Thank you for asking! I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian - in its own way Orthodoxy is very mystical and meditative, at least compared to Western traditions. Also, a westerner could be forgiven for thinking that Buddhism and Orthodoxy are somehow related, given our shared affinities for chanting, prostrating, incense and monasteries. Also, compare the appearance of Buddhist prayer beads to Orthodox prayer ropes!

Obvious theological differences notwithstanding (r.e. the specific reference to "God"), I'd love to get your take as a Buddhist on the following:

One stumbling block on my spiritual path has been that of humility, and therefore my current self-assigned "homework" is to work on developing more humility. My priest has described humility in two different ways, the simpler one being "how you conduct yourself when things don't go your way", and the more complex one being that "humility occurs within community, and so it is about knowing your place within the community," which he had offered in response to a question from me about the difference between humility and excessive self-criticism at a time when my own inner critic had me on the run. (He noted that while very moderate self-criticism can be useful at the practical level, it nevertheless keeps a person focused on themselves, which is antithetical to living the Christian spiritual life.)

He expanded on the latter by saying "if you have delusions of grandeur, then you don't have humility because you don't now your place within the community. On the other hand, if you are overly self-critical, then you also don't know your place in the community (and thus don't have humility), because God loves you." (Not verbatim, but as close as my brain will allow.)

I'm curious to know what your teachers would have to say on the topic of humility, in general and through a similar lens as above (i.e. in contrast to excessive self-criticism). I understand humility to be a highly-regarded virtue in Buddhism, so I imagine your teachers would likely have their own versions of the short/simple and long/complex answers.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my original comment in the spirit of open and unassuming dialogue.

May we keep each other in our respective prayers. :)