Humility
Our greatness isn't being put in the spotlight,
but being more concerned about the inner light.
Safe vs. Sorry
Would you rather live a life that's Safe, or would you rather live a life that's Sorry? According to all universal spiritual teachings, the difference between a person who would rather live a life that's Safe and a person who would rather live a life that's Sorry is that the former is devoted to being secure (Safe) whereas the latter is devoted to being insecure (Sorry).
For example,
Consider the following story regarding this subject matter. Once upon a time, a mother wanted to teach her teenage son, Jason, that it's better to be Safe than Sorry. Why? Because Jason was a bully who always picked on people smaller than him. In fact, almost everyone in highschool was smaller than him. Indeed, seventeen year old Jason was 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds. He was also a star player on the basketball team.
Every year Jason would easily make the basketball team. However, in his senior year, Jason surprisingly didn't make the basketball team and because he didn't make the basketball team, college scouts wouldn't recruit him. One of Jason's friends, Billy, revealed to Jason a possible reason why Jason didn't make the team this year. Indeed, Billy told Jason, "Hey Jason, remember your first three years in highschool you had the same coach, and this year there's a new coach. The new coach is the father of one of the geeks you've bullied throughout all of high school."
When this new information was revealed to Jason, Jason came home in a rage and told his mother why he didn't make the basketball team expecting her to take his side in order to file a complaint against the new coach. However, his mother, like all parents, began to lecture him for his own good. Indeed, she said, "Jason, you brought this on your self because you have no respect for people who are smaller than you."
The mother then narrated a true story similar to Jason's situation. Indeed, she said, "Sweet pea, please sit down and listen to what I have to say. Many years I ago, I worked for a boss who was the CEO of a major company. The CEO, like you, always bullied people who were less powerful than himself. Indeed, this CEO would always sexually harass the women who worked for him, not physically, but verbally, because he thought, 'If they file a complaint against me, I'll just fire them.' Not only that, but everyday there would be a homeless beggar in front of the company asking people for some change. Whenever the CEO saw this homeless beggar, he would insult him by saying, 'Get a real Job you filthy bum.'"
"One day, another beggar was outside the company. However, it should be pointed out that this new beggar was actually an undercover police officer. This police officer was undercover because he was trying to catch a well known drug dealer who sold drugs in the area. In any case, when the CEO came to work one morning, he not only aggressively pushed this new beggar to the ground, but he also spit on him as well, uttering, 'I told you filthy bums to get away from my company. It's not good for business.'"
"When this cop, disguised as a beggar, ascended to his feet after being pushed down and spat on, he then began to read the CEO his rights. Indeed, the cop said, 'Sir, you have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney and anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law.' As you can imagine, when the CEO realized that the beggar was a cop, he wasn't so proud now but real humble."
"The CEO ended up spending at least a month in jail for not only assaulting a police officer, but also for interfering with a major drug investigation. When the CEO was released from prison, he began to show the utmost respect for everyone, whether they're rich or poor, educated or uneducated, male or female, black or white. Why? Because he intelligently thought, 'This is potentially a powerful personality in disguise." The mother then told her son, "Everyone is ultimately a powerful personality disguised in different physical bodies since we all originally emanate from Almighty God."
The mother also reminded her son, "Jason, do you remember growing up that one of your favorite Disney movies was Beauty and the Beast. This movie has some profound life lessons related to your situation. Indeed, in order to test the love of a handsome prince, an angel disguised herself as an old beggar woman. This old beggar woman approached the palace of this handsome prince and asked him for shelter from the winter cold in exchange for a beautiful rose."
When the prince refused to give shelter to the old woman, she warned him, 'Do not be deceived by outward appearances, for true beauty is found within." When the prince continued to arrogantly reject the old beggar woman, she then suddenly transformed into a beautiful angel or enchantress. She cursed him to become a beast because he had no love within his heart. The only way to break this curse is that he would have to fall in love with a beautiful woman and the beautiful woman would have to fall in love with him in that form as a beast."
The mother continued, "This story is very similar to the one described in the ancient Sanskrit book of wisdom known as the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.34.12-14). Indeed, in this story, a King named Vidyadhara was very proud of his beauty and insulted people who weren't as beautiful as him."
"Because of this pride, Vidyadhara was cursed to become a serpent until he learned how to love. When he learned how to love, he was reinstated to his original position as a great King, but now his character was reformed. In much the same way, sweet pea, when we humbly accept the consequences of our actions, then we'll quickly be reformed. If not, then we'll continue to blame everyone but ourself. The conclusion is, it's better to be Safe by respecting all people than Sorry by respecting some people. Why? Because as previously mentioned, everyone is ultimately an angel in disguise."
​
Therefore,
in the Holy Bible (Hebrews 13.2),
it's beautifully said:
​
​"Do not fail to show hospitality to strangers because some have entertained angels without knowing it."
The moral of the story is...
Just as criminals who escape from prison will cause trouble for all of human society, so also when our bad qualities escape from us through our words and actions, then they cause trouble for us and potentially for others. Just as security guards subdue criminals, so also the wise subdue lust with love, anger with peace, greed with generosity, pride with humility, envy with appreciation and vengeance with forgiveness. In other words, just as knowledge is meant to subdue ignorance, so also good qualities are the security guards to subdue bad qualities. The more we read spiritual books then the more we'll be able to subdue our bad qualities. If not, then the more our bad qualities will subdue us. What this essentially means is that the wise are devoted to being secure (Safe) whereas the unwise are devoted to being insecure (Sorry).
Therefore, it is said:
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Similarly,
consider the following
words of wisdom
regarding this subject matter as well:
