Why we resist humility and what is its real value. How to learn humility

Humility is, first of all, to live with peace in your soul! In harmony with oneself, in harmony with the surrounding world and God. Humility is an internal acceptance of situations that happen to us. Any situation, no matter what areas of life it does not concern.

For example, Ayurveda - Vedic medicine, believes that a sick person has no chance of being healed if he does not accept his illness. Almost any disease can be cured, but only when a person internally accepted it, humbled himself, understood why the disease came into his life, worked through the tasks that the disease sets before him. It is the same with all difficult situations in life - until you accept, you will not change.

How to understand - I accept the situation or not. If I accept it, there is calmness inside me, nothing clings to me, does not strain me according to the situation. I think about her and talk calmly. Inside, complete calm and relaxation. Only if I don’t accept it, then there is tension inside, internal dialogue, claims, resentment, irritation, etc. pain. The more pain, the more rejection. As soon as we take it, the pain goes away.

Many understand the word acceptance or humility as weakness, humiliation. They say I reconciled, so I sit back and come what may, let everyone wipe their feet on me. In fact, true humility gives dignity to a person. Humility and acceptance on the inside are internal qualities, and on the external level I take some action.

Let's look at a few examples:

1. We often face difficulties in personal relationships. In our head, there is a different picture of relationships with a loved one than the one that we get in reality. In our head, both the image and the behavior of a loved one are different than what we get in fact. It is the discrepancy between the desired and the actual that brings us suffering and pain. Often we see the root of our troubles not in ourselves, but in others. Here he will change and I will stop suffering. Remember, the cause of troubles is not in another person or his behavior, the cause is in us and in our attitude towards a loved one.

First of all, we must accept reality as it is. Our reality is created by our subconscious programs and God. We don't really get what we want, but what we deserve. This is how the law of karma works - what you sow, you will reap. The current reality is sown by us, by some of our actions in the past - in this or a past life. To protest and suffer is stupid and not constructive! It is much more constructive to internally accept reality as it is. To accept a loved one as he is, with all his shortcomings and virtues, with all his attitude towards us. Take responsibility for everything that happens in our life - for events, for people, for their attitude towards us - on ourselves! I alone am responsible for what happens in my life.

It is we who "pulled everything to ourselves". These are some of my actions and energies that force the second one to act towards me in such a way that I may not be very pleased. Our own karma comes to us through those close to us. And then, rolling up your sleeves, you need to start the inner work. All that happens to us here is lessons. Our loved ones are our most important teachers. Every difficult situation is not sent to us to fight it, but to teach us. Thanks to this situation, we can better understand life, change something in ourselves for the better, develop unconditional love, rise to a new level of development, get some life experience necessary for our soul, pay our karmic debt.

Only by accepting the situation, you can finally start thinking about what they actually teach. Why was this situation sent to us? How by our behavior and thoughts we brought this situation into life! Maybe we are not coping with our role as a man or a woman, developing in ourselves qualities that are alien to our nature? So we must go and learn how to properly fulfill our role. How a man should act in this world and how a woman should act, so that it would be in harmony with the laws of the universe. I always say that in order to be a man or a woman, it is not enough to be born in a male or female body. You have to become a man or a woman - this is a big life task. And our destiny in the world begins with the realization of this task.

But this is not the only cause of problems in relationships, although it is of course the most global and it is from it that all other problems in gender relations are born. Again, each case is of course very individual. Maybe this situation teaches us self-respect and we should say no to relationships, or maybe we need to learn to stand up for ourselves, not let the other person insult us, humiliate us and, God forbid, beat us. That is, having internally accepted the situation, I already defend myself not on the emotions of resentment and irritation, but on the emotions of love for myself and for another, on the emotions of acceptance. That is, internally we have complete calm - and outwardly, we may say rather harsh words, take some measures, do not allow ourselves to be insulted, and put the second person in place harshly. That is, we act on the external level without being involved in emotion, not from the position of ego and resentment - we act from the position of the soul.

When we struggle with a situation without acceptance, everything comes from our emotions and from the ego. You need to feel like a soul and learn to act in this world like a soul, and not like a bunch of egoism. Another very important point - yes, on the external plane we take some actions to change the situation, but we must be ready to accept any development of events inside all the time. Repeat, as often as possible, that it sounded in you like a mantra - I am internally ready or ready to accept any development of events! Everything will happen as God wants - man proposes, God disposes. We must free ourselves from our leads for the result - they say, I want only this way and not otherwise. Here on earth in everything and always the last word belongs to God - and we must accept it!

Another point - often problems in personal relationships are given to develop character traits - perhaps the behavior of a partner indicates to us that we are touchy, jealous, critical, rude, assertive, despotic, we are trying to subdue the second to our will, not taking into account his desires, we are trying to remake him for ourselves, etc., so we must be freed from these qualities. For example, if you are critical, then you should stop focusing on the shortcomings of a person and learn to see the merits in a person, speak kind words to him, praise, compliment. Every person has qualities for which to praise him - learn to see them!

