Monday, May 7, 2012

Is Humility a Doormat?


Do not choose bad friends.
Do not choose persons of low habits.
Select good friends. Be discriminating.
Choose the best.
Dhammapada 78

My understanding of true humility teaches me that I am worthy of the best in love and compassion. I deserve the best in companionship, the best intimate relationships, the best in everything and that includes the best beyond pretense. That doesn’t translate, however, to treating those I cannot get close to as anything but another manifestation of the divine. In my daily affairs I will run into people who cannot be trusted and cannot be expected to do anything that goes beyond the boundaries of self.
There is a distinct difference between discrimination and judgment and the wise know this well. Discrimination is an aspect of humility that does not judge but sees things as they are. Humility doesn’t make me blind to the horrors of the world around me but it sees behaviors, including my own, as they are. As I meditate I come to the Heart of Compassion with my inner eyes wide open (inner eyes that some refer to as the third eye). When I see humility in this light I come to understand that it doesn’t mean I become anyone’s doormat but rather I become helpful to those who suffer.


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