The Habit of Humility

A reflection on whether humility is a quality one cultivates deliberately or something that arises naturally from clear seeing.

Does he have a reason to be humble, or is it just natural for him? Consider the difference. There is the kind of humility that is cultivated, where someone decides, "I should be more humble," and works at it. Then there is the humility that simply arises when there is no inflation in the first place. When the self is not being propped up, humility is not an achievement. It is just what remains.

The question is whether humility is something you practice or something that is already the case once the habit of self-aggrandizement falls away. If it requires effort, it is still a performance. If it is effortless, it is simply the natural state.