Suppose we see a majestic palace and notice a low door to enter into it. Intrigued, we bend ourselves, enter and behold impressive artistry and beauty. But then we find another low door in front of us. Bending low, we enter and behold even greater artistry and beauty. And then we find yet another low door beckoning us.
Similar is the palace of knowledge with its low door of humility. When the Bhagavad-gita lists the virtues that comprise knowledge (13.08-12), it places humility first (13.08), thus suggesting that humility is the entry virtue. To learn anything, we need humility: to acknowledge that we don’t know that thing, to seek a reliable source and to learn from them. And as there is always so much to know, we need to repeat this process regularly: that is, we need to repeatedly walk through the door of humility. .
In fact, we all already follow this process, as when seeking some technical knowhow. But because we often pay for that knowledge, we feel entitled to it and rarely recognize the need for humility. However, money can’t buy us spiritual knowledge, especially knowledge about the meaning and purpose of life. That knowledge requires the price of humility, whereby we re-examine our understanding of life and refine that understanding with time-tested sources of wisdom such as the Gita.
What if our life already has some meaning and purpose? That’s good; still, we can always find greater meaning and purpose. By striving for humility, we can enter deeper into the palace of knowledge, thereby finding greater meaning, purpose and fulfillment. And by cultivating constant humility, we can gain the knowledge that grants the ultimate fulfillment.
One-sentence summary:
Humility is the door we need to step through every time we wish to gain greater knowledge, especially knowledge about our life’s meaning and purpose.
Think it over:
- How is humility the door to the palace of knowledge? How is humility a special door?
- Why do we not realize the need for humility in seeking technical knowledge?
- How can humility lead us to greater fulfillment?
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13.08: Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; … [ – all these I declare to be knowledge].
To know more about this verse, please click on the image
Hare Krishna Prabhu
It is my humble and urgent request that if possible, can you invite Mukunda Goswami (Michael Grant) on your Monks Podcast.
Regards
Keshav
Thanks for this suggestion, Keshav P, as well as your suggestions by email. Yes, I will try; not everyone is comfortable with or available for this format, though.
Interesting. All these days I believed that strong intellect is door to knowledge. I was going through situations and was observing that intellect was not enough to understand myself and challenging situations of life. Was experiencing defeat. This article was very timely. Intellect especially Spiritual intelligence is needed only to steady the mind (Gita 3.43)? To understand self and my relationship with Krishna humility is more crucial than strong intellect? Strong intellect leads us and brings us infront of door of humility?
Grateful for everything and every series you have been sharing prabhu. They shed lot of light on my underlying belief system..🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Thank you for your thoughtful and candid comment.Yes, while intellect shouldn’t be dismissed, it shouldn’t be made the sole criterion.
Yeah. Next articles in this series shed more light and clarified this point in much detail. Thank you for replying.🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Happy to be of service.