What has been your most humbling experience?

[BaguaKicksAss]

I mean in a good way, that helped you to get past the negative ego and etc. I don't mean the more negative ones that left scars, unless of course you found these to be awesome learning experiences...

 

I'll add mine later, have some Bagua to go teach someone with 5 X the experience I do...

[Sloppy Zhang]

A former boxer joined my karate school.

 

And beat the shit out of me.

[GreytoWhite]

A minor heart attack and multiple small strokes within a year's time. I lost five foreign languages, the left side of my body, some days the right. I lost the ability to use my hands. I lost the ability to make it to the bathroom in time. I lost the ability to get it up. I lost the ability to walk. I lost the ability to stand for more than 2 minutes at a time. I lost the ability to drink like a fish. There are still scars which I work on daily, all beneath the skin and in my mind.

 

It taught me to cherish my physical ability, not to hold such stock in my own acquired knowledge, to appreciate those around me for people suffering, it enabled me to finally feel compassion and empathy. Were it not for such a trying experience I would have continued on as the pedantic, manipulative asshole that I was, holding myself above everyone all the while anxious that I was unworthy.

[C T]

A minor heart attack and multiple small strokes within a year's time. I lost five foreign languages, the left side of my body, some days the right. I lost the ability to use my hands. I lost the ability to make it to the bathroom in time. I lost the ability to get it up. I lost the ability to walk. I lost the ability to stand for more than 2 minutes at a time. I lost the ability to drink like a fish. There are still scars which I work on daily, all beneath the skin and in my mind.

 

It taught me to cherish my physical ability, not to hold such stock in my own acquired knowledge, to appreciate those around me for people suffering, it enabled me to finally feel compassion and empathy. Were it not for such a trying experience I would have continued on as the pedantic, manipulative asshole that I was, holding myself above everyone all the while anxious that I was unworthy.

thank you for the lesson. deeply appreciated. _/\_

[Marblehead]

Be assured that I have had many. I have forgotten them all. Amongst the lessons learned I think that learning to accept failure (my own shortcomings) is an important one.

[Dainin]

Basic training, U.S. Army

[Aeran]

Meeting people the same age as me who not only completely outstripped me in terms of knowledge and development, but who outstrip people twice my age whom I considered 'authorities.' Made me realize not only how much work I had to go, but also how much could be achieved if I put my mind to it.

[Marblehead]

Basic training, U.S. Army

Yeah. That's one of the many that I had forgetten. Hehehe.

[Cheshire Cat]

Looking at the sky...

[Brian]

Becoming a father. (Not the biological act of birth but personally accepting the duties and responsibilities which come with the role, an acceptance that (for me) came AFTER the birth.)

 

I am also deeply humbled by MithShrike's post, above. _/|\_

[C T]

Becoming a father.

Yup, that came to mind yesterday. Standing there and seeing my boy coming into this world would count as one of the most humbling experience ever. Awesome to be frozen for a while in wonderment. Really awesome.

[soaring crane]

Huh, I was going to say Basic Training, US Army (Ft. Leonardwood, 1982) and becoming a father. I'll have to dig deeper and find something more original haha.

 

 

@mith - are those physical limitations still with you? Thank you for sharing that.

[BaguaKicksAss]

A minor heart attack and multiple small strokes within a year's time. I lost five foreign languages, the left side of my body, some days the right. I lost the ability to use my hands. I lost the ability to make it to the bathroom in time. I lost the ability to get it up. I lost the ability to walk. I lost the ability to stand for more than 2 minutes at a time. I lost the ability to drink like a fish. There are still scars which I work on daily, all beneath the skin and in my mind.

 

It taught me to cherish my physical ability, not to hold such stock in my own acquired knowledge, to appreciate those around me for people suffering, it enabled me to finally feel compassion and empathy. Were it not for such a trying experience I would have continued on as the pedantic, manipulative asshole that I was, holding myself above everyone all the while anxious that I was unworthy.

 

Wow, that is awesome that you have turned such things from hardship/nearlyimpossibleship into a blessing and strength! :)

 

An interesting thing that Dr. Johnson (and my Sifu) have mentioned over and over... they have helped many people heal from cancer and other horrible diseases, and most of them (if not all, I don't quite recall now) have told them that they are thankful for their disease (that they had now overcome)! Due to it bringing growth and change.

 

Such things really do help us appreciate life all that much more, and work with it more.

 

I have also noticed over and over that the strongest practitioners are the ones who have gone through something horrible previously. I'm still not entirely sure how this works, but I'll just guess that you have a good and strong connection with your path .

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

[Friend]

I have trouble with my father one metaphysical side.

From my seeing I was less impressed as he has less than others.

I had then get a cleansing bath for him as he like to be lucky.

I have seen the light expands around him and I was in awe someone hidden

behind all this.

 

This light emission is for normal people when I see around handwide

but it expands several meters.

I thought "Man, one can not judge a book from its covers, but to confuse the the cover with

the dust that covers the cover is a bit embrassing."

Some people choose to be normal person despite their talent.

[Aetherous]

Huh, I was going to say Basic Training, US Army (Ft. Leonardwood, 1982)

 

Cool. Ft. Lostinthewoods, Misery, 2005 here.

 

My most humbling experience has left scars, and continues to humble me. The details aren't even good to discuss. Life gets hard guys, but all it means is that you've leveled up and you can handle it. Look at how much you change after these things.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Aetherous

[GreytoWhite]

@mith - are those physical limitations still with you? Thank you for sharing that.

