Is There a Need to be Humble?

Sadhguru answers a question on self-confidence and humility, and looks at whether it is better to be arrogant or humble in life. Yogi, mystic and visionary, Sadhguru is a spiritual master with a difference. An arresting blend of profundity and pragmatism, his life and work serves as a reminder that yoga is a contemporary science, vitally relevant to our times.

Transcript

Never look up to anybody, Never look down on anybody. Just learn to look at life for what it is. You will effortlessly navigate through your life. Questioner 1 – Sadhguru, All through school and college, We are taught to give importance to our self – self-love, Self-confidence, Self-esteem. What is this self-love, What's happening in your school? They teach us to give importance to our self to such an extent that we no longer know how to be humble. So can you please tell us how we can become humble again? Sadhguru – Oh, See there is no need to be humble or there is a need to be arrogant. Now that you're asking me this question, Let me tell you, My daughter traveled with me, Alone with me in the car, When she was three-and-a-half months old. I drove all over the country with this little baby in the car. So she grew up in many people's homes. I made one rule, Because everybody, This is a problem with adults, When they see a child, They pounce on them like… like predatory animals, They want to teach something. It is such a… everybody wants to teach one, Two, Three, Four or A, B, C, D or Mary had a little lamp. I said, See I don't want her to know A, B, C, One, Two, Three, Nor do I care whether Mary had a lamp or not. So nobody… one rule is you can play with her, Nobody is going to teach her anything. So she grew up happy. By the time she's eighteen months, She was fluently speaking three languages, Because nobody taught her anything she's listening. She is not chanting Mary had a little lamp, No rhymes, No language, No mathematics, Simply life. I thought I'll never send her to school, But only reason was because, You know, Her age group is important. So she went to school and when she was around twelve years of age, She came home one day, Little disturbed about what happened in the school. Then she said, You're teaching everybody so many things, You're not teaching me anything. I said, See I'm not known to do things unsolicited. Now that you've come, Let's see. See this is all you have to know. Never look down on anybody, Never look up to anybody. Then she looked at me like this, What about you kind of thing. I said, Not even me, If you look up to me, You will completely miss who I am. If you look up to me, Probably you'll make a picture and nail me to your wall, But you will miss the whole point of who I am. You must look at me as I am, Not looking up. Never look up to anybody, Never look down on anybody. This looks very simple, But try it and see. In your mind you've decided what is good, What is bad, What is high, What is low, What is virtue, What is sin, What is filth, What is wealth, Everything. Everything is already determined. Once you've done this, There is no way you cannot look up at something or look down on something. What you think is bad, You will look down, What you think is good, You will look up. If you remove this and just learn to look at life for what it is, You will effortlessly navigate through your life, Effortlessly. Right now, This is the problem. You are looking up to some people, Looking down on some people and trying to be humble with them. There's no need to be humble. Treat everybody as rough as you treat yourself. That is if you're treating yourself rough. If you are pandering to yourself, Try with others, Then you'll get tired, Then you'll treat them rough anyway. Yes. So, This is simple. I'm telling you the same thing what I told her. It worked miraculously for her. Never look up to anybody, Never look down at anybody. Just see everything the way it is. This is the fundamental of this culture. If you go to the temple, What do you do? Hi. What do you do? If you ever go to the temple, What do you do? Namaskaram. You see a man, What do you do? Namaskaram. You see a woman, What do you do? Namaskaram. You see a tree, What do you do? Namaskaram. You see a rock, What do you do? Namaskaram. A cow, Snake, Donkey, Monkey. Everybody namaskaram. Because fundamentally this is what it means. This is called vairagya. Vairagya means. . . This is not a. . . Vairagya does not mean giving up your life and going somewhere. There's nowhere to go, Unless you go with that guy outer space, They're going to send you out with a one-way ticket, I believe. Otherwise, Where is there to go, Wherever you go, It's still life, Isn't it? So, Vairagya means this, Literally means. . . Vairagya means beyond color. That means you become transparent. If you're transparent, Every dimension of life can pass through you, But leaves you untouched. You can handle life to the extent you wish. What you can handle, You handle. What you cannot handle, You don't. But in your life, If you do not do what you cannot do, That's not a issue. But if you do not do what you can do, You're a disaster. The moment you think something is good, Something is bad, Somebody is high, Somebody is low, Many, Many things that you can do, You will not do in your life, Simply because you think it's bad, Simply because you think it's low or high or whatever nonsense. So, In our lives, This is what is most important, Because it's a brief life. It's a limited amount of time for the human potential to flower. In this life, Here if you're choosing what to do and what not to do, No. Everything that you can do must happen. What you cannot do, It doesn't happen, It's okay.

Reviews

❤🙏

Sadhguru is hard to not look up to

Thanks for the good words

Living life without arrogance! Sadhguru’s balanced, non-dual radiance is manifested in his ACTions, laughter and presence. Such a gift! In gratitude, ahimsa

Awesome wisdom every time!