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Discipline to Success: The Spiritual Attribute

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

continuation from BLOG posting: spiritual development

Building Your Spiritual Skills

How to Build Humility

Balancing between the forces of self-confidence and humility is a lifelong process. Self-confidence is the mental energy to achieve the things you want. Humility is a companion force that keeps you from destroying the successes you have made.

Let’s delve into suggestions on how to build humility:

Charity:
Increase your time to help others. Become more considerate of people regard less of their race, gender, religion and ethic background.

Recognize Others:
Make it a habit to frequently thank your parents, teachers, peers and bosses for the help and contributions they directly or indirectly made in your behalf. Recognize the achievements of others.

Befriend the “Inferior”:
If you feel superior, befriend a person whom you consider as inferior. For example, if you are rich and proud, befriend the poor. If you are strong and physically in-shape, befriend the weak. If you are handsome and good looking, befriend the ugly.

I like the story relayed in the movie, “Ghandi.” During a scene of violence among Hindus and Muslems, Ghandi goes to Calcutta to fast for the healing of the nation. After fasting for many days, a Hindu man approaches Ghandi to confess his sins. He had killed a Muslem family in retaliation for the death of his little boy.

The man believes that his actions will send his condemned soul to hell. Ghandi replies to the man that there is a way out of hell. He instructs him to go into the streets and look for a little boy like his own who has lost his family because of the violence. The Hindu man was to raise the boy as his own. But, the man was to raise the boy as a Muslem.

Note the richness in this story. A humble person befriends all persons no matter what their religion or culture or economic status. You likewise need to befriend others who are not part of your social mainstream.

Become Teachable:
Play the role of a student when around others. Allow other people the opportunity to express their opinions. Let others teach and help you even if you don’t need their help. Take advice from others and help them feel that their suggestions contributed to your success and growth.

Become Ugly:
Boastful people think that they are beautiful. They will spend their time and money to look attractive and prestigious. They will wear fancy clothes and costly jewelry and spend hours in front of the mirror making themselves gorgeous.

Take a day or two each week and become “ugly.” Don’t wear costly apparel or jewelry. Try not to talk about yourself and your accomplishments. Act and appear as though there was nobody to impress.

Many will argue that “humility” is a sign of weakness, especially when you consider the suggestive traits mentioned above. But consider this, is success achieved when one cheats, defames, and personally destroys another person? Or is success achieved when one displines themselves to achieve greatness while helping others?

Next week, we will discuss the spiritual trait “diligence”.

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Tags: Achieving Success, building success, success building, success building goals, success building tips

BLOG postings: (link to Achieving Success BLOG for all posts and PDF downloads)

Discipline to Success: The Spiritual Attribute

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

continuation from BLOG posting: spiritual development

Building Your Spiritual Skills

Building Humility

You will notice a remarkable change as you work through the concepts in this book. You will notice that you are physically stronger, in control of your physical appetites, more inclined to increase knowledge, more apt to be socially balanced and more respective of your moral conduct. You will feel good about yourself and your abilities to achieve. Your self-confidence and self-esteem will increase.

Increased self-confidence and self-esteem are important qualities for success. People who are self-confident can face different challenges and overcome obstacles that can hinder success. But like everything else in life, there is opposition in all things. An ugly by-product of self-confidence is arrogance. While self-confidence can strengthen your character development, arrogance and pride can equally destroy it.

People who are proud and boastful are not brotherly kind and charitable. They look down on people who are different and inferior. They surround themselves with “beautiful people” who are rich, good-looking and popular. When boastful people donate to a charity, they generally give because they expect something in return. They want their names published and their donations recognized.

People who are proud and boastful are not necessarily social. They consider themselves better than most people. They are attracted to money, prestige and power. Anything less is viewed as inferior and not worth their time and effort.

People who are proud and boastful are not educationally inclined. They may be smart and academically advanced, but they generally refuse to listen to ideas or suggestions from people they consider lower than themselves. They view themselves as the teacher, never the student of someone who has less credentials.

Humility is a spiritual quality that tempers the power of prestige. A humble person doesn’t seek the glory of mankind but seeks the growth and development of others. A humble person accepts everyone and works to elevate people no matter what their circumstances or backgrounds.

Humility is the modest sense of one self. Much of what we accomplish in life can be contributed back to the help and service of others. We need to recognize the contributions of others. We return payment for their contributions to our success by contributing to the success of others.

Having a modest sense of yourself means that we try not to place ourselves above other people. Modest people don’t flaunt or announce their good looks, intelligence, wealth and power. They are not proud or haughty; neither are they arrogant and assertive. They think the best of everyone and try not to make wrongful prejudgments on another person’s character.

Balancing between the forces of self-confidence and humility is a lifelong process. Self-confidence is the mental energy to achieve the things you want. Humility is a companion force that keeps you from destroying the successes you have made.

Next week, we will delve into suggestions on how to build humility.

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Read more about achieving success and become something grand: subscribe to our RSS feed

Tags: Achieving Success, building succes, success building goals, success building tips

BLOG postings: (link to Achieving Success BLOG for all posts and PDF downloads)

Discipline to Success: The Spiritual Attribute

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

continuation from BLOG posting: spiritual development

Building Your Spiritual Skills

Having Brotherly Love and Charity

Whether you belong to the Christian faith or not, you probably can relate to Jesus Christ’s teaching of the ‘Good Samaritan.’ I will paraphrase this story because of its perfect example of brotherly love and charity.