If you are jealous, you must learn to trust the person and your relationship. Giving your partner free space - he is not your property. And also in this case, you must develop confidence in yourself and your attractiveness. Take care of yourself, correctly fulfill your male or female role. And most importantly - give love to your partner. Jealousy says that your partner is dear to you and you do not want to lose him, but jealousy, as a way of expressing love, is very destructive, because sooner or later it will destroy relationships. Keep in mind, if you are jealous, you are already energetically inviting a third person into your relationship and its appearance is a matter of time.

So with all the other emotions: all that is required of you is to replace the negative with a positive antipode and train your consciousness for a new attitude towards the partner and the situation.

Relationships are always respect, freedom, love and bestowal. This is service to each other! In a relationship, we should think less about what our partner should do to us and think more about what we should do to him. Since we often have a list of requirements for the second half, we, to put it mildly, do not correspond to this list ourselves! Always remember your area of ​​responsibility in a relationship and think less about your partner's area of ​​responsibility.

It all starts with you - the right energy will come from you and your partner will also begin to give you harmonious energy. As old as the world saying - change yourself and the world around you will change too. A person who is not humble wants to change the world instead of changing himself. This is the trouble, this is the whole root of suffering. And the casket is so easy to open!

2. or another example. Consider illness. For example, we have a confirmed diagnosis of cancer or any other unpleasant diagnosis. And then people start asking questions - why is this with me, why should I. The fear of death is included. There is a complete rejection of the disease and a run to the doctors - who will save and who will help! This is the road to nowhere!

The first thing to do is to accept the disease. The disease is not stupid, it always comes targeted, because the disease is actually a signal from our subconscious mind that we are doing something wrong. This is a signal that our behavior and our reactions to events are harmful to us. Illness is the appeal of the universe to us. God tells us through illness - you are violating the laws of the universe, stop! Only if we talk specifically about cancer, then this is a disease of resentment. A person is very offended by someone and for a long time bears this resentment in himself. Perhaps for years. On a subconscious level, being offended, we send destruction to the person we are offended by. And this program of destruction, like a boomerang, is returning to us.

A person's resentment corrodes, and therefore cancer - cancer cells, corrode the body. We need to work through the past, forgive and let go of grievances. Accept both past situations and the disease that is now. And only by doing this internal work, we can expect that our external actions in connection with diseases - hospitalization, drugs, surgery and chemotherapy will bring positive results. Only in the event that we fight the disease, do not accept it, use only external methods, run to various specialists without doing work inside - the result will be deplorable. Since the struggle only aggravates the situation with her. Here I gave cancer as an example, but we should do the same with any other disease!

True, do not go to extremes - do not look for deep causes in a slight cold. A cold can only mean that yesterday you dressed too lightly and stood in a draft for a long time! Or that you have been working too hard lately, so your body decided to put you to rest. Relax, pamper yourself and go!

But serious illnesses already require study. In general, the path to many serious illnesses begins with insults - if a person does not internally accept them, then betrayals are given, if this person does not pass, then illnesses and blows of fate continue. And the more selfishness, the stronger the blows. We also get sick when we do not go according to our destination, we do not fulfill our tasks. When we eat wrong. Western medicine says that all diseases are from the nerves, and Eastern medicine says that all diseases are from malnutrition. Therefore, in order not to get sick with anything other than a cold, learn to accept, stop being offended, start living in harmony with yourself and God, do your duty, follow your destiny and lead a healthy lifestyle, eat right! On the inner level, learn to open up and live in complete trust in a higher source! In full trust and love! Understand that you are God's creation and God knows what and why he does in your life!

And if you still get sick, then approach treatment and recovery in a complex way. Work on the inner plane and use what medicine has to offer. Work for example with a psychologist and work with a doctor! More than once I met people who follow the spiritual path and believe that a disease can be cured only by internal work on oneself - they say, medical manipulations, medicines are not required. Be reasonable! We are still very far from the level where only internal work on ourselves would yield results.

Do not go to the other extreme: when a person believes that he can be cured only using external methods - medicine, medicines, etc. for healing, we still need an integrated approach, because when we are in an embodied state, there is a trinity - the spirit , soul and body. And a failure on one of these planes indicates a failure on the others! After all, the disease first arises on a subtle plane - from our wrong worldview, thoughts, actions, deeds. And only then does it move to the physical plane. Therefore, it is necessary to treat both the internal and the external - only then will there be a lasting result. After all, it often happens like this - like a person was cured, and after a while he fell ill again. And all because there was no change inside!

3. well, just a household example. For example, a wallet with documents, credit cards, money was stolen from us - we accept it inside and do not get upset, but outwardly we take action: we go write a statement, we do everything to find our documents, wallet, punish the criminal. Only we are not driven by resentment, anger and irritation. We don’t wish another that his hands would wither and no longer grow, we don’t send curses on his head, etc. No, we are calm inside - we understand that since God sent us this, then this is necessary for something. We just calmly do what is required of us, without tantrums and curses against the thief. Again, maybe the wallet was not stolen from us - maybe we dropped it ourselves?

Or let's say we don't have a job - we accept it inside, we don't blame anyone for this: they say the country has got the wrong one and the situation in it. We do not attribute everything to circumstances and do not retire to drink bitter. Yes, today it is so - we do not have a job, which means there is more time to figure out what we really want to do professionally. Was the job we did before the job of our dreams? Or maybe we just worked for her to pay the bills? Maybe God deliberately deprived us of this job, so that we would finally go and start doing the work of our dreams, start realizing the talents inherent in us!

