Saturday, May 19, 2007

Humility

I'll attempt in this post to clarify what I mean when trying to cultivate humility. Let's employ Einstein for this purpose:

I have never imputed to Nature a purpose or a goal, or anything that could be
understood as anthropomorphic. What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure
that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking
person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that
has nothing to do with mysticism.


This is a scientific approach to humility but one that can easily be translated to human relationships. Our reservation in judging others and restraining ego is driven by the fact that we "can comprehend only very imperfectly" how our experiences and conditions relates to others.

Another question that arises in my acceptance of Einstein's observations is how it conflicts with my frequent references to Jesus as a moral guide. Didn't Jesus have everything to do with mysticism? Probably but Jesus experiences, regardless of religion or a belief in God, contain a clear message. To believe in his teachings Jesus doesn't need to be real or the son of God. Just like Humpty Dumpty doesn't have to be real to believe eggs shouldn't sit on walls.

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