DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

By Nhat Quan

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Before learning more about the practice of humble conduct, you should try to understand the word haughty.

Pride is giving yourself above everyone else, so you look down on others openly. According to Buddhism, pride is one of the ten basic afflictions, specifically called pride. The meaning of the letters Proud. As text:

- Proud: Being a little better than others, thinking you are much better than others.

- Egotism: Being good at self-reliance and overpowering people.

- Atimana: Being equal to someone, that you consider yourself to be better than someone else. People are better than you, which is considered equal or lose to you.

- Manatimana: Being a person more than you but giving you more than a person.

- Abhimana: It is not yet achieved but for oneself has achieved.

- Miccha-jiva : Is a bit of outstanding talent but despises people

The opposite of arrogance is humility:

Humility is one of the human virtues. Because humility is courtesy, reverence, knowing how to live humbly, always looking up, and closing oneself in the standards of life. People who are humble, always ask for understanding, personal ambition is to go on forever, the purpose is not to brag, not to promote themselves to others. Especially:

- Always have a sense and proper attitude in self-assessment, not complacent, or arrogant.

- Always be respectful, and respect each other, so that you can learn from others.

Simplicity and humility are courtesy, knowing how to live humbly, always looking up, and placing oneself within the established standards. Humble people always raise their minds to learn, the great ambition of the individual is to go on forever, the purpose is not to brag, not to promote yourself to others.

Thus, the word humility has many definitions as well as interpretations of the phrase humility, but in general, the word humility is:

- Know how to respect above and below, not be complacent about what you have, not arrogant about what you do, and always carefully preserve the values you receive.

Because knowing that what we have done is only a small part of perfecting the character of a person who is educated in his dealings with people around him so well, and in the end, direction to enlightenment.

People who are humble and practice humble conduct always show:

- The highest expression of humility is gratitude

- People who are inherently humble often consider themselves to be inferior, still have to go further, and need to improve and learn more.

- People who have the humility to never accept their own success in the current situation, always consider their success to be insignificant and always look for all ways to improve their performance and learn more.

  - Humble people never show complacency about what you have, you know, so it's easy to create empathy and friendly relationships with others in communication, so you can make friends with many people.

  - Humble people do not appreciate you and lower others, do not compare, so you yourself are always peaceful and happy.

  - Humble people show high self-control, conquering your ego.

Why do you need to be humble?

You need to have humility, because:

- Humility to eliminate bad qualities such as belittling, slandering, and demeaning others.

- Humility to learn, access to the true door of understanding.

- Humility to eliminate ego, see your true worth.

- Humility helps you to see yourself correctly, and to be aware that no one is perfect, so you don't have illusions and don't get caught up in personal ambitions.

- Humility is the best way to avoid pride and complacency.

You practice humility, because, although an individual's talent is important, really for everyone, that talent is just a small drop of water in the middle of an endless ocean. Your understanding cannot be compared with everyone else living with you, so no matter how talented you are, you will always have to learn more and learn more forever.

As a human being, when you have created yourself a sublime talent, admired them, an illustrious position, a resounding reputation, and created for you a prosperous life, everyone is happy. But, for the individual person is like that, can you dare to say that those talents, those experiences, that wisdom can you have enough confidence that with what you have accomplished? No one in the world has one?

No of course. Indeed, no matter how talented a human being, that talent, the wisdom that exists still never asserts that only you are the best, no one else is better. Those who still believe that are wrong, do not know the art of dealing.

An individual's talents are natural, but their absolute talent for everyone is another matter, your person is just better than that. There are people who are smaller than you, inferior to you, but compared to everyone, it is unbelievable. Because:

- If you are a talented person, I believe there are tens of thousands of people in society than you.

- If you are a talented artist, there are hundreds of times more talented people in society than you.

- If you are a millionaire, there are many rich and rich billionaires in society, thousands of times more wealthy than you, etc.

Your strength lies in your awareness of the truth. And humility will help you to see yourself more clearly and truly.

Being humble means learning how to let go of pride. Because humility is the most basic human virtue. Humans are the heroes of all things, with high intelligence, but whether you are extremely lucky or you are an ordinary person, you are actually very small in this universe.

