Pride is not a vice. I always laugh at the ascetics who speak of pride as if it were some great evil, but if you undertake any action with the conviction that it is right, there is an element of pride to it. The idea that your action is right, the idea that you can do right, is pride in and of itself. We don’t remain engaged in what we can take no pride in.

Shame is aversive, hence settling for the mediocre, and it drains you of energy. The error in pride is that you can be so engrossed in it, that you forget that you were doing something. The ideal distracts you from the real action. So you get charities that act like their help is some great favour, and that they need to be shown deference, etc. Or people who are so busy “being a success” that they actually fail to do anything of worth. Pride based on what they think others see, not inherent in what they do. This inappropriate pride might better be called hubris, arrogance. They aren’t synonymous.

Hubris is others centered, and it’s destructive. The famous conquerors were remarkable for lacking hubris. Alexander the Great gave little thought for accolades. He had a vision of the world unified under the culture he best esteemed, and nurturing the education and civility he had come to respect.

Pride goeth before the fall? Pride goes before an ascension also. Does anyone care to share anything about pride?

Where I recognize my pride is in relationships. I suffered with self-centeredness when it came to my friends. I thought I loved them, but I came to the realization that I loved myself. I had conditions on them which isn’t love, but pride? Conceit, which is also not pride, nor is hubris. Pride in a relationship generally is overlooking something about relationships. It tends to objectify the person you are in a relationship with, and this is the origin of conceit and hubris. A trophy wife, or trophy friends. You can have trophy friends. I have known people who did. They would profess friendship to a group because they seemed successful, and this group was accepting them. They had nothing but criticism for them behind their backs.

I’m wondering about pride and humility. Do they go together? Actually they do. Humility if you cultivate it is pride. It’s the belief that one must adopt a certain stance because it’s “right”.

I can be proud that I do something, and not brag about it. It ensures the pride is of the right kind doesn’t it? Well, it can if undertaken with the right temperance, but it is often the beginning of a holier than thou self righteous martyr complex, and this is when it becomes hubris.  True humility is like that of a child. There is no hubris in a child’s motives. They aren’t entertaining notions of public esteem or rejection, not unless they were indoctrinated early. A child is humble in that they just feel as they feel, want what they want, and are moved to do things according to their nature.

Real hubris is when we are not aware of the world. Really, it’s when our ego replaces the world. Our sense of who we are, and who we are supposed to be. Do any of you know anyone who seems almost oblivious to the world around them, because they are so caught up in their role?

Many celebrities, and it’s not confined to celebrities. Your doctor is potentially like that. If he’s too immersed it may even threaten your life.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~