Feeding Arrogance
'One evening a sheikh was talking about humility and service. He spoke eloquently about service and putting others' needs before our own. Then, someone asked, "What do you do with the arrogant? How can you serve the arrogant?"
The sheikh drew himself up and raised his powerful voice, "With the arrogant, you must behave arrogantly!" Everyone was shocked.
Then, the sheikh went on, "To treat the arrogant with humility would be like giving them poison. It would only feed their arrogance."'
Hmm, I can't decide if this is good advice or not. Any comments?
2 Comments:
I have often found it difficult to deal with arrogant individuals as well. It seems as if some level of arrogance may be necessary to form a common ground with such individuals.
It seems as if the solution, in my experience, has been to show the arrogant compassion and make them feel, deep inside, the karmic weight of their actions.
So, while a display of arrogance around an arrogant individual may help at first, I am inclined to believe that compassion will help them to heal.
Yes, I'm inclined to agree with you. When you respond to their arrogance with arrogance, it can be like fighting fire with fire.
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