Chapter 18
Humility and Self-Denial Humility AN ATTITUDE OF HUMILITY IS ESSENTIAL ON THE PATH to God. Any self-conceit, whether nurtured by superior intelligence, wealth, high status, or the praise of others, is an obstacle blocking our way. Genuine humility requires a constant willingness to deny oneself, to be critical of oneself, to endure hardship without complaint, and to be open to Heaven’s guidance even when it differs from one’s preconceived concepts. Humility requires sincerity and honesty; thus some passages liken the humble person to a little child, whose natural spontaneity and acceptance of life is the antithesis of the often-complicated personality of the adult with its many masks, hidden resentments, and prejudices. Other scriptures teach us to cultivate humility by meditating on the insignificance and transience of the human being, who is nothing but a puff of wind, a bag of excrement, food for worms. Here, too, is the paradoxical wisdom that the humble and self-effacing person ultimately prospers and wins more respect from others than the person who is arrogant and powerful. We have the example of Jesus, who took the path of humility to triumph over the Devil’s most deadly attack. Father Moon explains this in terms of the principle that humility, being in accord with the original way of life in Eden, aligns us with God and His creative power, while arrogance places us in Satan’s camp—ultimately a losing cause. In another passage, he alludes to the natural cycle of rise and fall, where arrogance places us at the peak of the cycle where the only way forward is to decline, while humility places us at the bottom where all roads lead upward.
1. Blessed Are the Meek Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5.5
Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers, and who shun vain conversation, and who are payers of the poor-due, and who guard their modesty. Qur’an 23.1-5
Turn not your cheek in scorn toward folk, nor walk with pertness in the land. Lo! God loves not each braggart boaster. Be modest in your bearing and subdue your voice. Lo, the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass. Qur’an 31.18-19
This is the man to whom I will look: he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. Isaiah 66.2
If you desire to obtain help, put away pride. Even a hair of pride shuts you off, as if by a great cloud. Oracle of Kasuga (Shinto)
Now, in exile, the Holy Spirit comes upon us more easily than at the time the Temple was still standing. A king was driven from his realm
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