfectly.

There is never a time when you and I have not existed.

We have always existed and we will always exist.

There is never a time when you and I have not been all that there is.

The realization that Atman is Brahman. That the knower is the known. That everything is one … that separativity is an illusion of selfhood.

The fact that you see a manifold world with different times and different places and different conditions …

This exists only because of a lack of humility, which we call ego.

When there’s nothing but humility

• there’s nothing but spiritual oneness.

Then there’s no separation, no disassociation. No unhappiness.

Your life is pure joy, pure ecstasy,

• when you live in humility.

Meditation is humility.

• In meditation the mind stops. Thought ceases.

When thought stops, the world stops.

• When the world stops, perception stops.

When perception stops, the sense of “I” as perceiver falls away.

When this occurs, there is nothing but eternity, nothing but humility, nothing but perfection.

Absence is humility — the absence of thought, the absence of doubt, the absence of ego.

Only the ego can fear. Only the ego can experience hate, and lust, and jealousy.

Humility experiences none of these things.

• Rather, it merges in the transcendental awareness of perfection.

To develop humility, you have to love humility.

• This is easy to do because you simply must consider, who are those people whom you really love the most?

Who are those people whom you consider to be noble? Self-sacrificing?

• Are they the people who make a great deal of noise in the world?

Are they rather quiet, except when they must act?

• And then they act with efficiency and purity — and then withdraw.

Who would you rather sit next to at a party? Someone who will talk on and on for hours and hours about themselves and how wonderful they are, and will only let you get a word in edgewise just so they can keep you enraptured in their conversation about their own wonders?

Or would you rather sit next to someone who will ask you questions about yourself, who is genuinely interested in who you are, what you do, what your life is like, what you feel?

Humility is the latter, ego is the former. We prefer humility in others, and if we prefer it in others, we can soon prefer it in our self.

If you wish to cultivate humility, then you should associate with those who are humble.

Remember, humility doesn’t mean hiding in the corner and pretending that you’re not strong, pretending that you don’t have talents and capacities.

• Humility, rather, means to be what you are.

• “Above all else: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst be false to anyone.”

So humility means coming to the root of the matter. Sitting and honestly looking at yourself and saying, “This is me for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, even at death we don’t part.” [Audience laughs.]

And it’s with that basic assumption that humility begins.

• You own a big store; you just bought it. So the first thing you do is you go in and you take stock. You see what kind of inventory there is. There may be a lot of one product, a lot of bread, a lot of milk —if you bought a supermarket —but there may not be many canned goods or fresh fruits.

• So you take stock.

• Now, taking stock is a very important step.

• If you try and pretend that there are a lot of vegetables, and you deny the fact that there’s a great deal of rye bread, then when the customers come there’s going to be a terrible problem.

• Because you’ll say, “Well, I’m sorry, Mrs. Smith, we’re out of rye bread,” and she’ll see that there are 500 loaves of it!

• On the other hand, if you say, “Oh yes, Mrs. Smith, we have a wonderful, wonderful selection of bell peppers,” then she’ll go and see none at all.

So this is how most people lead their lives — in illusion.

They don’t take an accurate stock of themselves.

• They don’t see their imperfections,

• or they create perfections in their own mind that don’t exist.

They’re always trying to be someone else.

The idea is that someone else — this distant image — is someone who’s better, someone who’s happier …

• The people next door, somehow their life works and mine doesn’t.

• The person who sits next to me in meditation, somehow they meditate better than I do. They’re purer.

This is the ego — not humility — speaking. The ego feeling sorry for itself, feeling miserable and lonely and discouraged and depressed.

Humility has nothing to do with these feelings.

Humility accepts that

• the very nature of existence,

• the very nature of a human being,

• is joy.

• Complete, unadulterated, ecstatic joy.

And humility

• accepts joy

• rather than sorrow,

• accepts joy

• rather than frustration.

Humility does not live in the prison of illusion that says … that this world is a dark and terrible place.

Rather, it says that those are phantoms — those perceptions.

That rather

• everything is eternity,

• everything is God,

• everything is divine, that

• there is nothing that isn’t perfect.

That the only reason we don’t see that perfection constantly is because … we lack humility.

Because we’re seeing life — in our terms, through our perception, through our eyes —

• and not through the eye of eternity itself.

• Which is humility.

When you meditate, you should meditate on humility.

That is to say, you should feel that you’re very, very small and the world is very large.

And then you should feel that you are the very large world … and then you should feel that beyond the large world you’re nothing.

That is to say, we go beyond form and formlessness. And there’s nothing — Nirvana. Where the wind doesn’t blow — stillness. That that very life essence that we call existence is — our body.

Real humility means that you have the courage to accept that you are eternality itself. That you’re not simply a finite person, but that you are existence.

