The Importance of Humility Along with the Promotion of Humility by the Monastery - Essay Example

Why is humility so important? How does the monastery promote humility and what is the goal of practicing humility? Introduction Humility is an attitude or act of oneself which is deeply connected with love-kindness, sympathy, compassionate joy and calmness. It is a characteristic that is related to spiritual practice and also occurs as a result of it. In the religious point of view, humility is one of the most important assets that a person should carry in his or her characteristics (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p – 32 & 33). The essay intends to discuss the importance of humility along with the promotion of humility by the monastery. Moreover, this study intends to assess the goal of practicing humility in religious and moral conceptions. Discussion Humility is the excellence of oneself. In other words, being humble is humility that brings human beings closer to God. The person, who is humble, bestows glory where it is owed. There are many reasons that explain the importance of humility in a person. With the power of humbleness or humility, one can understand that for all the good or bad things that happen, God is the operative power. Moreover, without being humble, no one can be submissive, gentle, and patient to obey the commandments of God (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 32). Besides, to enter in God’s kingdom of heaven, one should have to be humble as child so that God will give the permission to enter in the heaven. It has also been described that various steps of humility is the stair to heaven through which one can enter in the heaven (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 32). One who is full of humility gets the forgiveness from God. It has been said that if one is humble and prays with full of his or her heart then God hears it from heaven and forgive his/her sins (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 43). It has been said that one should be humble rather than exalted. It can be seen in every religion that only God has the power to do everything. Whoever thinks that they have done it and is taking the pride as well as praising themselves, they are not aware of God’s power. Furthermore, human beings are unknown about the fact that, whatever is going on the earth is executed by the God (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 32). In another way, if one is doing good things and is being happy of oneself, the person will want to be alive for self. This thinking is not acceptable, as Altruism describes that an individual should sacrifice oneself for others. However, pride of an individual is an obstacle in the way of sacrifice and only through humility one can reach the end of the way (Benedict, 1982, ch - 5, p - 29). Humility demands definitive belief in it from oneself. Humility is accepting the truth and being unpretentious in the way of dealing in daily life (Benedict, 1982, ch – 9, p - 47). The monastery praises humility as the most important asset to be in heaven after life. There is a strong belief that humility or in other words humbleness will bring an individual closer to God. Moreover, there is also a belief that humility is not that much easy to gain; one has to follow many stages to achieve it (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 32). To fill the heart with humility first, one has to be obedient unhesitatingly. If one has the fear that doing bad things will bring human beings in the hell, the person will be always aware of doing holy services. This fear of God will always protect humans from doing evil things. This thinking will remind the humans that God is everywhere and every movement is controlled by God. In this regard, the prophet said that “that he may take care to avoid sinful thoughts, the virtuous brother must always say to himself “I shall be blameless in his sight if I guide myself from my own wickedness”” (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 33). Every individual should not give any importance to their own will. It has to be believed that humans are here on earth to fulfill the will of God. One should do good things not to accomplish their own desire but to fulfill others’ desire. Every human should guide their own desire to the needful direction for the wellbeing of the society (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 33). According to monastery, being patient is also important to improve humility in oneself. To be calm and focused, one should ignore the sadness and anger with patience. One should try to avoid agitation by keeping away oneself from excessive demands and as a result it will bring mental peace. Scripture said in this regard that “O God, you have tested us, you have tried us as silver is tried by fire; you have led us into a snare, you have placed afflictions on our backs” (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 35). Humility also demands honesty from oneself. Every individual should admit their faults, wrongdoings or indulgence to the God. Humans should be humble while confessing their faults in front of God because the confession is to be forgiven by God. The one, who has confessed the failure of own heart to God with humble heart, is honest to the superior and remain pure hearted (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 36). It can be seen that the monks of the monastery always treat themselves with the lowest and inferior treatment. They want to give the message to the humans that there is no importance of who they are and what they have, but they have to take the responsibility of completing the will of God for which they came to the earth. Moreover, one should think of oneself that their life is God’s gift and thus every individual should be humble that they are allowed to fulfill God’s will. In this context, the monk said to the prophet “I am insignificant and ignorant no better than a beast before you yet I am with you always” (Benedict, 1982, ch - 7 p. 36). To be humble by heart, one should control the talking power because being talkative always breaks the concentration of oneself towards God. Moreover, excessive talkativeness, laughter along with raised voice makes humans worthless in their life. The monastery believes that prayer will bring peace and calmness to heart, so one should pray to God with humble heart instead of talking and laughing with raised voice (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 37). Humility brings peace and calmness to one’s heart. It makes a person so strong that he can control his desires significantly. In addition, one can use his energy to fulfill God’s will to do good things for others wellness. Humility makes a person mentally stable so that he can make prayer to God to be in touch of love from God. One who is true believer of God and pure by heart is more humble to God because he knows God is the superior power and to be in his kingdom one has to be a believer of humility (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 35). Humility makes a person more modest, strong and full of goodwill for others and that brings the individual closer to God. In this regard, divine Scripture mentioned that “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Benedict, 1982, ch - 7 p - 32). In ‘The Rule of St. Benedict’ the ultimate aim of humility has been described by Jacob’s dream where he viewed “angels descending and ascending” (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 32). Through the dream, it has been described that the ascending ladder is for those persons who are pure and humble hearted. God will ascend the way towards heaven. To be precise, it has been stated that the body and the soul are the sides of the ascended ladder and humility will be the stairs through which one can enter in the heaven (Benedict, 1982, ch – 7, p - 32). Conclusion Humility is an asset that makes an individual uncontaminated and full of peace in the mortal life. It teaches human beings that God is everywhere and he is watching everyone. One should not exalt oneself for being good or for having many things because God is the ultimate power and every individual should fulfill only God’s will. Humility gives strength to a person to live a life for others and use oneself for the society. It is one of the important paths through which one can enter in God’s heart which is the ultimate goal of humility. Reference Benedict, S. (1982). The Rule of St. Benedict in English. United States: Liturgical Press. Read More