Socrates was a famous philosopher of ancient Greece. He not only showed the world his talent and wisdom with famous works but also expanded the enrollment of students, encouraging those with less education. He used his famous art of dialogue, leading the intellectual development of young people. Whenever people praised him for his erudition and wisdom, Socrates always humbly said:

- I only know one thing, I don't know anything.

Newton is widely hailed as the father of mechanics who invented the law of universal gravitation. He also defined the laws of thermodynamics. It can be said that Newton is one of the great men in the history of science, however, he is also a humble man. When Newton was about to die, friends and relatives visited and praised him:

- He is the great man of our time...

When he heard the two great words, Newton shook his head and said:

- Don't say that, I don't know how people look at me, I see myself as just a child playing on the beach, sometimes I find a smooth pebble, a beautiful seashell, while before me there was a vast ocean full of undiscovered secrets.

A teacher, our Buddha Shakyamuni is an enlightened person who understands all the reasons of the universe, everything, yet he also said:

- In the 49 years of being called a missionary, I have not said a word.

 The above examples make it easy to see that humility is an excellent and indispensable quality on the path to the success of great people. At the same time, it is a solid foundation to help you stabilize your work, and help you create good communication relationships. However, in today's society, there are also some people who always consider themselves talented, and ambitious, and like to express themselves for fear that no one will know they are good. Moreover, they also prove that they are not like ordinary people, hoping to gain the honor of others.

As a disciple of Buddha, studying and following the Buddha's teachings, you need to be humble, not arrogant and complacent, should not consider yourself superior to others, and should not always want to be the center of everyone's look. Only those who are humble and cautious can see the excellence and forte of others, so they will receive the love and respect of everyone and have good communication relationships.

Humility is not a renunciation of your own dignity, but an expression of your upright and respectful trust in others. Humility is a compromise between success and failure, being wary of past failures, especially remembering present successes. You can't let failure control you, in this situation, being humble has a balancing effect, not letting you exalt or belittle yourself, don't consider yourself better than others, or looking down on others.

Intelligence and understanding always go hand in hand with humility. A man of true understanding will be as deep as the ocean. The more knowledgeable people are, the more they realize what they know is too little.

No matter what industry you work in, or what position you hold, only careful humility can maintain the spirit of constant progress, helping you to improve your knowledge and abilities even more. Maintaining a humble, careful quality can help you see your own weaknesses. Humility also goes hand in hand with not being complacent, constantly growing, listening quietly to the opinions and criticisms of others, and being careful when working. Arrogant people are complacent, always satisfied with the present without continuing to try, and subjectively authoritarian, if it is light, they will have problems at work, if it is heavy, they can lose their whole career.

Meanwhile, those who practice humble conduct can self-examine. Only when you know how to examine yourself can you constantly correct your mistakes, and improve what you are not good at. Humble people do not feel self-deprecating and always show appropriate humility in front of others.

So how to practice humble conduct?

A person with great intentions is like a tree with roots that can live and flourish. People who want to have great intentions must always be humble, even if they encounter small things like dust, you will help create favorable conditions for others. If you can do that, even heaven and earth will be touched by your work. The creation of happiness lies in oneself, which means having a true heart. Therefore, according to the guidance of the Venerable Ones, if you want to practice humble conduct, you can first start with the smallest things such as listening, always keeping a smile on the people around you, and always practicing the right things. virtues:

1- Tolerance

If you want to practice humble conduct, you must first be tolerant. According to Lao Tzu:

- Rivers and seas are vast and deep because they are at the lowest position to receive water from the smallest streams.

And Confucius also said:

- If you are tolerant, the charity will win people's sympathy.

So let you always be able to tolerate everything, tolerate others. Knowing how to tolerate will become a great person.

2- Grateful

Be grateful for what you have, and always tell yourself:

- The most basic things you have are not your own, such as You have a good brain, a beautiful body, a good voice... not by you, but that you are lucky, or thanks to the good karma that has been cultivated. So instead of being arrogant, be grateful with respect, and try harder.

