Ten Signs of the Superior Person

[Loki]

 By Tibetan Master Milarepa


1.   To have little pride and envy is the sign of the superior person.

2.   To have few desires and satisfaction with simple things is the sign
        of the superior person.

3.   To be lacking in hypocrisy and deceit is the sign of the superior person.

4.   To regulate one's conduct in accordance with the law of cause and effect
        as carefully as one would guard the pupils of one's eyes is the sign
        of the superior person.

5.   To be faithful in one's engagement and obligations is the sign of the
        superior person.

6.   To be able to keep alive friendships while regarding all beings with
        impartiality is the sign of the superior person.

7.   To look with pity and without anger upon those who live evilly is the
        sign of the superior person.

8.   To allow others the victory, taking on the defeat, is the sign of the
        superior person.

9.   To differ from the multitude in every thought and deed is the sign of
        the superior person.

10.  To observe faithfully and without pride one's spiritual vows is the sign
        of the superior person.

[Raziel]

To be a superior person. In a nutshell.

To be a robot.

No harm meant.

Just food for thought.

[matthew321]

So is a saint a "superior person"? Is Jesus a "superior person" (by these rules only)

Is it possible to be a superior person? I do agree with a lot of the things said but quite frankly people lack the discipline to acquire such a state. You would have to have a saintly disposition and a wisdom filled upbringing to achieve such a state.

It is a good concept, just really hard to achieve...

[Raziel]

In other words "adjectives are relative to the purpose" and hence one cannot be superior without having an ultimate or defining characteristic and therefore depending on said characteristic there should be other types of "superior and "ultimate" person.

[emp765]

Surely awarness of superiority leds to a pompuss mindframe and self assumption so an unknowingness of superiority leads to a superior person?

I also have trouble with    ...    9.   To differ from the multitude in every thought and deed is the sign of the superior person.    ...     Sometimes the multitude is right

[Devinoir]

The thing is, this is not the vain superhero, this is the way of the wise, of those who are almost outcasts, and yet are satisfied and at piece with themselves.

[Moloch]

The superior person does not rely on society to tell them they are superior; for society will always lie to them to maintain the faux-superiority of the rest of the members of said society; hence rule number nine.

Also, emp, pretty much the only multitude that you will ever find thinking or behaving correctly is Lemmings(figurative & literal) - as they cascade off of cliffsides.

[Devinoir]

Do you reallly think that a person who deems himself superior is one?

[Moloch]

Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?

[Devinoir]

I think that the first statement is more true, as I can hardly imagine a landscape pretending to look as a drawing by Dega. But I can see what you mean. It's all a matter of opinion. But I believe a superior person is above the relativity of opinions, especially when it concerns himself.

[Moloch]

You'd actually be quite surprised. More often than not, a superior person, according to the quote by Loki, will not think of themselves as superior because humility is one of the characteristics of the superior person. In reality though, a superior person will often know they are superior, but will refrain from boasting overly much about it, since the boast itself disproves his point according to current social mores.

For example, in his day, Beowulf was the superior person/warrior, and such a person was not only entitled to boasting of their own greatness, nor just encouraged to boast - boasting was demanded of them! But today, such behavior is viewed as marking a person as weak or inferior.

So you see, once again it's all relative. Who is superior is determined by cultural norms and social mores, not by ability to do or say anything spectacular. So, this means that the man who wrote the words Loki quoted would be a superior man in his culture only, but not according to Western or any other culture.

[Devinoir]

Maybe he meant the absolute superior person, outside of the relativity of cultures? The superior human being, not the superior member of the society? Because, quite frankly, most of the ancient heroes WERE members of societies.

[Raziel]

So the superior person is not subject to the whims and demands of society and is quite content with himself.


Does this count those who do not know any better?

[Moloch]

If that were the case then folks like myself, Loki, and Markus are to be included as superior people.

[Loki]

Of course, the adjective of "superior" is not to be taken in the nazis sense. I guess it means being better or improving towards the objective of being superior to one former darkened self. It has to be taken as rules of conduct or advices. I found myself difficult to follow some of those points practically ...