Or, for example, if I am a woman, maybe it’s time for me to devote more time to the house and shift the material support of the family onto the shoulders of my husband, as it should be in general! Maybe it's time to finally feel like a woman - the keeper of the hearth and start organizing a space of love and beauty around you and in the house! We are calm. And we calmly analyze the situation. In the outside world, we do not lie on the couch, but at least look through some ads, send out CVs. At the same time, we don’t scold our fate, God - they say we didn’t see it, the government, etc. on the contrary - we are grateful to fate that everything is so, because maybe something better is waiting for us around the corner than the previous work (at least we have there was time to rest from the eternal race) and maybe with the purse that was stolen from us, we bought off more (emphasis on o) problems than just losing money. Who knows? This is known only to God. Only he has a complete picture of the world. So in everything - complete trust in God, knowledge and understanding that God knows what and why He is doing in my life! Adoption!

The most amazing thing is that internal acceptance and calmness solve many problems very quickly - a person recovers, a wallet, and often with all the money and documents, relationships with loved ones are restored. One way or another, because or another scenario, any problems are solved. I have observed this many times. Both in their lives and in the lives of other people who have developed and practice acceptance of situations. Because acceptance opens up a huge flow of energy - we find ourselves right in this flow and attract the best solutions to ourselves like a magnet. Everything is very simple - we just go through the situation correctly and we are rewarded a hundredfold. Acceptance is love. And what we love always becomes our ally! Accepting situations means responding to situations with love. And love is the most powerful energy in the world. Actually, for this we come - to accumulate love in the heart and respond to all situations with love!

Where does humility come from? From what we know there are laws that govern destiny and we are willing to learn and follow those laws. We have a clear understanding that I am not this body, that I am the soul. We are all souls. When we incarnate here on earth, unfortunately most of us forget this and begin to consider ourselves a mortal body and live according to the principle - we live once and therefore everything must be done in time! But in fact, each of us has hundreds and thousands of incarnations.

He who has humility imitates Christ Himself. Such a person never loses his temper, does not condemn anyone and does not exalt himself. Never craves power, avoids human glory. Doesn't fight for any reason.

He is not bold when he talks, and always listens to other people's advice. Avoids beautiful clothes, his appearance is simple and modest.

A person who meekly endures all humiliation and humiliation receives great benefit from this. Therefore, do not be sad, but, on the contrary, rejoice in the fact that you are suffering. In doing so, you acquire the precious humility that saves you.

“I humbled myself, and He saved me” (Ps. 115:5). These words should always be kept in mind.

Don't be upset when you are judged. Sadness over such an occasion means that you have vanity. He who wants to be saved must love human contempt, because contempt brings humility. And humility frees a person from many temptations.

Never be jealous, do not envy, do not strive for fame, do not look for high positions. Try to always live inconspicuously. It is better that the world does not know you, because the world leads to temptation. With his vain speeches and empty incitements, he deceives us and causes us spiritual harm.

Your goal should be to acquire humility. Be below everyone. Consider that you are not doing anything worthy of your salvation. You must pray to God to save you according to your mercy.

Humility, obedience and fasting give rise to the fear of God, and the fear of God is the beginning of true wisdom.

Everything you do, do it with humility, so as not to suffer from your own good deeds. Do not think that only those who work hard receive great rewards. He who has a good intention and with it humility, even without being able to do much and without being skilled in anything, will be saved.

Humility is achieved by self-reproach, that is, by the conviction that in essence you are not doing anything good. Woe to him who considers his sins insignificant. He will surely fall into a graver sin.

A person who humbly bears all the condemnation directed at him approaches perfection. Even the Angels admire him, because there is no more difficult and greater virtue than humility.

Poverty, sorrow and contempt are crowns for a monk. When a monk meekly endures rudeness, slander and contempt, he is easily freed from bad thoughts.

Worthy of praise is the realization of one's weakness before God. It is self-knowledge. “I weep and lament,” says St. Simeon the New Theologian, “when the light illuminates me, and I see my poverty and know where I am.” When a person recognizes his spiritual poverty and realizes what level he really is at, then the light of Christ will shine in his soul, and he will begin to cry (telling about this, the elder was moved and wept himself).

If another person calls you an egoist, do not let it sadden or upset you. Just think to yourself: “Perhaps I am like that and I don’t understand it myself.” One way or another, we should not depend on someone else's opinion. Let everyone look into their own conscience and be guided by the words of experienced and knowledgeable friends, and above all, ask for forgiveness from their confessor. And on the basis of all this he builds his spiritual path.

You write that you can't fight. Do you know why this happens? Because you don't have enough humility. You think that you can only achieve this on your own. But when you humble yourself and say: “By the power of Christ, the help of the Mother of God and the prayer of the elder, I will achieve what I want,” be sure that you will succeed.

Of course, I don’t have such prayer power, but when you, having humbled yourself, say: “With the prayer of the elder, I can do anything,” then, in your humility, the grace of God will begin to act, and everything will work out.

