Pride

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Pride and Humility are two sides of the same coin.
I used to think that Pride was all about self aggrandizement
and, consequentially,
that Humility was all about self deprecation;

BUT I was wrong.
One day in an effort to impress one of my teachers,
so I could help the poor man to realize just how very spiritual I was,
I decided to show off my humility {after all I was very proud of it}
by indulging in melodramatic self deprecation.


And yes folks, as you can imagine,
it went over like a lead balloon.
To my amazement, he did not buy my bullsh#t!

But I was so certain that my definition of humility was dead on!
More like dead wrong!
What is the common denominator between self-aggrandizement self deprecation?
You guessed it… self.

Or, as Al Pacino’s character said in The Devil’s Advocate,
“…oh the sweet love of self…
it’s a natural aphrodisiac...”

Therefore we must redefine pride,
for it is much more then just self-aggrandizement,
it encompasses ALL forms of being self-centered.

Which of course reminds me of Sir Laurence Olivier,
who when he was accepting his academy award for Hamlet said,
“Acting is all about three things, me, me and me!”

So if pride is all about being self-centered
then it’s flipside, humility,
is all about being other centered, or in other words,
Love and Compassion.

So my friends the secret to being truly humble
lies NOT in the contrivances of self-deprecation
but in the cultivation of Empowered love and compassion.

Have you registered for the Thursday series of weekly webinars? It starts next week!

May you and yours be

happy and healthy!

Om Mani Padme Hum,

Lama Jigme Gyatso: Rime Manipa Tantrika

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