Real humility also means that you are willing to give someone a bigger slice of pie than you get, when it’s your favorite pie. A difficult thing to do.

It’s easy when it’s not your favorite, to say, “Here George, this is a good one! Oh, please, you take the bigger piece.” [Audience laughs.]

Humility means realizing that it’s fun to give everything away. Particularly — the things that you are most attached to.

The outer things … are the easiest.

It gets difficult when it involves

• giving away your pride,

• giving away your sorrow,

• your hatred,

• your enmity,

• your jealousy,

• your desires.

Humility can give everything to God. It says,

• “Everything came from the source, everything returns to the source.

• “I myself came into this world, I know not how. One day I will vanish from this world.

• “I give myself, totally, over to you, oh Lord, oh infinite reality. And I trust you completely and implicitly … because you are my very self.”

This is humility.

Humility is the conscious acceptance of eternality.

The realization that freedom

• is not something that is yet to come, but that

• freedom is perfect awareness,

• perfect being.

Humility is really something that develops as life goes on, I think.

We see humility, of course, usually in small children, about age two months. [Audience laughs.]

Then as soon as the consciousness of “I” develops, the sense that, “I am. Look Mommy, look at me. Look how wonderful I am. Look what I can do. Look at me up in the tree, jumping out of the tree. Look Mommy, how I can hurt you, how I can make you feel bad.”

This ego — “I”. It starts very early in life. The ego is fostered by everyone around you!

Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.

Whenever anybody does well spiritually, I totally ignore them. It’s the greatest compliment I can pay them.

They’re doing well, why should I ruin it for them? Why should I say, “Oh look how wonderfully you’re doing!” Because as soon as I do that, the chance is my friend will become egotistical.

It’s like passing someone some poison and saying, “Here, have a drink.”

You should feel inside yourself that when someone compliments you, listen! Don’t deny the compliment. If someone says, “You did a wonderful job,” say, “Thank you.”

But don’t believe it.

Don’t put yourself down and feel that you did a bad job, but don’t be taken out by what they say.

If someone says to you, “Look what a horrible job you did,” don’t feel bad. Don’t argue. But don’t feel bad.

You must feel that praise or blame are immaterial. You know what you are; you know your worth.

No matter what anyone says about you, no matter what they write in the paper — if they herald you in the headlines today or if they forget you tomorrow — it doesn’t affect who and what you are.

You’re still the same.

So try not to be caught up in what others say about you.

And whenever anybody says anything nice to you, you know that’s a great test. In a sense.

• Or a great obstacle.

• Or a great opportunity.

And that’s when you’re doing well and people come up and say, “Oh wonderful! Oh, gee, you’re doing so well! How wonderful!”

And if, when the crowd is admiring you — your radiance and your light — and you can sit there and just know deep down inside … that you have no worth. That you’re emptiness.

Or if, when everyone hates you, when they throw stones at you, when suddenly you’ve become unpopular … if you can think well of yourself. That’s humility.

Humility is the ability to love.

• Without humility, you can’t love.

• Love means looking beyond the self, to the other.

Mature love.

In selfish love — “I love myself, I’m wonderful, I am the greatest. I am the most important.”

• “I am miserable.”

In selfless love we see beyond the finite consciousness.

• And we see that there is someone else to love.

If you suffer in love — if you have problems in love — it’s because you don’t have enough humility.

If you really have humility when you love, then there’s only one thought: “What can I do for my beloved?” Not: “What can my beloved do for me?” That’s ego.

Humility is: “What can I do for my beloved? At every moment, at every second, how can I help them? How can I make them feel better, how can I ease their pain? How can I help them in their vision that they see in their life, that they want to manifest?”

“It doesn’t matter whether the one I love, loves me. Whether they ignore me or whether they even abuse me.”

“If I really love them, my love will be unaffected because I see God in them, I see Eternity in them. That’s what I love.”

To love with humility is to know perfect freedom.

We see marriages, relationships, the soap opera of existence. It doesn’t work! Why don’t basic relationships between human beings [work]? I mean, we go back to Cain and Abel. It didn’t work then, and they were brothers.

Why doesn’t love work? Because people lack humility.

When there’s real humility, love always works, it can do nothing but.

If you’ve never really loved and had that love turn out perfectly,

• it’s because you were egotistical,

• because you still wanted a piece of the action.

You wanted to own the property, to wrap it up, to take out a second trust deed.

The idea that you acquire people — as some people acquire money or property — is ego. The thought that you can own anyone, that you can control anyone’s life … you are not the doer.

It is the Self that operates in and through all of us.

None of us can do. None of us can see. None of us can feel. We’re blind, deaf and dumb. It is only that Self — which is our life, which is our life force — which makes us who and what we are.

