Humility
Our greatness isn't being put in the spotlight,
but being more concerned about the inner light.
Glorious vs. Glamorous
Would you rather live a life that's Glorious, or would you rather live a life that's Glamorous? According to all universal spiritual teachings, the difference between a person who would rather live a life that's Glorious and a person who would rather live a life that's Glamorous is that the former is more concerned about the priceless gift of spiritualism (Glorious) whereas the latter is more concerned about the gift wrapping of materialism (Glamorous).
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For example,
Consider the following story regarding this subject matter. Once upon a time, a mother wanted to teach her 8 year old son, Michael, a lesson on gratitude. Why? Because every year for Michael's birthday, he would be grateful for some gifts, and ungrateful for others. When he received a video game, he was so elated, when he received a book, he was so deflated. Therefore, the next year on Michael's 9th birthday, the mother decided to try something extremely different. In fact, she surprisingly bought her son more presents than ever, approximately 100. When Michael saw so many presents, this was the happiest he'd ever been in his life. Suddenly, he opened the first present and was completely SHOCKED; he opened the second present and was completely SHOCKED; he opened the third present and was completely SHOCKED; 100 presents later, he was still completely SHOCKED. Why? Because he discovered that in each and every present, there was nothing inside.
The moral of the story is....
Just as a person is initially attracted to a nice gift wrapped present, but is repulsed by it when he finds out that there's nothing inside, so also we're all initially attracted to people who are nicely gift wrapped in beauty, fame, riches and high education, but are repulsed by them when we find out that there's nothing inside. Unless we give ourselves the gift of humility, appreciation, forgiveness and gratitude, then we'll always remain empty with pride, envy, vengeance and attitude. Indeed, after this incident, whenever little Michael received a gift, even if it was a book, he was overwhelmed with gratitude because he realized it's not the gift that counts, but the love of the giver that counts.
The conclusion is, materialism brings people together, but spiritualism keeps people together. Indeed, why were all the great saints and enlightened teachers so attractive throughout their entire life, even in their old age? Because they were less concerned about being a MODEL and more concerned about being a ROLE MODEL. What this essentially means is that those who are wise are devoted to the priceless gift of spiritualism (Glorious) whereas those who are foolish are devoted to the gift wrapping of materialism (Glamorous).
