Humility or self elevation ?

Received a nice question / topic yesterday.
Rev. Rajan ji
There are 2 quotes as they say---

1. Mita de apni hasti to, ki dana khak mein mil kar hi gule gulzar hota hai

2. Khudi to kar buland itna ki har tahrir se pehle khuda tujhse khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai?

Both are ways to reach god as they say but what does it mean by khudi ko kar buland itna? Does it refer to self-confidence or super-ego.:)
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Thank you for bringing up these two great and famous verses.

The complete shers (couplets) are as such :

1. "Mita de apani hasti ko agar kuchh martabaa chaahe
ke daana khaaq me mil kar gul-o-gulzaar hota hai ' ***

मिटा दे अपनी हस्ती को अगर कुछ मरतबा चाहे
कि दाना खाक़ में मिल कर गुलो- गुलज़ार होता है

2. "Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har taqdeer se pehale
Khuda bande se khud poochhe, bataa teri razaa kya hai "

ख़ुदी को कर बुलंद इतना कि हर तक़दीर से पहले
ख़ुदा बंदे से ख़ुद पूछे, बता तेरी रज़ा क्या है

Both these shers are written by Dr. Iqbal Muhammad.

First of all, I would like to add that a unique quality of Urdu poetry is that any sher or verse can be translated and equally applied in the materialistic or the spiritual field.

Both these couplets are talking about achieving some goal, a ' Martabaa' a status in life which is a basic human desire, part of the human nature. May it be in the office, business, community or any organization - social, political or religious, everyone wants to climb higher up.

There is nothing wrong in having such desires as long as we don't try to achieve it by taking it away from others or by hurting others. As Baba Avtar Singh ji used to say “extend your own line, expand yourself without erasing someone else's line".

Seemingly, these two couplets are suggesting two different methods, two different ways to achieve this goal.

But in reality they are not different at all.

First one clearly suggests the path of ’humility ' thru the example of a seed becoming a beautiful flower and eventually a garden after getting buried under the ground.

The second couplet, which is in question here, may create a small confusion in some one's mind.

The confusion comes from the word "Khudi " which simply means ' self '.
Depending on the context, it can also be used for ' confidence ' or ' ego ' or even super ego.

Thinking excessively and selfishly about the ' self ', presenting my 'self ' with ' lies' and exaggerations becomes ego.

Presenting the ' self ', even truthfully, to establish our superiority over others, is also ego.

However, thinking about the 'self ' realistically, to understand and improve the ' self ', is not ego.

Now, if we read that couplet again in this context, the writer is suggesting us to elevate our ' khudi ', the ' self ' thru noble thoughts and actions and virtues to such a level that 'God' will provide us everything without even asking for it.

Let us not forget that ' humility ' is the greatest virtue of all.

So in the end, both these couplets are leading us towards the same path, the path of ' Humility '.

Humbly,
Rajan Sachdeva

*** ke daana khaaq me mil kar gul-o-gulzaar hota hai '
कि दाना खाक़ में मिल कर गुलो- गुलज़ार होता है

गुलो- गुलज़ार Gul-o-gulzaar means Flower and the garden

However, in some books it says गुले गुलज़ार Gul-e-Gulzaar : which means flower of or in the garden.

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