Code Of Honor

The Code of Honor contains 15 tenets that we strive to live by. It is intended to reflect some basic core values that all the men can rally behind, support and use as a benchmark for the ways of being we can expect from one another.

sprite1

Be Humble

The wood which represents this tenet is Bamboo – Bamboo is a grass and grows like a weed wherever it takes root. One shoot is virtually indistinguishable from the next. Yet it demonstrates incredible strength and versatility in its uses.

Symbol: Appropriately there are no symbols or markings on this stick.

cc13

Many men think being humble means being submissive or putting yourself down. It means just the opposite. To have humility is to be strong enough to rise above the needs of your ego. To have such a strong enough sense of self that you need not feel compelled to prove yourself or have your words win the day.

Humility is the opposite of the Ego. The ego is the natural enemy of relationship. When you are humble, there is room for you to respect others and the world around you. In that space, you can see just how much there is to learn. It is to appreciate, as Earl Weaver once said that, “The smarter I get, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”

To be humble you must embrace what Zen Buddhists call a “beginner’s mind”. The student of such a practice approaches everything as if it is new, as if it is being seen and experienced for the first time. It is all new. Every aspect is fascinating and unknown. Every facet contains new information and new experiences. Since you do not already know how to do something, you must allow yourself to be taught by the experience. There is an opportunity to grow and to gain energy from the excitement of stepping into the unknown. It is to avoid the temptation to relate to others by saying, “I’ve done that,” or “I know what you mean,” or thinking that you know what is in another’s mind.

To be humble is to approach everything and everyone in your life with a beginner’s mind.

— Anonymous