God looks to the “humble and contrite” (Isaiah 66:2). But for meekness, calmness and humility to come, labor is necessary. This work is rewarded. To find humility, it seems to me, one does not need numerous bows and obediences, but first of all, your thoughts must go down to the very earth. Then you will not be afraid to fall, because you are already below. And if you fall down, you won't get hurt.

In my opinion, although I certainly do not read much and do nothing outstanding, humility is the shortest path to the salvation of man. Abba Isaiah says: "Teach your tongue to ask for forgiveness, and humility will come to you." Train yourself to say “Forgive me”, even if it is unconscious at first, and gradually you will get used to not only saying these words, but also feeling it in your heart.

The saints teach that how great will be your favor when you ask for forgiveness - in other words, humility - so God will enlighten the other so that the desired truce between you is achieved. When you lament and say, "I am guilty, but I don't realize it," soon you will be able to say, "Yes, I am indeed guilty." And when you convince yourself that you are truly to blame, the other person will also change his attitude towards you.

Persistently ask God to endow you with the gift of self-reproach and humility.

Praying, ask God to give you the ability to see only your sins and not notice the sins of others. “Grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother,” says St. Ephraim the Syrian.

A humble person considers himself the lowest of all. And therefore he loves everyone, forgives everyone and, most importantly, does not condemn anyone.

Translation from modern Greek: the editors of the online publication "Pemptusia"

How to deal with a situation that cannot be changed

What you judged as black turned out to be white in the end, and - you see this in your own life - this is exactly what happens most often.
Therefore, it is very important to remove the assessment of the situation from the position of your understanding of the correctness, and leave only a statement of the situation. Yes, I see that this has happened. What I feel? I feel uncomfortable in it, it’s difficult, I have to strain, something else.
Next - what can I do to make it different? I do.
The situation has not been completely resolved, but I believe that in the end it will be resolved in the best way, so I just trust the world and switch to solving other problems. I do not waste energy on resentment of life, complaining about injustice, etc., I direct it to creation, and then I become the real mistress of my life, and not the eternal victim of circumstances.
Everything is just there, and for today it is like this, and I accept this situation because I believe that it has come, because I need it for something. And I focus on understanding why, not on being dissatisfied.

Humility in psychology. What is patience and humility.

Our life consists not only of joyful experiences, but also of problems that we need to learn how to overcome. To do this, we need patience. This means calmly accepting the vicissitudes of life and maintaining clarity of mind even in the most difficult situations. To do this, one needs humility. This is one of the basic virtues in Christianity.

Humility is the exact opposite of pride. A humble person relies on the mercy of the Lord, he gladly and gratefully accepts what the Lord has given him, and never puts himself above others. To be humble is to live in peace with oneself.

Patience is closely related to humility. If a person is at peace with himself and at the same time remains calm in difficult situations, it is easy for him to overcome them. An example of true patience and humility is Jesus Christ. For the sake of a higher goal, he endured unbearable torments and at the same time did not get angry, did not wish harm to anyone, did not grumble at fate.

What is Situation Acceptance?

Acceptance is a new level of understanding.

This is the understanding that everything that happened to you, for some reason you need it.

Understanding that the problem always comes from within you outward, and is manifested from within by external circumstances. You receive what you broadcast to the World.

The Outer World signals to you, through the situation, what to pay attention to in YOURSELF.

Understanding that accepting a situation does not mean accepting the injustice of what is happening to you, does not mean submitting to circumstances.

Accept this:

• Agree that the situation has already been created and that we need to move on based on the presence of this fact.
• Agree that it is impossible to change events, but you can understand them differently.
• Find the reason why this situation arose in your life, and understand how to act so that this does not happen to you.

About humility

• Humility towards God is a vision of one's sins, hope only in God's mercy, but not in one's own merits, love for Him, combined with the meek enduring of life's hardships and difficulties. Humility is the desire to subordinate one's will to the holy will of God, the good and all-perfect will. Since the source of any virtue is God, then, together with humility, He Himself instills in the soul of a Christian. Humility will reign in the soul only when “Christ is formed” in it (Gal. 4:19).
• In relation to other people - the absence of anger and irritation, even at those who, it would seem, deserve it. This sincere gentleness is based on the fact that the Lord loves the person with whom there was a disagreement, just like you, and the ability not to identify your neighbor as God's creation and his sins.
• A person who has humility towards himself does not look for the shortcomings of others, as he perfectly sees his own. Moreover, in any conflict, he blames only himself, and for any accusation or even insult against him, such a person is ready to say sincerely: "I'm sorry." All patristic monastic literature says that a good deed cannot be done without humility, and many saints said that one can have no other virtue than humility and still be close to God.

What is the value of humility

We are used to resisting humility, but if you look at this term from a different angle, it turns out that there is no need to be afraid of its onset.

In the moment of humility comes relief, liberation.

It allows you to reach a new spiritual level, where you gain the support of higher powers.

Humility is not a weakness, not a state of sacrifice.

Humility is freedom from struggle.

Unlike children who talk about themselves all the time, adults are able to appear humble through learned mannerisms. But all this is often only external, while our heart is occupied by our own ego. How to ensure that our words about humility are not an empty phrase - this is the reflection of Archimandrite Andrei (Konanos).

Young children are more spontaneous. They say what they feel. And in elementary school, they always write: “Me, me… Me, mom and dad went to rest. I have a machine! And the teacher corrects their compositions with a red pen: “Do not constantly write “I, I ...”

