You might have read the lives of many great men. Which qualities have made them great? While there are several valid answers to this question, two of them are very important, viz they were persons of great humility and secondly, they always wished to do others good.
When one thinks that he is everything, he blocks the way to his greatness. He becomes an arrogant person. He ignores God Who, in fact, gives strength and power to his body and mind and Who is the controller of his life. He is like a foolish puppet which forgets that it is controlled by a puppeteer and believes that it moves on it own.
Great men always think that they are nothing. They are always willing to be little. They are humility incarnates. They never say that they did and achieved the results. They say that God inspired and enabled them to do and they achieved the results by His grace only.
Humility is not inferiority complex. It is like the sun which rises after the night of arrogance has gone. Humility is—'not I, but You (God)'. A humble person thinks—a blade of grass may have a little value. I do not have even that! God is the only source of my support, strength and existence.
Once Usman Hairi, a Sufi saint, was going through a lane. From the roof of a house a woman threw down a bucketful of garbage in the form of ash. The ash fell on the body of the saint. Without caring to know who threw the garbage he wiped away the dirt from his face and clothes and said in a low voice, "I deserve to be burnt by the embers of the fire. By your grace O God! not the hot embers, but cold ash fell upon me."
Once a woman said angrily to Saint Malik Dinar that he was a 'cheat'. The saint said, "Thank you mother, you have reminded me of what I really am. People have been heaping praises on me. This had made me forget my real nature."
These are the examples of extreme and exemplary humility.
Another trait of great men is that whatever they do, think or speak is never for the sake of their personal welfare. Welfare of others is the thought which is always uppermost in their minds.
Worldly wealth does not make one great. The main determinants of greatness are the quality of humility and of the passion for humanitarian works.
Dear children, ponder these truths about greatness. Compare your scale of greatness with that we have presented here. Understand the difference between the two. Know that greatness is not worldly richness. Greatness is humility. Greatness is serving others and doing others good. Greatness is many other good things too but these qualities rank the most important among them.
With all love and Om,
Affectionately yours,
The Divine Life Society Headquarters
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