The road between Jerusalem and Jericho at the time of Christ was infested with thieves. Travelers during this time would travel in groups and caravans for protection. It was common to bypass the main road and travel a more distant journey to avoid the dangers.

A Jew, who was traveling along this road, has fallen among thieves. A Samaritan, traveling along the same road, stopped to help. Jews and Samaritans had unfriendly relations in their day, existing as separate peoples in the same land — much like the segregated cultures earlier in our nation’s history.

Our story begins from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10, the King James version of the Bible. A lawyer, standing among the people whom Jesus was teaching, asked: “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus returned a question: “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” The lawyer replied: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” The answer was approved by Jesus. The Master said: “This do, and thou shalt live.” “And who is my neighbor?” retorted the lawyer.

“Who is my neighbor?” What a simple question. Christ’s answer serves as one of the life’s greatest teachings: The Parable of the Good Samaritan.

“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.”

Then of the lawyer Jesus asked: “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was the neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him, Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (1)

(1) (The Gospel of St. Luke: Chapter 10, versus 30-37; KJV)

Can you imagine living in a world socially ruled by good Samaritans? There would be no murder, envy, greed, class struggles, deprivations, jealousies, hatred and lying. Of course, we can’t expect a world ruled by good Samaritans. But we can change your individual world by developing Samaritan traits that will help advance our goals and aspirations. Imagine the kind of friendship, support and trust you would have in your work place, school, community and family if you became a “Good Samaritan”.

Being the “Good Samaritan” requires more than just donating your time and money. Although your time is greatly appreciated, and your donation certainly helps any worthwhile cause, any person with time and money can donate the same. Charity is something more. Charity is the extension of your heart and love when you give your time, talents and resources to those in need of friendship, guidance and physical help.

Charity benefits those who receive and not necessarily those who give. A “Good Samaritan” comes secretly in the night offering their service and resources without acknowledgment. Charitable people give, serve and donate for one purpose only: to help those in need. They expect nothing in return — no publicity, no tax write-off, no praise for their service and certainly no notoriety of any kind. They come secretly to give and then leave secretly as they came.

I use ‘coming secretly in the night’ analogy to illustrate that charity is a change of heart. You give because of your love for others, not because you expect payment or recognition for your services. Of course, some charitable acts are rightfully noticed. Sometimes recognition for your good deeds cannot be prevented. But the “Good Samaritan” gives because of their love for others rather than to give because of an expected gain.

So how do we develop charitable traits?

1) Maintain a Benevolent Good Will and Love of Mankind

A person who would steal, cheat, belittle, inflict physical or mental harm or insult another person collectively or individually is not a person with benevolent good will. Benevolent good will characterizes someone who is friendly, respectful, positive and willing to lend a hand. A “goodly person” seeks the best in everyone and builds another person’s character rather than destroying it.

Benevolent people respect nature and the environment. They would never inflict senseless harm on animals. They protect the environment and promote its cleanliness.

Benevolent people would not steal or defraud a company. Cheating on your taxes or stealing supplies from your work or school are not characteristics of benevolent people.

2) Be Considerate and Helpful

Charity means being considerate and helpful by giving your service to all regardless of race, color, ethnic background and religion. Remember that it was the despised Samaritan who offered assistance to the Jew.

Often we become so involved in our daily routines that we pass unexpectedly by people who cry for help. I recall a story related by a man who said that while waiting in line to process his ticket for a flight to Chicago, a woman with a small infant in her arms approached the back of the line with several bags. She was alone with no one to assist her. The infant was crying. People in the line appeared irritated by the increasing cries as they crept impatiently to the front counter.

As the cries intensified, a businessman removed himself from the front of the line and went back to assist the mother. He offered to stand in her place while she tended to the infant. The businessman continued to hold her place in line, processed her ticket, tagged and loaded her baggage and then assisted her to the boarding area. He then excused himself graciously and slid quietly into the busy crowds. He demanded no payment for his services. The person relating this story noted the gentleman’s charitable acts from a respected distance and was ashamed because of his own inconsiderate heart.

There are many people like this mother who need our support and help, sometimes at the most inconvenient place or when we are rushing to a scheduled appointment. When we speak of the needy, we often think of the poor, the hungry and the lost. These unfortunate people respectively need our help whenever possible. But the needy also include many other people who for some reason need a lending hand and supportive voice. The needy include the person who doesn’t have any friends. It includes the widow who lives down the street. It includes the mother with a crying infant, the family stranded on the side of the road with an inoperable vehicle, the young lady who dropped her bags. A charitable person seeks out the needy and offers their friendship, guidance, counseling and resources, as necessary.

3) Having a Generous Heart

Having a generous heart is different than being considerate and helpful. Being helpful and considerate means that we offer immediate assistance to those who need our help. Having a generous heart means that we devote our time and resources to help those who are disadvantaged.

A generous person donates time and resources to help those in need. If you are unable to financially donate money, you can give an hour each week to projects or programs that help less fortunate people. An hour of your time is just as valuable as a donation. Contributing your time can be more meaningful as you witness personally the joy that comes from people who lack hope and sense of direction.

Next week: we will continue our discussion on the spiritual attribute: having humility.

As we go through our spiritural character discussion, continue working on your character development goals for physical, physical temperance, education and social.

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Tags: Achieving Success, building success, charitable heart, charity, having charity, spiritual development, success