C.S. Lewis on Humility and the Magnetic Pull of Wonder
The ego cannot be destroyed by force, but it can be transcended in an encounter with Beauty and Wonder.
C.S. Lewis said:
True humility is not thinking less of yourself: it’s thinking of yourself less.
But how do you think of yourself less without thinking less of yourself?
How do you diminish yourself without demeaning yourself?
How do you hush your ego without putting a gag in its mouth?
How do you harness your ego without resisting it?
Can you just talk it into quieting down without making it into your enemy?
The art of humility – thinking of yourself less – cannot be achieved through willpower. But it comes naturally when we are smitten by Wonder.
The Greek for “beauty” — kalos — has the same root as the verb “to call” — kaleo. Beauty calls. Kalos kaleo. The true function of Beauty is to call – to call us out of ourselves by the magnetic pull of Wonder.
How do you dissolve ego without fighting it?
It dissolves by itself when we no longer need it for our sense of self. It gets bigger every time we feel we need it for the survival of our Self.
It melts away when we encounter a loving Presence and lose ourselves in Wonder.
Last year, I felt it most acutely at Lake Tahoe – the place we go to for a short break from the oppressive summer heat in Houston.
June and July were oppressively hot and humid. As the muck intensified, I found myself yearning for vacation. When I am tired or feel stuck in the rat race of life, ego shows its ugly head.
It’s hard not to think about yourself when you feel you are lacking something.
I will get irritated, impatient, frustrated, demanding, anxious, and perfectionistic. I may look calm, but I churn inside.
As I stood by the quaint jewel of the Sierra Nevada, Echo Lake, I was smitten by its turquoise-to-azure waters set against the backdrop of gorgeous snow-topped mountains with their granite arms outstretched far and wide around the Desolation Wilderness in the most exquisite embrace.
I felt dwarfed, quieted, struck dumb, and ecstatic all at the same time.
I couldn’t think about myself at that moment – and I didn’t need to.
I forgot myself entirely – I was one with the Whole.
I was diminished but not belittled. And it felt good.
All the irritation, impatience, frustration, anxiety, and perfectionism were gone. I was pulled out of myself, soaking in the ecstasy of the moment.
The Greek for “ecstasy” (ekstasis) means “to stand outside of or transcend oneself.”
The human ego cannot be destroyed by force, but it can be transcended in an encounter with Beauty and Wonder. It dissolves without a fight. Wonder pulls us out of ourselves, but we feel all the more ecstatic for it.
We lose ourselves but feel we have found ourselves. Because we have found our true selves.
We don’t think less of ourselves – we think of ourselves less. We don’t think about ourselves at all.
Our ego dies, but it’s a sweet death.
When nothing threatens the Self, it lets go of its ego and finds its true identity.
Beautiful piece. I start to feel anxious and a little lost after spending too much time away from nature, but I've never been able to pinpoint the reason why. You articulated it perfectly.
Brilliant!! Have you read Dacher Keltner's book Awe? Check it out, if you haven't. He also has a podcast on "On Being" and it is great!! XO