On the other hand, mothers and fathers, being sure that their child – the best, they often say: “My son (or daughter) is the best!” They believe that their child is the most capable in the classroom and in the gym, and if the child is into music, they will certainly say: “The piano teacher noted that my daughter is the best! I see!"

All parents say so. They instill in their child from childhood that he is the best, because if you don’t be the best, then you can easily become the worst! This is how our selfishness is cultivated.

When the writer Nikos Kazandakis arrived on Mount Athos, he met there with one ascetic - Father Macarius (Spileot), who lived in a cave. At the end of the conversation, Father Macarius told him:

- Wake up before it's too late! Your selfishness is huge, your "I" will eat you!

Kazandakis answered him:

“Don’t blame the ego, father! The ego separated the human from the animal.

And the ascetic replied:

- You're wrong. The ego separated man from God. When a person lived in paradise, he was humble and was with God. God loved him, and the man felt his oneness with the Lord. But as soon as a person said the word "I!", he separated himself from God and ran away from Him. He ran away from paradise, ran away from himself, ran away from everyone.

Only in one case can we (and should) remember our “I” - when we blame ourselves. Then we can say, “Yes, I am guilty. It was I who sinned, I made a mistake, I did it of my own free will!” In this case, yes, but, unfortunately, this is the very case when we do not say “I”.

There is even such a magazine - "Ego". And there, psychoanalysts write that when a person is going to some event or party, then during the gathering (choosing a perfume, etc.) this word “I” is clearly indicated in his soul. How I I look what I give the impression that to me tell you how to rate my appearance, mine clothes, my perfume... The ego is constantly showing up in today's entertainment. A person constantly thinks about his "I", because he placed it at the center of his life.

But in this way we are far from the Truth! The Lord teaches us that even if a person fulfills all His commandments, he must still speak of himself as an indecent servant of God. And we often begin to consider ourselves great and important people at the very beginning of the spiritual path, when nothing has been done yet.

Humility is not sadness, not melancholy. Some understand humility in this way - that it is some kind of depression, when a person feels weak, offended, a sick introvert. This is not true. Humility is staying in Truth, in truth. It means that a person knows who he is, knows his place in this world, recognizes his weakness and thanks God for all the benefits that He gives him, despite his weaknesses. Humility means living in the truth and not in the deception that modern life creates around us.

I listened to a recording in which Elder Jacob (Tsalikis) reads incantational prayers over one woman, and the voice of an evil spirit was clearly heard there. Of course, it is better not to listen to such things, but it happened, and this is what the demon said to the elder:

"Since you're a saint, why don't you talk about it?" Say you're a saint! Since you yourself know this and you managed to defeat me, tell me!

And it was heard how Elder Jacob humbly and firmly answered:

- You are lying! I am dust and ashes, and I worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit - the Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible!

You should have heard the demon screaming and wailing! And I thought about what we already know: the main goal of the devil is to make us selfish. He really wants us to become selfish and consider ourselves important - while the Lord wants us to be humble and show this humility in our lives.

Humility is when a person accepts dishonor with joy, surging sorrows and difficulties - with open arms, with the idea that in this way the soul is cured of sins and diseases. When difficulties come and we are forced to humble ourselves, we need to remember this - that God cleanses our soul from past or present sins, or protects us from what may happen in the future.

One woman had an abortion and confessed this sin. But confession is not enough in this case. It is not enough to talk about sin. You need to be humble and repent of what you have done.

Humility is an action, not a word. Words are sweet. The soul can be touched and touched by words, words give a feeling of sweetness. And the matter of humility tastes very bitter and caustic. Like this: hearing about humility is sweet, but doing it is bitter. And Father George (Karslidis), a well-known confessor in Northern Greece, said to this woman who had an abortion (and she was a very beautiful, rich aristocrat):

“Here's what you need to do. You will dress in rags, you will not tell anyone who you are, and you will go to such and such a village. And for a whole week you will beg there for alms, not telling anyone about your past and present. You won't even give your name. This humiliation will help your soul truly humble itself and be cleansed of the evil that you caused to another soul, your child, who died before he was born.

The woman did everything and after that she felt what she did not feel during confession - relief. And healed from sin.

When we first embark on the path of humility, the first temptation that comes to us is vanity. As soon as you want to be humble, conceited thoughts immediately begin to appear in your head. What is vanity? This is when a person does a good deed, and secretly begins to be proud of it. For example, I fast, and then a thought comes to me, and I start thinking: “Well done! Once I fast, I'm not like the rest! I'm different, I'm better!"

Or, for example, you can dress modestly (which in itself is good), but conceited thoughts appear in this regard, and after them comes arrogance and complacency. And the person begins to think: “Do you see what is happening around? The world is dying, everyone is dressing provocatively, and you are not like that. Well done!" This “Well done!”, Which we say to ourselves after every good deed, is vanity. This is a temptation that we will always face when doing a good deed, because every time something swells up inside us, and thoughts appear: “Well done! I did it in secret! But the word "Well done!" said, and thus we have already been lifted up. It is the least of all humility.

