Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on June 13, 2003.
The stronger and more advanced we become in our training, the more we must master modesty and humility. There is nothing more ugly than advanced students and instructors who become too arrogant and prideful or try to lord themselves over others. Always, every second of the day, be modest and humble.
In the Saikontan (Caigentan 菜根譚), a famous Chinese classic on life, "Let others always pass by first. . . ."
Once Confucius was in charge of a very important ceremony. The first thing Confucius did was to approach the elder members and ask details about how the ceremony should be conducted. One minister saw this and said, “Why does Confucius ask those people for instructions, he knows this ceremony better than anyone." Confucius' student replied, "He asks because it is proper to consult with them as a matter of respect and modesty, it is not because he doesn't know what he is doing. He doesn't want people to think that he is a show-off or too prideful."
Can we all understand this spirit? This is the proper spirit in the dojo, with our teacher, with our classmates and with everyone in our lives.