 

Other than massive amounts of fascial scar tissue all over my body the only things that really bug me daily are the scoliosis and my neck. I can't exert myself physically quite so much thanks to the heart murmur but otherwise one would not be able to tell I ever had such troubles now. I started learning Chen taiji, Ip Man Wing Chun, and Northern Shaolin 5 years ago now. Within 6 months of starting training (3-5 times per week 2-5 hours at a time) I was far more able than I had been. A combination of the gong fu, meditation, and a ridiculous diet (gluten free, dairy free, red meat free, 23 servings of raw organic fruits and veggies daily) really got me back on the right track.

[Apech]

My most humbling experience was when I picked up a girl but when I got her home I found out she was a lizard in drag ... oh no wrong thread sorry.

[BaguaKicksAss]

Then there was that stairmaster yesterday... LOL

Edited January 12, 2014 by BaguaKicksAss

[BaguaKicksAss]

My most humbling experience was when I picked up a girl but when I got her home I found out she was a lizard in drag ... oh no wrong thread sorry.

 

ROFL

[子泰]

had a real nice realization that I thought was deep and went on and on about it to my teacher until he said:

"lol wtf are you talking about"

 

but in serious terms, there was a time when i was getting really pissed off, to which my friend made a slight remark in response, and i had a moment where i realized the effects of all my actions that caused me to just stay quiet and think seriously about my ego and karma. ive volunteered at soup shelters and been around plenty of homeless people (poor area in the city that i grew up), but this one moment really just made me shut the fuck up

[Enishi]

Admittingly this is kind of negative, but I'd say the experience that most comes to mind is realizing that even with ample practice and help from years of neigung/energy work, I still have the aspergers/INTP handicap of low emotional/social awareness... :\

[yabyum24]

Seeing the person I most love being wheeled into surgery, neither of us knowing whether she'd survive it. Her courage through her tears. The way she held my hand before the doors swung closed. And seeing her asleep afterwards - frail but alive.

[GreytoWhite]

Admittingly this is kind of negative, but I'd say the experience that most comes to mind is realizing that even with ample practice and help from years of neigung/energy work, I still have the aspergers/INTP handicap of low emotional/social awareness... :\

 

Interesting, my Meyers-Briggs changed to ENTJ from INTP. Granted that was only after some serious exploration of psychedelics. True empathy and compassion drove me into a manic psychotic break with reality that I did not settle down from for a good four months. Although the interesting thing is that much of what I was talking about that was dismissed as psychotic raving has come to pass.

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

Well, I guess the birth and death of loved ones.

 

Of course, then there's all the personal crap that's been thrown at me.

 

It's humbling to realise I deserve it.

 

That's true on several levels.

...

Edited January 7, 2014 by Captain Mar-Vell

[nestentrie]

Humility is certainly admirable. To know one's space, to be able to inhabit it blamelessly and subsist in energies that are your own exclusively. I would agree that it's a lofty state. Myself though, I don't really identify with it. It's not what makes me tick.

 

The Original Post seems to want to ask though, more than humility, what is a life event that has shifted your perspective for the better? I've had a few of those. One as recent as yesterday. (At least, I had an ongoing issue that was yesterday punctuated.)

 

When I began meditating around 4 years ago my practice was slapdash: concerted for an hour one day, kind of indulgent and wayward the next. I had been reading Buddhism and really admired that whole kind of seeking for enlightenment kick that it had going on. What I particularly found useful from it were the Four Great Efforts. That by exertion one could remove demerit from one's life. I was especially good at it and found myself going into that mode easily and comfortably. However, at times, I would find oblivion in it. Always at the ready to seek out incongruities, moments of lust and greed, to see if i was angry or not: the seeking would deflate me.

 

With what Taoism talks about though I'm offered an out. One constant in Taoism (something i've learnt recently from reading TTBs) is wuwei: action without action.

 

37

The Tao in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of
doing it), and so there is nothing which it does not do.

If princes and kings were able to maintain it, all things would of
themselves be transformed by them.

If this transformation became to me an object of desire, I would
express the desire by the nameless simplicity.

Simplicity without a name
Is free from all external aim.
With no desire, at rest and still,
All things go right as of their will.

 

J.Legge

 

In me seeking out my shortcomings I was complicit in those shortcomings. By seeking to do only that which limited me, I was limiting myself (and getting only fatigue and worry for my efforts).

 

In pursuing Toaism a little more and not resting on the fragments of Buddhism I had learned I have come across a little text called 'Secret of the Golden Flower'. In it is the following:

 

The terms stopping and seeing basically cannot be separated. They mean concentration and insight. Hereafter, whenever thoughts arise, you don't need to sit still as before, but you should investigate this thought: where is it? Where does it come from? Where does it disappear? Push this inquiry on and on over and over until you realize it cannot be grasped' then you will see where the thought arises. You don't need to seek out the point of arising any more. HavIng looked for my mind, I realize it cannot be grasped.' 'I have pacified your mind for you.'

 

 

My meditation is a little different nowadays. My meditation these days is all about resting on and tuning the breath. Not something that was foreign to me when I began, but I believe in it's efficacy more than hunting down demons.

 

So for me what's my answer to the OP? Temperance. To know the limits of wisdom and behave within it's boundary. To accept that, OK, for a time I can be taken by my faults, and with due honesty deal with them and come out on top, but that there's more to believe in than just self satisfaction. That might be something close to humility. So I offer it as votive.