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sense of discretion. He will hurt others and also hurt himself in the process If we closely observe, we can easily identify people around us whom we can characterize as being arrogant - friends, relatives, political, religious, community leaders etc. It appears that the vice is inherent in humans and has been prevailing through the time immemorial.
Humility has been identified as a very effective antidote for arrogance by the spiritual teachers all over the world and have recommended that parents become proactive during the formative years in inculcating the importance of humility through practice as well precept. This is an excellent way to nip arrogance in the bud. However, nowadays with so much focus on individualism, the modern trend is to move away from modesty and humility. The modern society as it boosts confidence in self, ends up boosting ego and false pride leading to arrogance. Early on, a more and more competitive spirit is instilled in the child in sports and school achievement. Parents set bad examples by bragging about child's achievements which forms basis for manifestation of arrogance. As we promote slogans such as "winning is the only thing that matters" or "win at any cost" or "achieving by hook or crook," it not only increases the competitive spirits but also induces false pride, ego, dishonesty and most certainly arrogance in our youth. Consequently, arrogance gets ingrained in our character and manifests at different levels later in life.
Humility has been
identified
as a very effective antidote for
arrogance by the spiritual teachers all over the world
and have recommended that parents become proactive during the formative years in
inculcating the importance of
humility through practice as well precept.
How do we change ourselves? Is there any way to transform our arrogance into humility? A spiritual guide or a therapist can possibly steer us in the right direction, help us see the truth and more importantly our faults and put us on the right path. But ultimately it is we who have to follow the guidance and put it in practice. Just like a doctor can diagnose our problem, prescribe us the right medicine but cannot take it for us, a spiritual mentor or a therapist can diagnose our problem and show us corrective solution but cannot do it for us. Our desire for corrective action must spring forth from within.
The following practical steps can help us in recognizing our problem and rectifying our behavior:
Acknowledge the problem - The first step is the recognition and acceptance of the problem. Unless one accepts that there is a problem and is willing to do something about it, nothing can happen. If a sick person refuses to accept the fact that there is something wrong, he or she will not seek medical help.
Do a reality check - One way we can deflate our ego is to see that there is always someone who is better than us no matter how inflated we feel about our wealth, power, knowledge, talent, appearance etc. We need to realize that the objects of our arrogance and good fortune could all disappear over night because every thing in life is transient and cyclic.
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