1. Blessed Are the Meek

World Scripture

Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers, and who shun vain conversation, and who are payers of the poor-due, and who guard their modesty.
Qur’an 23.1-5

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5.5

If you desire to obtain help, put away pride. Even a hair of pride shuts you off, as if by a great cloud.
Oracle of Kasuga (Shinto)

Turn not your cheek in scorn toward folk, nor walk with pertness in the land. Lo! God loves not each braggart boaster. Be modest in your bearing and subdue your voice. Lo, the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.
Qur’an 31.18-19

This is the man to whom I will look: he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.
Isaiah 66.2

Now, in exile, the Holy Spirit comes upon us more easily than at the time the Temple was still standing. A king was driven from his realm and forced to become a wayfarer. When in the course of his wanderings, he came to the house of poor people, where he was given modest food and shelter, but received as a king, his heart grew light and he chatted with his hosts as intimately as he had done at court with his high courtiers. Now that He is in exile, God does the same.¹
Dov Baer of Mezirech (Judaism)

Be humble, be harmless, Have no pretension, Be upright, forbearing; Serve your teacher in true obedience, Keeping the mind and body in cleanness, Tranquil, steadfast, master of ego, Standing apart from the things of the senses, Free from self; Aware of the weakness in mortal nature.
Bhagavad-Gita 13.7-8 (Hinduism)

All men are children of Adam, and Adam was created from soil.
Hadith of Tirmidhi (Islam)

Be of an exceedingly humble spirit, for the end of man is the worm.
Mishnah, Avot 4.4 (Judaism)

O Lord, what is man, that thou dost regard him, or the son of man, that thou dost think of him? Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow.
Psalm 144.3-4

Reflect upon three things, and you will not come within the power of sin: know from where you came, to where you are going, and before whom you will in future have to give account and reckoning. From where you came—from a fetid drop; to where are you going—to a place of dust, worms, and maggots; and before whom you will in future have to give account and reckoning—before the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.
Mishnah, Avot 3.1 (Judaism)

The Prophet said, “Have I not taught you how the inhabitants of Paradise will be all the humble and the weak, whose oaths God will accept when they swear to be faithful? Have I not taught you how the inhabitants of hell will be all the cruel beings, strong of body and arrogant?”
Hadith of Bukhari (Islam)

It is humble people whom God protects and liberates; it is the humble whom He loves and consoles. To the humble He turns and upon them bestows great grace, that after their humiliation He may raise them up to glory. He reveals His secrets to the humble, and with kind invitation bids them come to Him. Thus, humble people enjoy peace in the midst of many vexations, because their trust is in God, not in the world. Hence, you must not think that you have made any progress until you look upon yourself as inferior to all others.
Thomas á Kempis, Imitation of Christ 1.2 (Christianity)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

God’s love dwells upon the foundations of meekness, humility, fasting, sacrifice and even martyrdom.
(282:227, March 26, 1997)

The higher the religion, the less it stresses the self and the more it stresses meekness, humility, and one step further, sacrifice and service. Why must it do that? Those are the laws of the original homeland. People are like wanderers searching for their original homeland. To train people in the laws of that homeland, the higher religions teach the way of sacrifice.
(77:190, April 6, 1975)

Satan’s basic nature is arrogance and wrath. That is the way he deals with people in the world. Jesus, on the other hand, came before the people with meekness and humility. Satan ultimately acknowledged Jesus because he knew that humility is in accord with the heavenly law. When you act with gentleness and humility, the satanic world naturally surrenders. Jesus knew this principle, and therefore he assumed the posture of gentleness and humility. You, too, can open up a new way to reach God… when you remain always gentle and humble. Examine yourself: are you living by Jesus’ teachings of gentleness and humility, meekness and obedience, and sacrifice and service? If you are not practicing these teachings in your daily life, know that you still belong to Satan’s tribe.
(3:187, October 27, 1957)

I examined the Book of Life in heaven. I saw that the people whose names are recorded in that book were all simple and lowly. Millionaires, famous preachers and politicians are not found there.
(107:21, February 21, 1980)

The Garden of Eden is not a world filled with disputes. It is not a world where people promote themselves, but a world full of humility and love.
(98:31, April 8, 1978)

How can we hold on to individualism? There is not one part of us that we can claim as our very own. When we were conceived from our parents’ love and grew beginning from our mother’s ovum, 99.999 percent of our being was our mother’s bone, blood and flesh, and the other 0.001 percent was added from our father’s sperm. No one at the time of their birth has the concept, “I belong to myself.”
(299:113, February 7, 1999)

At the Fall evil began first and rose up, so we must carry out a strategy to push evil down and pull goodness up. How shall we carry this out? First, we must take control of our arrogance. The Fall occurred when the archangel Lucifer and human beings pushed God aside and attempted to elevate themselves. Arrogance was Satan’s original nature. Arrogance is the desire to elevate oneself without regard to law, discipline, obligations, or the affect on the surrounding environment. It is the desire to live unconstrained by justice or law. How do we describe a person who lives in accordance with the law? Do we say he is arrogant? No, we say he or she is as an honest person… We must put a stop to behavior that ignores the law and disregards one’s position and surroundings. We must suppress arrogance and take on the quality of humility.
(37:112, December 23, 1970)

When you are in a high position, there is no way to unite your mind and body. It is better to let yourself be stepped on. God has trampled on me for forty years, lest I get above myself. As you are stepped on, those elements in you that want to exalt themselves are smashed and brought back to unity. Do you understand this? You should be cursed, trampled on and mistreated, just like the vagrant Bamboo Hat Kim. Regardless of how you are treated, you should discover the self that can accept all these tribulations gratefully.
(144:231, April 25, 1986)

I never asked for blessings in my prayers. I never said, “God, please give me some money.” I thought, “I need to suffer more since I have not undergone enough hardships.” God likes such thinking.
(102:314, February 21, 1979)