You should always acknowledge what helps you to do well and makes you feel grateful to others. Also, acknowledge the abilities of others and try to compliment them. Gratitude is also about recognizing your own shortcomings, not finding someone else's fault and honestly seeing the right sides of you.

3- Do not compare

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. So don't compare yourself to others and try to do something better than them. Comparison only makes you expand your own weakness. Try to help others, which makes you feel good and humble towards others. Avoid talking too much about your own good deeds, instead, let people know that you are doing good things for them.

4- Listen

Open your mind and listen to the opinions of others. Make yourself brave and don't change your mind out of fear, or out of emotion. Listen with confidence, sometimes you may not be knowledgeable, you don't know everything, and you don't recognize yourself, but just listen.

Looking at the big picture, you are just a tiny dot. Compared to a history of millions of years, your life is only about sixty to one hundred years old. Compared to the current nine billion people on earth, compared to the entire human race from ancient to ancient times, your life is less than a dot. So always think bigger and deeper, listen, and understand with respect to see that you are still small and need to try harder!

5- Find the good

If anyone has some experience that you don't, it's your teacher in that field. Albert Einstein, considered one of the men of extraordinary intelligence, said:

- I have never met a person so stupid that I did not learn anything from him.

6- Sincere compliments

Sincere compliments are an expression of your gratitude and humility. The more you recognize the abilities of others, the less you fall into the trap of pride in your words. Sincere praise is an expression of your ego that is gone or greatly reduced. In addition, sincere praise helps you to improve your self-worth or that of the person being praised.

7- Get your own flaws

When listening to suggestions, advice, reactions from others, from the environment, and expressions. From there, you will find your flaws, and realize that you are not perfect, there are still many shortcomings, and weaknesses in both physical, mental, and cognitive. Acknowledge that fact, and humbly accept the help of others with reverence and sincere thanks.

8- Help others

Once you humbly accept the help of others with reverence and gratitude, you also give your sincere help to others.

- Do to others what you would like others to do to you.

Once you have practiced humble conduct there is no more attitude or thought that compares you to others so the concept of pride is gone. Then you have the right to be confident in what you do, boldly declare in the crowd, it's not arrogance as some people think, it's confidence in your abilities, you completely have confidence. And when you say it, it means that you are brave enough to take responsibility for your words. Especially for educated people. On the contrary, those who show humility, and self-deprecation, do not dare to speak, are not necessarily humble, but are likely to fall into two states. Either you're weak or you're afraid of losing your rights, so you don't dare to express your opinion.

On the contrary, humility is listening and being willing to correct or respect, but not meekness, rather it is the recognition of your true worth. You know yourself well, so you no longer compare yourself to anyone, you have the courage to speak up for what you do, and you are ready to take responsibility for it. You are no longer bowing to anyone but are willing to learn in every situation. Because You know yourself well, you also know people, you judge them based on competence and facts, not on humble words.

What kind of person you are, you see like that, because actually in the human condition, what this person considers a weakness, can become an advantage for others. Someone's quietness can be a disadvantage in some situations, but it can also be a strength for that person in others. A person's fame can also be a good thing in one situation, but it can also hinder him in other circumstances.

Understanding that you will see that the true nature of man is more precious than the passing values of the outside. Therefore, practicing humility properly will help you to come to that truth. Humility will bear the fruit of peace, freedom in the present life, and enlightenment and liberation in the future.

Indeed, humility is a good quality that should be possessed by every Buddhist. Each of you today, with talented people, should know how to build and cultivate this humility. Because when you practice like that, you will be popular with the people around you, and receive back what you learn from them, and their loving respect for you.

In short, humility is not so much humility and weakness, but a noble virtue, capable of doing it all. This quality needs to be nurtured and practiced over time. It is extremely precious, for it is the source of joy in the present life and the benediction of liberation in the future.

Because humility is quiet, but indomitable resilience, helping people in today's society not feel tired of past failures, nor arrogant because of current successes. Humility is also a weapon to control your emotions and feelings to help you maintain your stability. People who practice humility are usually relaxed and often smile, keep youthful and cheerful, and are always welcomed by everyone.

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