Humility implies a desire to learn. When a person has humility, he does not say: “I know everything!”. He asks questions - to his spouse, wife or even his child. At one time, this made an impression on Saint John of the Ladder, when in one monastery he saw gray-haired elders asking questions to the priest who confessed them (and the priest was forty years old). They were elders, monks, hardened in prayer and spiritual warfare, and they humbly asked questions to a younger person.

And this happens today. There are abbots on Athos who are younger than many of the monks in the monastery. And such an abbot, despite his rank, goes to the elders and asks them for advice in order to humble himself, and not act at his own discretion. It's good for the soul.

Let's not say: “I know everything! Don't tell me what to do!" After all, this attitude is transmitted to all family members, to everyone around.

However, there are times when a Christian has the right to be indignant about what happened and thus demonstrate "selfishness" without harm to the soul. What are these cases? When it is necessary to stand up for the Orthodox faith, we not only can, but must be categorical and strict. And it will not be selfishness, but a confession of faith. When false accusations were brought against Saint Agathon, they slandered him, he accepted everything. And they called him a sinner, a liar, an egoist ... But when they called him a heretic, he replied:

- Listen! About all that you have told me before, I have hope to improve. But if I agree that I am a heretic, then I will lose hope of salvation! If I am a heretic, I cannot be saved. Therefore, I do not agree with your words.

The Holy Fathers explain the behavior of the Lord in the Jerusalem Temple in this way. Taking the scourge and driving out the buyers and sellers, He did not feel angry at that moment. He did not get angry at anyone and was in complete control of His behavior and actions. He overturned benches, spilled money, but when he was in front of cages with pigeons that were intended for sacrifice, he said: “Take this from here!” (John 2:16)

That is, if Christ had lost control over Himself, He would have overturned the cages with birds. And since the doves were innocent, He did not harm them. This is what the interpreters of the Gospel say. Therefore, the Lord was not in a nervous state. He did all this not out of selfishness, but out of love - true love for the Law of God, wanting to protect the Temple. And a Christian who wants to become humble must not be angry, must not argue.

One novice of the elder Paisius (Svyatogorets) said:

– Whatever sins we confessed to Father Paisius, he accepted our confession with great humility, love, philanthropy, and told us: “Well, you are a man. No problem, we'll fix it!" And never cursed. Only in one case did he become very upset - when we began to proudly argue, thereby showing our selfishness. Only then did he say, "Now, my child, I cannot help you." When we behaved like this, his soul suffered. Because there was selfishness in our behavior. Sin is a property of man, and selfishness is a property of the devil.

A humble person easily corrects his mistakes. And he is easy to help. I don’t know if you have asked yourself this question – why confession doesn’t change us. Unfortunately, I see this in myself, and in other people. We go to confession, but after it we don’t improve much - at least not enough to say: “I have changed a lot in the last five years.”

Why don't we change? Because we don't have humility. We don't let other people mold our character. For example, a person is told: “From this day on, you must fast!” And here humility is needed to answer: "Yes, I will fast, I will not eat meat." And the person instead says: “Wait a minute, are you telling me whether I should fast or not? And also - what time do I have to get up to go to church, do this or that? .. ”The egoist does not allow anyone to control him, but nevertheless he is controlled by his own passions. And he cannot receive guidance and education from the hands of the Church.

One of the psalms says that "in our humility the Lord remembered us ... and delivered us from our enemies" (Ps. 135:23-24). And the holy fathers add: He also delivered us from passions, impurity and infirmities. When God sees a humble person, He delivers him from every temptation. Humble people do not try to comprehend the Divine Truth, but simply live in It. They have simple thoughts - they think like children. And in a person who expresses his thoughts confusedly, thinks confusedly, the soul humbles itself, as a rule, with difficulty.

Some people, coming to the elder, begin to ask him strange questions. But questions testify to the spiritual development of a person. And so, for example, when humble people came to Elder Porfiry, they asked him questions about salvation. And others, whose soul was filled with selfishness, asked whether to buy a motorcycle, whether their daughter would get married soon, and so on. Someone even asked the elder to pray for winning the lottery. That is, people asked about things that were not essential to their salvation.

Instead of looking into himself, the egoist looks at others. He also carefully calculates when the Antichrist will come, what numbers he will have, and so on and so forth. instead of looking after your own soul. And what did people ask the elders about in ancient times? The Patericon often tells how a man comes to an old man and says to him:

“Father, tell me how you can be saved!” Tell me what you need to do to be saved, to love Christ, to overcome your weaknesses and passions!

We should ask these questions to ourselves, and to our confessor, and to holy people (if such an opportunity arises). These questions do not contain simple curiosity, which hides a selfish desire to do anything but yourself. What I am talking about now is not abstract.

When the disciples asked Jesus: Lord, are there few who are saved?"(Luke 13:23), He did not directly answer this question, but said:" Strive to enter through the narrow gate"(Luke 13:24). Remember? That is, they asked Him one thing, and He answered another. They asked how many people would be saved, and He answered: “Try to strive - that's what concerns you. And how many people will be saved is none of your business.” Thus the Lord brings us back to earth, to humility.

