Humility
Our greatness isn't being put in the spotlight,
but being more concerned about the inner light.
Destruction vs. Distraction
Would you rather fear your own Destruction, or would you rather fear your own Distraction? According to all universal spiritual teachings, the difference between a person who would rather fear their own Destruction and a person who would rather fear their own Distraction is that the former is devoted to avoiding death (Destruction) whereas the latter is devoted to avoiding the death of their character (Distraction).
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For example,
Consider the following story regarding this subject matter. Once upon a time, a Chinese master named Mr. Wang came to America in 1975 to open up a new martial arts studio in Chicago, Illinois. Wang, who was approximately 45 years old and six feet tall, not only studied all the material arts of the world, but he also studied all the great religions of the world as well. In other words, Wang was both physically strong from his martial arts training and spiritually strong for his religious training.
Of course,
It didn't take very long for Wang to acquire a dedicated group of young students to learn the martial arts since Bruce Lee was well known at the time. Since it was 1975, most of Wang's students had friends or family members who were drafted into the Vietnam War. However, by good fortune, none of Wang's students were ever drafted into the war, although, as previously mentioned, some of their friends and family were.
One day, Wang's students approached him and said, "Dear master, we're all afraid to die. This is why we always pray to never be drafted into the war." Wang, who may be described as "wisdom personified," responded to his students, "Physically speaking, death cannot be avoided. Spiritually speaking, there is no death for the soul. For example, suppose you saw your grandmother when you were 3 years old, and the next time you see her, you're 33 years old. Does that mean you're a different person if she doesn't recognize you?" "No'" the students uttered.
Wang continued, "Indeed, your body has changed, but your soul has remained the same. This is precisely why each passing birthday we say 'I feel the same.' Although your 3 year old body doesn't exist anymore, you're still existing evermore. Similarly, when this body physically dies, the soul continues to thrive. Indeed, the body is like a car, and the soul is like a driver. Just as a car cannot move without a driver, so also the soul moves the body and the living body moves the world."
"The Holy Bible (2 Corinthians 4.18) describes the soul: 'While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' Similarly, in the ancient Sanskrit book of wisdom known as the Bhagavad-Gita (2.33-25), it also describes the soul: 'The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same. It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.'"
Mr. Wang continued: "Of course, many people think, 'Why should I believe in the existence of things I can't see or perceive like the soul?' Can we perceive anyones thoughts other than our own. Indeed, words can be perceived but thoughts can't be perceived. In other words, people tell lies all the time using their perceivable words, but the truth is contained within their unperceivable thoughts."
"According to logic, what this essentially means is that invisible thoughts are more true than visible words. Although the existence of invisible thoughts is an indisputable fact, there's no scientific machine in all of creation that can see, hear, touch, taste or smell thoughts. If we could see or hear thoughts, then a lot more guilty people would be put in prison, and a lot more innocent people would be released from prison."
"Similarly, we cannot see intelligence. If we could see intelligence, then we would know who's a child prodigy and who isn't a child prodigy. Of course, doctors can see the brain, but merely seeing the brain doesn't give us evidence of who is or who isn't a child prodigy. Therefore, intelligence can't be seen. In much the same way, the soul cannot be seen as well. Not only that, but there are many scientific studies proving the existence of life after death. They are technically known as Near-Death-Experiences (NDEs) or Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs). We can talk about more of this later on."
In any case,
When Wang's students heard this, they were so inspired by his wisdom that they suddenly lost their fear of death. However, Wang ultimately enlightened his students in the following way, "Although we should remain fearless regarding our death, we should always remain fearful regarding the death of our character. Why? Because an external war only occurs some of the time, whereas the internal war occurs, not some of the time, not most of the time, but all of the time."
One of Wang's thoughtful students named Ronnie Jones brought Wang some water to drink. Wang, whose story was briefly interrupted by Ronnie's gracious gesture, continued. "Thank you Mr. Jones. Where was I? Ah yes, the war within. For example, on a battlefield, if you don't kill your enemy, then your enemy will kill you. Similarly, if we don't kill our pride, then our pride will kill us and all our relationships. If we don't kill our envy, then our envy will us and all our relationships. If we don't kill our vengeance, then our vengeance will kill us and all our relationships."
