Be Humble to be Happy
The truly humble are truly happy. What we need to be truly happy, is not a change in outer circumstances, but deliverance from slavery to the self, the petty ego
The mark of true devotion bhakti is utter humility. Whenever and wherever a bhakta calls out to the Lord from the depth of his heart, with an intense yearning, the Lord responds without delay. He appears before the devotee, fulfilling her/his wishes.
Let me quote to you those beautiful lines which I heard an angel whisper in my heart:
Mitha bolan, niv chalan
Hathu bhe kuchch de,
Rab tins de pass,
Vo jin kiyun dhondhe.
In translation, this beautiful verse means:
Speak gently,
Walk humbly,
Give something in charity.
Then you need not to the forest go,
For the Lord is with you already!
If you do these things dutifully, then there is no need for you to go to a forest and meditate. There is no need for you to go in quest of God. For God, the Source of all Joy and Happiness will come in quest of you and meet you.
A veritable roadmap for the Life Beautiful is given in those three injunctions:
- Speak sweetly
- Walk humbly and
- Give some thing in charity with your own hands.
When I put this across to one of my friends, he said to me, a little apologetically, “With all due respect to you Dada, if we walk humbly and talk gently in that big bad world out there, people will walk all over us! I am afraid, that in today’s harsh environment, humility and gentleness are apt to be taken as signs of weakness, rather than goodness!”
I said to him, “I beg to differ with that view. On the contrary, I feel very strongly that there is an indefinable sense of dignity about every truly humble person.”
The great saint, Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa, used to tell his disciples, to deliberate on the mantra: Na Hum! Na Hum! Tu Ho! Tu Ho! I am nothing Thou art all! Thou art the creator of this Universe. Me? I am nothing. When you realise your insignificance, you will automatically become humble.
Guru Arjun Dev, in Sri Sukhmani Sahib, says, ‘The true Brahma gnani is one who lives in humility.’ A true Brahma gnani is pure as a lily and humble as ashes and dust. He immerses himself in austerity and lives a life of simplicity.
It is said of Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian writer, that when he realised the truth of his being, he renounced his vast material wealth, high social status and power. He went and lived among the poor peasants of Russia.
Think of Sri Krishna, the Lord of the universe. He humbled himself to become the charioteer of his dear, devoted disciple, Arjuna. Maha Vishnu became Partha Sarathi to demonstrate to us his saushilya the quality of gentle, loving kindness that we must all emulate.
Mahatma Gandhi’s poverty and austere life style is a legend of our times. Clad in his loincloth and angavastra, he conquered a million hearts, as well as the might of the British Empire.
If you wish to be great and noble like these illustrious personalities, then you should be humble.
The truly humble are the truly happy. What we need to be truly happy, is not a change in outer circumstances but deliverance from slavery to the self, the petty ego. This petty ego sits as a tyrant on some of us, robbing us of the bliss i.e. our heritage as children of God. For God built this world in beauty, and we were meant to live our lives in the fullness of freedom and joy. Man was meant to live like a song bird, unfettered, free. Alas, man finds himself cribbed, cabined and confined. He has become like a bird in a cage he is trapped in the cage of self-centeredness!
Not until self-centredness goes may man become truly happy and free: and the prison of self-centredness opens with the key of humility. Especially important for the seeker on the path is humility: for it sets free the swan bird of the soul, and the soul can soar into radiance and joy!