He said the same thing to the apostle Peter. After the Resurrection, the Lord said to him: Follow me"(John 21:19). And he began to ask Christ about St. John the Theologian, what will happen to him (“Lord! And what is he?”) (John 21:21). What did the Lord say? " What's up to you? You follow me"(John 21:22). That is, what will happen to John, his life path, is Mine and his business. And you look at yourself. By helping yourself, you will help others.

And this is not selfishness. This is the only responsibility that we bear for the development of our own soul, in order to turn it to repentance and humility. As Saint John of the Ladder says, the Lord will not condemn us for not being theologians; or that did not perform miracles; or that they were not preachers who converted entire tribes and peoples to God. The Lord will condemn us for the fact that we did not have humility, there was no repentance and contrition for our souls.

Translation by Elizabeth Terentyeva

In this article you will learn what humility is, it is important to know what humility is, it will make your life easier.

What is humility. One of the aspects of humility and the most important aspects is to accept yourself as you are, for example, weak, stupid, ugly, insecure, poor (which, by the way, are just your thoughts about yourself, or the words and thoughts of other people about you, but not you, you are not a thought or a word, you are not your ideas about yourself, oh you are great, you just forgot about it, it's time for you to remember WHO YOU REALLY ARE) and allow yourself to be and love yourself as you are, but as soon as you accept yourself as you are and love you, you will flourish and transform, because your love for yourself will make you a strong, confident, self-sufficient and invulnerable person.

Acceptance, surrender and humility are one and the same.

Due to the fact that we do not accept ourselves, as a consequence, we do not accept the world around us and the events and people taking place in it. There is no humility in us.

So what is humility - is the acceptance of what is at the moment completely and with all my heart. Accept what is, that is, do not resist, give in, and then, if this does not suit you, actively act to change it.

Many people have the wrong idea about what humility is. They have an idea that humility is to lay down your hands and do nothing, fate can't be helped. This is very far from the truth. Humility is the acceptance of what is, but at the same time active action. When you resist what is in your life, in you, in other people, you only root it. The best way is to accept what is and choose another. For if you are not humble, you resist, you just do not accept the part of you that created what you do not accept.

We don’t like what kind of parents and children we have, friends and colleagues, we don’t like traffic jams and we are nervous, we don’t like our health, we don’t like our life, queues at the store or at banks, we don’t like the weather, but that’s all because we do not accept ourselves and, as a consequence, the world around us. The world is what it is, and how we perceive it is already our business.

Everything that happens in the world is just everything that happens, how we treat it is another matter.

Examples of rejection are complaints, indignation, indignation, discontent. It is simply our response to external stimuli that we do not accept.

EXAMPLE FROM THE LIFE OF A PERSON WHO USES THE PRINCIPLE OF HUMILITY IN LIFE

When a person came home, he didn’t have the keys, and there was no one at home, it turned out that his relatives were in the city center, where it took about 20 minutes to walk, naturally his first reaction would have been indignation and irritation earlier, this time he just went to the center took the keys and came. It's so easy not to waste your energy on nerves, but just act. It's very efficient. If you treat everything in life like this, if you learn to accept everything that happens in life, then you have taken the first step towards mastery, for which you can be congratulated

Be humble. If you learn to accept everything, your life will become joyful, filled with happiness, love. Because by accepting yourself, you can love yourself. And when you love yourself, then everything in your life will improve.

First of all, you need to understand how the ego works, because the ego resists the present moment. It is the ego that cannot be humble simply because in the present moment the ego cannot exist. It is either in the past or in the future. Learn to track the ego in yourself, for this you need to understand its mechanisms.

SO WHAT IS HUMILITY WE UNDERSTAND, NOW HOW TO DEVELOP IT EVERYTHING:

• Learn the mechanisms of the ego and learn to see it in yourself;
• When something doesn't go your way, accept it and take action to resolve it;
• Sometimes all that is needed for the problem to be solved is simply not to attach strong importance and importance to it, that is, not to worry and worry about this, and the problem itself may disappear;
• If some kind of shock has really happened in your life, think about the fact that you live and this is the main thing, and if you live, then it’s not the end, this will help you bring humility into your life, understanding that you are still living.
• Develop an understanding in yourself that the world and people live according to their own laws and under the fantasies, expectations and ideas of your mind, they do not adjust, it is the understanding of this that allows you to be more humble

How often do you encounter problems, troubles? Do you have conflicts with other people in your life?

Surely there are some that last for years. Many methods have already been tried to solve them. But unsuccessfully.

It seems to you that you are in a dead end, in a hopeless situation. It depresses you, but you still continue to fight.

You desperately resist coming to terms with the situation, because there is an opinion that this is a manifestation of weakness, hopelessness.

In this article, you will learn what to do to resolve a problematic situation, and how humility will help you with this.

What is humility

“Humble - who is humble, who lives in humility,
in meek devotion to providence, in the consciousness of one's insignificance.”

Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

What do you know about humility?

This concept carries a religious connotation at the level of mass consciousness and, in the traditional sense, has a shade of weakness:

• Humility is the absence of pride, the willingness to submit to someone else's will.
• Humility is the awareness of one's weaknesses and shortcomings, a feeling of contrition, remorse, modesty.
• Humility is the realization that the goal is unattainable.

Doesn't it all look hopeless?

As the client of the project “Keys of Mastery” said: “Humility is when you agree with all the heap of problems, with all the heavy load and make a promise to yourself to carry it for the rest of your life.”