The realization of that Self is self-realization. To realize that you are not the doer, that the ego is but a cloud that passes between you and the sun.

• And to see through that to eternity,

• is our goal and our purpose.

You see, humility is so, so important.

• Spiritual progress doesn’t occur without it.

When you’re in the ego is when you’re alone. You can be in a crowd full of friends and be miserable because you’re alienated — the ego alienates.

You can be alone, and be humble, and feel God and Eternity everywhere, and be perfectly happy.

Humility is the most important thing.

People who are humble don’t talk too much; they listen.

If you find that you talk a lot when you’re with others, when you don’t listen,

• not only in the silence of not speaking,

• but listen in your heart deeply to what’s going on inside them,

it’s because you lack humility.

You’re filled with pride. You think your words are so important, your thoughts are so important — more important, obviously, than someone else’s, otherwise you’d be listening and learning.

And that’s when you stop growing — when you stop listening.

We learn to listen to others — not even to their words, but to their hearts, to their souls, which resonate.

And then we listen to God. We listen to Eternity. We listen to Nirvana, to its silence. That’s when real learning takes place. That’s meditation.

So examine yourself and examine your life. And decide.

Take inventory, take stock of yourself. How egotistical are you? How much humility do you have?

You can tell by your level of happiness.

• Whenever you’re unhappy it’s because you’re locked in ego.

• Whenever you’re truly happy, when you’re feeling that deep wellspring of joy moving through you, it’s because humility is operating in your life.

When you can recognize this, then “recognition is liberation”.

• Because when you recognize that the ego is making you miserable, you don’t identify with it.

• You identify with your soul’s humility.

• And then the ego dissolves and there’s unalloyed joy in your existence.

It’s necessary to value the spiritual life. There is nothing else — except darkness, people walking in shadows, shadows walking in shadows and deeper shadows — until there’s nothing at all, no light.

If you’re fortunate enough to have found your way, even a little bit… to the light … then indeed you’re blessed.

• But the only way you will advance spiritually, the only way you will increase that, is through humility.

Let someone else take your place in line. Let someone else be first.

• Let someone else achieve realization before you, if that’s what’s right.

Don’t stand out; be in a room and remain unnoticed.

Practice humility, constantly.

• Whenever you start to think well of yourself, push those thoughts aside.

• Whenever you start to think ill of yourself, push those thoughts aside.

Have a healthy respect and love for yourself

• and have lots and lots of self-confidence,

• but don’t be taken out by your own ego.

Because if you stand and praise yourself, you stand and praise yourself alone, whereas when you admire others you become one with them, and the world loves you.

So value humility. Try and grow into it more and more. Meditate and then live a life of perfect humility.

• That is liberation — humility.

Whenever you think you’re right, you’re wrong.

You may be right in the physical world, your assumption may be correct, your logic may be impeccable,

• but you’re wrong.

• Spiritually you’re incorrect.

Whenever you feel that you don’t know anything, that you’re an absolute beginner,

• you’re right.

Make friends with humility; it’s my advice. Humility is my best friend. I’ve always valued it above all other spiritual qualities.

Real humility is something that no one else will see, unless you have a spiritual friend who has real insight, or a spiritual teacher. No one will know about your humility, if it’s real. Who’s to see it? The world is filled with egos too busy looking at other egos.

Only one who truly discriminates will see and admire your humility and be inspired by it.

Remember, when you’re humble it’s like wearing a beautiful flower. You wear your humility.

• It inspires others, it really does.

• It generates energy and power.

Humility has tremendous power … tremendous!

Think of Gandhi — that was humility in action. He changed the shape of an entire nation with his humility … and others.

Whenever we consider someone great, really great, nobility of the soul,

• what we’re recognizing is the quality of humility.

We can have a marvelous baseball player who’s batted the highest score ever, but if he’s very egotistical about it nobody really likes him.

The athletes we remember are not those who ran the fastest, but those who ran swiftly and were humble. They’re the ones who stand out.

If you seek eternity, light, and luminosity, seek humility first. First things first.

Take inventory. Look at your ego. Realize that it doesn’t help you, it only burns like fire, and not the fire of transformation.

Be willing every day to work on it again and again

• through your meditation,

• by giving more of yourself,

• giving those things you don’t want to give,

• freely.

It’s an exciting adventure to give those things that you’ve always held onto.

• You’ll be rather taken aback by it if you do.

And mostly give the negative propensities, the harmful qualities that you house, to Existence itself.

Give everything.

Give your whole self, your life, both the good and the bad — don’t hold back anything — just give it all to Eternity.

Accept that you are that. You are that matchless, eternal reality.

That’s true seeing, true humility.