The importance of Humility and Empathy
70 2015-05-17 by BigBrownBeav
Just a couple things I've learned through my journey this life,
Something that really helped me in these last handful of years is Humility. The adjective being humble.
The reason I believe it's important is it allows me to view life through a more honest perspective. We as humans are like magnets to our outside stimuli. We take on all the baggage society throws at us and it sticks to us like glue. Being humble allows us to throw out a lot of that dirty energy.
A good metaphor for Humility is holding your mistakes up for everyone to see. Thus clearing yourself of any potential thoughts and feelings related to those mistakes. And don't kid yourselves, we can potentially carry that baggage with us for our entire lives. These are the things that could potentially lead us to unhealthy lifestyle choices, unhappiness, lack of fun and joyful experiences.
This is viewed as a weakness, particularly in men (but not exclusively) who are groomed from childhood to be strong, resilient and leaders of society and family. Being humble to our experience shines a light on the over-compensation in this pseudo-macho behaviour so many men exhibit.
The fact is humans are sensitive, whether man or woman. The more we repress these realities, the more we become inhumane.
Another excellent perspective tool to allow us to view things in proper context. A basic metaphor is putting yourself in someone Else's shoes. Ironically this is also seen as a weakness by many.
In my opinion it is very important and often overshadowed by our false pride and selfish nature.
It allows us to accurately remote-view the experience of other humans to a degree. In doing so brings context to the bullshit so many of us promote. Which in turn gives us better context on our perspectives.
The conspiracy is these are both suppressed in society on purpose. Gone are the days of the caveman and the need for the alpha monkeys in the tribe. And it doesn't make you weak. Strength comes from within both mentally and physically. It's time to grow up and evolve.
15 comments
8 plato_thyself 2015-05-17
I would also add compassion to the list: not being too hard on ourselves or others, especially when they make mistakes or are tied to older ways of thinking.
Great read, thanks for posting.
4 da_kine 2015-05-17
This might be the best post I've ever seen on this site. I've been here a lot longer than the four years I've been using this particular account.
You're so right. Humility is cleansing. It pulls the webs away from the eyes, it shines light into the shadows. It's the polar opposite of weakness...it's strength. It's so strong, it can destroy all the barriers to empathy and compassion in a single moment, opening the heart to love. Real love.
Thanks for having the heart to post this, friend. Safe travels to you.
7 BigBrownBeav 2015-05-17
Thanks for the kind words :)
3 truguy 2015-05-17
You are absolutely correct!
3 quicklypiggly 2015-05-17
The scientist who popularized the Greek ethology of wolves in 1970 with his book The Wolf, Dr. L. David Merch, formally disavowed the terminology in 1999. Here is a short video he made explaining his view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtFgdwTsbU
1 BigBrownBeav 2015-05-17
Here's a cool video from a hell of a good guy. He has had a similar experience as me and talks about Empathy.
Ken O'Keefe In Conversation
1 blacy0520 2015-05-17
Great post, this is what I've learned in the past few years as well.
I'll be honest, a couple psychedelic experiences exponentially advanced this change in my life. I am way more accepting, humble, and have more love for everything than I did before, and I am never condescending, unless it's sarcastic and the person I'm speaking to knows this of course :)
Life is beautiful and it can be even moreso if we accept our places in the universe and live to help one another
Before those experiences happened, I kept finding it harder and harder to conform to the vanity of the American culture. I'm American and some of its culture still controls me somewhat, but I'm a humanist now more than anything.
2 BigBrownBeav 2015-05-17
Me too friend, Ayahuasca is humbling indeed.
2 your-nuts-sir 2015-05-17
Add envy to the list ;-)
Thanks for the great post.
2 blacy0520 2015-05-17
That's is something I've been wanting to do for a couple years! That or just straight DMT. It sounds amazing
1 Yoaks 2015-05-17
What's really disturbing is the growing number of people taking SSRI "anti"-depressant drugs which have been shown to numb empathy, love, and all other emotions. Many people on these drugs end up not caring about themselves or others.
Social anxiety has been shown in studies to be a sign of high empathy. The empathy makes a socially anxious person sensitive and attentive to other people's states of mind. SSRI antidepressants numb that natural empathy which is how antidepressants "treat" social anxiety.
Here's a clip from the documentary called "Who Cares in Sweden" and it describes how antidepressants affect empathy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7eBv4H8mXo
1 xaali 2015-05-17
Don't forget about modesty, something this society seems to have completely forgotten about.
1 sapiosex 2015-05-17
"I was wrong, this changes everything" is one of my favorite sayings.
1 TWALBALLIN 2015-05-17
Great post.
-5 lionforhire 2015-05-17
I would say the worst thing about this sub are these new-age transcendent rants that read like a page out of someone's lsd journal.
Having browsed conspiracy forums since 2007 these posts are always the same, and I wish people would realize their personal navel-gazing doesn't belong in places meant for researching conspiracies and actual events.
3 BigBrownBeav 2015-05-17
There's a reason our belief systems want us to sell the idea we need to suppress these natural tendencies. The conspiracy is the war on our consciousness.
The reason for posting this here is there are many people going through the same process of trying to "figure it out" and I wanted to share my wisdom.
Best wishes to you and your loved ones.
1 lionforhire 2015-05-17
Interesting. Places like these obviously attract a certain type of person who's been pushed out of the way or chewed up by the system, the type who's more predisposed toward countercultures.
This particular strain of thought they tend to head down I think it's a self-reassurance they give themselves to explain their lack of success, that the rat race is wicked anyway and their position is a result of their own enlightenment. An obvious way to frame that pleases the ego. My next wondering is what distiguishes those that choose new-age over born-again christianity.