In fact, those who have lived true humility find a different meaning in this word.

Humility is the end of the struggle, it is relinquishment of responsibility for resolving the situation and trust in higher powers that the situation will be resolved in the best way for everyone.

Simple example:

You sit in a boat and swim against the current. You row and row with oars as long as you have the strength.

There comes a moment when your hands go numb and you drop the oars.

You are carried away by the current, and you realize that you are where you need to be.

What is the value of humility

We are used to resisting humility, but if you look at this term from a different angle, it turns out that there is no need to be afraid of its onset.

In the moment of humility comes relief, liberation.

It allows you to reach a new spiritual level, where you gain the support of higher powers.

Humility is not weakness not the state of the victim.

Humility is freedom from struggle.

How to come to humility
5 stages of living a problem situation

#1 The occurrence of a situation

The first stage is the emergence of an unpleasant situation that caused a violent protest.

• The husband (wife) is jealous, suspects treason. And you have nothing to do with it. Constantly making excuses, proving to him (her) that he (a) is wrong (a).

And he (a) is even more angry, does not believe. You prove, prove, but your arguments for him (her) are unconvincing.

• Mom constantly pushes you, criticizes you, and you try to match her ideals of a good daughter, but to no avail.
• You are trying to protect your interests in the inheritance, but you run into a wall of misunderstanding of relatives.

#2 Trying to solve the problem on your own

This is the phase rampant activity. For people involved in self-development, supported by the belief that I am the Creator, that everything is in my power.

You push through all the doors, try all the different ways that the mind throws up. But the mind comes from life experience, from those scenarios of life that he saw.

At this stage, the spiritual component is absent.

There is only physical 3D actions which are dictated and controlled either by the developed ego or the personality of the person.

You are not looking for new opportunities. At this level, they are inaccessible.

#3 Despair

The moment you realize that no methods work, you fall into deep despair. You believed that you can do it, and the result is a complete zero.

When despair fills you, something inside clicks. And you understand, you just need to accept that it is. Enough! Come what may!

Consider our real life examples:

• You stop proving to your husband (wife) that you are a faithful spouse and allow him (her) to think what he (a) wants.
• Admit your mother is right: “Yes, I am a bad daughter! you don’t have another and you won’t have another!”
• Agree to give your share of the inheritance in favor of relatives.

#4 Humility

“It is impossible to solve a problem at the same level at which it arose.

You need to rise above this problem by rising to the next level.”

Albert Einstein

At the stage of humility, all the driving motives that made you beat on all these doors, they disappeared, they no longer work.

You withdraw from this process your personality, ego. You remove a powerful binding to the result, how you want to see it.

Submit to higher powers for permission the highest good of all participants in the situation. And then everything starts to unfold.

This is how humility works.

Until you have reached this point of despair, you have not reconciled yourself, the situation will not be resolved.

That's when this one comes moment of enlightenment.

The difficulty of humility is that you do not know what the result will be without your participation. Are you ready for an unexpected turn of events?

Let it happen manifestation of strength, wisdom and the onset of the next stage - acceptance.

#5 Acceptance and its difference from humility

When you take the reins from the ego and hand over to the higher forces for resolution, you realize that the situation must be accepted as it is.

First, you learn to accept the fact that you can’t influence the situation in any way, and then comes the moment of acceptance.

Humility differs from acceptance by feeling:

• Humility - sadness: “it didn’t work out, so be it ...”
• Acceptance is peace, the realization that this is how it should be.

That is, humility is not yet satisfaction, but it is no longer suffering either.

Acceptance is more advanced.

If humility comes from hopelessness, then acceptance is a conscious feeling.

Most likely, you will not come to humility by one effort of will, but knowing this algorithm, it will be easier for you to let go of the situation.

Alena Starovoitova about humility

How to resolve the situation with humility

No. 1. Switching attention

It can be of two types:

1. Random switching, with the help of external circumstances

But, as you know, nothing happens by chance.

Your “Higher Self”, seeing that the ego does not let go of the situation, creates such events in life that can switch your attention for a certain time.

During this time, the situation will resolve itself.

This happens if you:

• Can't get over(you will not come to humility consciously), and physical strength is running out. In order not to lose the internal resource at all, your higher aspects take such a step.

For example, a mother cannot put her child to bed for several days. Every day is like torture for both. You can’t let the situation go by itself, because the baby is the most expensive, and the life resource is simply necessary.

• Not mature spiritually to humility, and waste a lot of energy on solving some issue. Switching occurs in order to correct your path.

If in the first case you want to humble yourself, but you cannot, then in the second case, humility can arise only on a subconscious level.

This method is not suitable for protracted conflicts. If you've been battling against closed doors for years, then just shifting your focus won't be enough.

2. Conscious switching of attention

You fail to resolve some issue, you consciously accept the situation for a while and focus on other issues, or switch to something neutral.

During this time, the grip is loosened, and the situation either resolves itself, or an idea comes to you how to solve it.

No. 2. Pyramid of Power and Light

I must say that humility plays an important role in this method.

If you go to the pyramid, leave your problem there, and then continue to think about it, nothing will be solved.

What matters is how much you trust the higher powers in resolving the situation.