Mr. Wang happened to notice that after 15 year old Ronnie sat back down, his head was completely in the clouds. Wang knew that the only reason Ronnie Jones joined the martial arts class is because a beautiful girl named Jackie Hodrick also joined the class. Since Wang deeply cared for all his students, he also knew that Ronnie loved the game of chess. Therefore, in order to capture the attention of Ronnie so that Ronnie may learn some valuable life lessons, Mr. Wang repeated himself using the analogy of chess. "The war within is like a chess game." As soon as Ronnie heard the word "chess," he was completely captivated by the lesson that was already spoken by Mr. Wang.
Mr. Wang continued, "In chess, if you don't defeat your opponent, then your opponent will defeat you. Similarly, if we don't defeat our pride, then our pride will defeat us. If we don't defeat our envy, then our envy will defeat us. If we don't defeat our vengeance, then our vengeance will defeat us. How do we defeat pride? With humility. How do we defeat envy? With appreciation. How do we defeat vengeance? With forgiveness. If we can't forgive others, then although we may be physically alive, we're ultimately spiritually dead. Why? Because we've all made mistakes in life that requires the forgiveness of others."
Therefore, it is said:
Similarly,
consider the following
words of wisdom
regarding this subject matter as well:
Indeed,
After enlightening his students in the lesson regarding the death of ones character, Mr. Wang told his students, "That will be all for today. Class dismissed." The next weekend the students had class, they were all curious. They inquired, "Mr. Wang, since you've studied all the great religions of the world, which religion is the best religion?" Expecting a very specific answer, the students were all caught off guard but pleasantly surprised when they heard Mr. Wang's answer. Mr. Wang said, "Whatever a person is most devoted to, that's his religion. If we're devoted to humility, appreciation, forgiveness and love, then that's the best religion, whereas if we're devoted to pride, envy, vengeance and hate, then that's the worst religion."
Mr. Wang continued, "In the very beginning of the Holy Bible, there were two brothers named Cain and Abel who obviously belonged to the same family and religion. But Cain killed Abel due to envy. Later in the Bible, Jesus describes the parable of 'the Good Samaritan' which teaches us that even people within our own religion won't help us sometimes whereas people outside our own religion will help us sometimes. Indeed, even Jesus was betrayed by one of his own disciples named Judas."
"Similarly, in the ancient Sanskrit book of wisdom known as the Bhagavad-Gita, it's described that two royal brothers named Pandu and Dhritarashtra also belonged to the same family as well. But Dhritarashtra and his sons, known as the Kauravas, tried to kill Pandu and his sons, known as the Pandavas. Why? Because of envy."
"As far as Jesus and Judas is concerned, its described that Judas betrayed Jesus because of money. Indeed, Judas secretly asked the antagonists of Jesus, "What will you give me if I turn Jesus over to you to be crucified?"" The antagonists of Jesus offered Judas silver coins to betray Jesus and the rest is history. What this essentially means is Judas' real religion wasn't Christianity but greed. This is precisely why the ancient Sanskrit book of wisdom known as the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.23.20-21) says: 'Even a man’s brothers, wife, parents and friends united with him in love will immediately break off their affectionate relationships and become enemies over a single coin. For even a small amount of money, what to speak of a large amount of money, these so-called relatives and friends become very agitated and their anger is inflamed. Acting as rivals, they quickly give up all sentiments of goodwill and will reject one at a moment’s notice, even to the point of committing murder.'"
Therefore, it is said:
The conclusion is...
"What is the use of considering people inside our own religion, family, race and nation friends, and people outside our own religion, family, race and nation enemies, when it's proven throughout the history of mankind, that people inside the same religion, family, race and nation treat each other like enemies as if they were an outside religion, family, race and nation? Therefore, those who are wise will contemplate: 'Is my religion Christianity or Vanity? Is my religion Hinduism or Envy-ism? Is my religion Buddhism or Egotism?'"
"Indeed, the term 'Christian,' 'Hindu,' and 'Buddhist' may be compared to the body, whereas qualities like humility, forgiveness and love may be compared to the soul. Just as the body will remain dead without the presence of the soul, so also we may have the OUT-FIT of a spiritualist, but as long as we don't have the IN-FIT of a spiritualist, then all our relationships will remain spiritually dead. In other words, if our true religion is love, then there will be harmony even with people outside our own religion, whereas if our true religion is hate, then there will be disharmony even with people inside our own religion. "
Indeed,
Mr. Wang continued, "As far as race is concerned, in America, I believe the technical term for Black people who hate Black people is 'Black on Black crime.' Of course, there's also White on White crime, Chinese on Chinese crime etc. Indeed, with the racial divide in America due to the fairly recent murders of Malcom X and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it only appears that the vast majority of Black people hate White people and that the vast majority of White people hate Black people. But it can easily be seen that Black people also love White people and that White people also love Black people."
