Buddhism and the context of humility

For many, it's natural to think about humility as fundamentally about a relationship between self and other.To be humble is embody a certain relationship between yourself and something else, most commonly by putting yourself below it or in some way acknowledging it as more impor­tant.

Of course, this is a very general framework, but it’s one that is quite common in philosophi­cal writing, at least writing in English from the last few hundred years. As with any general framework, there are many details to work out.What is the something else that a humble person puts themselves below? Maybe it’s other people. Or maybe it’s an ideal like justice or The Moral Law. Or maybe it’s a supernatural being like God or Allah.What is the nature of the relationship central to being humble? Is it intellectual, emotional, or both?

Many have noted that humility, and its cousin modesty, are opposed to a tendency many have to think too much of themselves.¹ So we find some philosophers identifying modesty with ignorance of our own good qualities.² Others, uncomfortable with the idea that a moral virtue might require ignorance, have suggested various alternatives. For example, some argue that what’s important is that you not overestimate yourself.³ Other approaches appeal to less doxastic states, making it a matter of de-emphasizing or ignoring good aspects of yourself.⁴

While these views disagree in their content, their framework is shared: humility and modesty are about placing yourself in a larger context. This framework for humility isn’t assumed only in contemporary work, but by a wide range of figures in the history of philosophy in Europe.

One way to approach Buddhist humility is to think about what Buddhist thinkers might contribute within this framework.We might, for example, point to the practice in many Buddhist cultures of physically lowering yourself before an image of a Buddha; the importance of liter­ally lowering yourself when faced with an important ideal. Or we can highlight texts advising a student to relate to their teacher as if they were the Buddha himself, trusting in them even when their actions don't yet make sense.⁷ This kind of check on your own judgment in the face of someone with more wisdom and experience fits very well into the familiar framework of humility as a particular relation between the self and something outside the self.

Many Buddhist texts can be read within this framework.To pick a particularly famous exam­ple, consider the 8th-century Buddhist Philosopher Santideva. His famous text, The Way of the Bodhisattva, is one of the most widely studied ethical texts in the Buddhist world. In it, he presents instructions for how to become a bodhisattva, a moral and spiritual ideal in Buddhist thought. The bodhisattva ideal is a selfless one that involves, among other aspects, putting the well-being of others ahead of your own.

The bodhisattva ideal itself and much of Santideva's specific advice can seem to fit very nicely into the existing framework for understanding modesty and humility. Consider, for example, his advice to remain still and inactive like a log when confronted with a desire to put yourself above others:

When the mind is wild with mockery

And filled with pride and haughty arrogance,

And when you want to show the hidden faults of others,

To bring up old dissensions or to act deceitfully,

And when you want to fish for praise,

Or criticize and spoil another's name,

Or use harsh language, sparring for a fight,

It's then that like a log you should remain.

And then you yearn for wealth, attention, and fame,

A circle of admirers serving you,

And when you look for honors, recognition—

It's then that like a log you should remain.⁸

This kind of advice isn't unusual for Buddhist texts and, when read in a certain way, fits very naturally into the standard framework for thinking about humility: actions and desires that involve relative comparisons of self-superiority should be avoided. The urge to put yourself above others is often a bad one, and, when the temptation arises, it's better to do nothing than to indulge in these ways of relating to others.⁹

But passages like this are also motivated by a much deeper account of the world and our place in it, one that doesn't fit very well in the familiar terms of thinking about humility at all. This framework presupposes a certain menu of options: we can think we're better, worse, or the same as others.We can think of ourselves as occupying a starring role in the world or some cosmology or merely playing a bit part.

An important type of humility we can find in Buddhist thought is a denial of this very frame­work. Much of Buddhist thought involves the denial of a persisting and separate self.With this philosophical background, humility isn't about seeing yourself as having a minor role or being worse than others, but giving up relating to the world through the idea of a self at all. After all, even comparisons of relative inferiority presume there's something to be compared. Buddhist humility in this sense is less about making different comparisons than it is about giving up the underlying assumptions that such comparisons presuppose and reinforce.

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