The Humble Man (a parable)
28/09/2010There once was a young man who desired to become more spiritual, so he asked his spiritual adviser the following question:
“Sir, what is the worst sin in the world so I can do my best to avoid it?”
The spiritual adviser answered
“Young man, the worst sin is pride, if you conquer pride, you will become spiritually great.”
The young man then asked another question
“Sir, how can I conquer this pride?”
and the spiritual adviser responded
“the opposite of pride is humility, go and seek it.”
So, the Young man spent the next ten years studying the discipline of humility. He fed the poor, he encouraged the weak, he gave to charities, and served his community. After ten years, he was recognized as a great spiritual and humble person. People came to him for advice; the local media wrote articles about him and took pictures of him; a street was named after him; and he was honored everywhere he went.
Finally, the young man woke up one day, looked in the mirror and yelled “Look at me! I am the humblest man in the World!” and then he left his home praising himself and looking for the praises of others.



