Inner truth: Looking at Life

Why should there be humility in life? It is out of ego that we are successful aren’t we? Isn’t humility an obstruction to success?

This is an ordinary way of looking at life. It is not the ego that takes you to your goal but it is your commitment. A commitment born out of understanding will enable you to reach your goal. Ego only creates pressures. Ego creates stress. Ego is an arrogant ‘I.’ It is an ‘I’ that has no sacred understanding. When there is humility, one still has ‘I,’ but the ‘I’ has understanding, a deep understanding that the ingredients of success are not only variables of one’s effort, but also of a variable called grace. When there is humility, one understands that one of the variables is effort, but there are several invisible forces that help one. One develops gratitude towards those invisible forces. Through gratitude, humility emerges. In humility, ‘I’ does not demand instead ‘I’ expresses thankfulness.

What creates tensions in life is ‘I’ in the form of ego that is always demanding. Such demanding nature of the ego creates tension... and tension does not allow one to even enjoy success. An egotistic person even if successful, cannot enjoy his success. It is similar to a person having a toothache and not relishing a good dinner. An egotistic person does not enjoy his success totally as his ego develops loads of arrogance. But when a humble person tastes success, he would be grateful. When he is grateful, he wholly enjoys his success. In a thankful space, one would be bestowed with an ability to enjoy the miracle of one’s success. And such a person will include in his perception all those invariable forces that contribute to his success.

Swami Sukhabodhananda is the founder chairman of Prasanna Trust and an author whose books have sold over a million copies. www.prasannatrust.org.

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