In Michael Casey’s A Guide to Living in the Truth: Saint Benedict’s Teaching on Humility, he explains that over a thousand years ago, Saint Benedict proposed that humility is the truth of human nature, whereas pride is a ‘radical falsehood.’ This truth impacts on the mind, heart, and emotions, and to deny its influence is the source of all human suffering. This course involves a weekly tapping script covering each of the steps of humility.

First Step: Become conscious of our words, deeds, thoughts, and actions
• Become aware of why we act the way we act
• Become aware of why we think what we think
• Become aware of why we feel how we feel
• Become aware of why we do what we do
• Explore our fears, doubts, and insecurities, as well as our love, passion, desire, and will for what we want

Second Step: Become responsible for all of who we are
• Accept who we are and its impact on our own life and others
• Learn that our will and desire does not dictate life here for us or others
• Begin to share equally in joy, pleasure, hardships, and pain
• Acknowledge our role in everything and acknowledge other’s role in everything as well
• Step out of the drama and acknowledge ow we control ourselves and others through drama

Third Step: Acknowledge a higher power
• Learn that we are not God; we don’t decide what is best for others and deem it so
• Accept that we can’t control every even in our life
• Learn to pray, talk to, and seek guidance from God, Spirit, a higher power, or all there is
• Surrender our will to divine will

Fourth Step: Patience in enduring difficulties with equanimity
• Learn to be patient
• Accept that we do not determine the timing of events
• Learn the lesson that all things are as they should be in any given moment
• Learn to endure hard times and still be happy

Fifth Step: Self-revelation
• Face our own imperfections and admit them to those we have hurt because of them
• Do not seek forgiveness for our imperfections; merely accept our responsibility
• Accept how others feel about our words, actions, and beliefs, and feel how human we really are

Sixth Step: Contentment with the least of everything
• Learn to be grateful for all we have, and let go of the desire for the best and biggest of everything
• Find joy in the little things in life
• Learn to value family and friends for who they are, without wanting them to change in ways we desire

Seventh Step: Awareness of our liabilities
• See ourselves as the smallest and most insignificant human being on the planet, and enjoy it for what it is
• Embrace our powerlessness and free ourselves from the fear we will not survive
• Stop taking everything personally
• Accept that everything isn’t about us
• Accept that ‘deserving’ is ego, and there is no such thing as deserving what we get – good, bad, or indifferent

Eighth Step: Seek to understand oneness
• Learn that we are not alone, that we are not an island
• Learn that we are not one individual stiving to succeed and conquer all others
• Learn about love. There is no such thing as unconditional love because love is unconditional – anything less, and it is conditional love
• Develop empathy and compassion for the human reality

Nineth Step: Learn silence and stillness
• Learn not to advise others on their life
• Learn to hold our tongue and listen with compassion
• Even if we know a lot about a topic, practice not sharing this information as an expert
• Stop idle chatter
• Learn to be peaceful in thought, feeling, and actions
• Develop a balance in our use of energy

Tenth Step: Avoidance of laughter
• Stop dismissing things that matter to us and others
• Stop making jokes at others expense or our own
• Stop minimising ours and others hurts and pains

Eleventh Step: Gravity in speech
• Use fewer words when we speak
• Only say what must be said
• Speak softly, clearly, and concisely
• Step out of the mindless storytelling and do not repeat rumours and untruths
• Never gossip

Twelfth Step: Humility
Topic Summary: Saint Benedict’s twelfth step in his twelve-step plan of humility when put into a modern context asks us to:
• Be humility in body and heart – in all that is said or done
• Surrender the need to be seen to be humble
• Accept that we don’t define ourselves as humble, but others see us as humble in our words and actions