Humbled
This crystalline morning has me thinking about humbleness. I spent almost 3 weeks this past month in New York City, zinging in the fast pace and fierceness that is this concrete energy-roaring megalopolis. While I was in New York I spent a lot of time with people - lots and lots of people, of all ages, cultures, sizes, shapes, moods, and energies, a perfect setting to practice being humble. During a meditation once (to be specific, it was my 3rd very-visual meditation of my life, once I began meditating Luci-style), I was told:
Be humble before all people.
That seemed genius. And easy! Except when I remembered the times where I was being "humble", I would give myself up for everyone else, sacrifice my personal light (pleasure, desires) to carry out the pleasures of others, and become very tired and sometimes sick. Being humble before all people was harder than it seemed. In the same meditation I was told:
Humbleness is NOT unworthiness.
Nor is it inferiority, nor self-sacrifice. What?! I thought it was humble to feel completely worthless and miniscule. I realized I did not know the correct definition of humbleness. I asked, still in the meditation, the meaning of humbleness.
Humbleness is awe and honor.
Awe and Honor. I feel these feelings when I see a breathtaking sunrise, witness a newborn yawn, catch an owl in flight, meet a great teacher, reflect on life with my 90 year old grandmother... Awe and honor are easy and very pleasurable feelings for me, and I feel them instantly when I'm in a state of gratitude, forgiveness (pre-give-ness), and happiness. What if I beam awe and honor to everyone I meet? "Be humble before all people" translates to, "meet all people with awe and honor". This I can do. And what a humbling experience it is!
This sunshine in the photo above fills me with awe and honor. And how does the iPhone make a Dragonfly-of-Fire out of the sun? Or is it an angel?
Love and light angels all over you as you bow in awe and honor to all the people, places, and things that humble you.
Lucinda