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Therefore, it is said:
Similarly,
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
also beautifully said:
Indeed,
When Ronnie Jones heard Mr. Wang quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he questioned his teacher, "Dear Master, Martin Luther King Jr. would always tell us to love our enemies. Why should we love those who don't love us? It doesn't make any since." Mr. Wang said, "Mr. King was a very wise man. Of course, there are many inspiring examples of why we should love our enemies or at least forgive them."
Mr. Wang continued, "My favorite example is a ship. Indeed, when I first came to America, I road on a ship. If we have the eyes to see, then everyone and everything is our guru, including a ship. For example, ships don't sink because of the water around them. Ships sink because of the water that gets in them."
"A ship can be in the ocean and have hundreds of miles of water in every direction. Water around them is not a problem. But if that ship lets what’s on the outside get on the inside, then it’s a major problem, it sinks. In much the same way, we can’t stop what’s on the outside: opposition, offense, trouble, delays, traffic. These things are going to happen. The key is that don’t let what’s on the outside get in on the inside.”
Mr. Wang continued: "In Proverbs of the Holy Bible, it says 'Above all else, guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life.' This is saying ‘Above everything protect your secret place.’ If you’re allowing everything in, what they said, what didn’t work out, the disappointment, the hurt, the pain, the stress, the traffic, then because your secret place is poisoned, it will impact everything about you: your attitude, your relationships, your joy, your vision. Out of your secret place flow the issues of life.”
“We all have negative things come against us. We can’t get away from that, but don’t bring it close to you. Quit giving it so much attention, re-living the hurt, thinking about the offense, dwelling on the disappointment. That doesn’t belong in your inner sanctuary. This is a very hollowed space."
"You have to keep your secret place consecrated, set apart. You’re very selective about what you allow in. If you don’t respect your secret place, if you don’t guard your inner sanctuary, then you’ll go through life offended, worried, upset, discouraged.”
“This is why many people have no joy, no peace, they’re always down. It’s not because they have more difficulties necessarily, it’s because they’re not protecting their secret place. Sometimes when people see you in peace, you’re always consistent, they think, ‘You must not have any problems. I wish I had your life, you should see what I’m dealing with.’ The truth is, we all face difficulties, we all have unfair situations. The difference is the people that are in peace, positive, hopeful, they’re not allowing what’s on the outside to come in on the inside, into their inner sanctuary.”
"The conclusion is, loving our enemies or forgiving our enemies is not for our enemies sake, but for our own sake, so that our peace of mind and the good relationships we already have with our friends and family won't sink. Indeed, when a husband deals with negativity at work from his boss or co-workers, he generally comes home and takes his anger out on his wife and kids. In other words, in America, what do people consider quality time with their family? Simply discussing all their ocean of problems. Why? Because they've failed to build character. For example, controlling the ocean is outside our control, whereas building a ship is inside our control. Similarly, controlling the ocean of negativity is outside our control, whereas building humility, tolerance and forgiveness is inside our control. Jesus was crucified and still could forgive. Why? Because he focused on things inside his control. We're only crucified by words and still can't forgive. Why? Because we focus on things outside our control."
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Therefore, it is said:
In any case,
One day all the students wanted to ask Mr. Wang something superficial but only Su Yun, one of Mr. Wang's female students, gained the courage to ask him. Indeed, Su Yun asked Mr. Wang, "How many black belts do you have master?" Su Yun was very proud of herself. Why? Because she was not only the first female but the first person to receive a black belt in Mr. Wang's martial arts class. She thought she was superior to the other students, especially since she could easily defeat the men as well. In order to teach Su Yun a lesson of humility without humiliating her, Mr. Wang told the class, "I will give Su Yun a special book of quotes answering her question regarding how many black belts I own. When you've all achieved a black belt like Su Yun, then you'll also receive this special book."
Of course,
Su Yun was extremely humbled
but pleasantly surprised
when she read the following quotes
from Mr. Wang's black belt book:
