Service
| A small task performed in sincerity is worth far more than a great task performed with motivation for oneself. Life is made to give and not to take, for it is in giving that we really receive. As we receive the true knowledge which is inherent within us, we use that knowledge wisely in service. Everything serves in life; everything except the cunning mind that devises things for its personal glory. What glory does the flower take upon itself in giving its beauty and fragrance to the world? The wind through the trees whistles its beautiful symphonies. The sun shines, the moon reflects light. Such service! The tides of the ocean keep on flowing to and fro, the rains come, food grows. |
Look at the service nature provides for us all the time.
When you dedicate your life to a cause that fits in with a plan
not created by you yourself, but by a power higher than you,
then you could safely say, “I have faith in that power, and the
mission I have to accomplish will be accomplished.”
As you give service to humanity what is happening is that you
serve yourself. This service, or the desire or yearning for
service, that is within you, is not being objectified for personal
gain or ego building.
When you dedicate your life to a cause that fits in with a plan
not created by you yourself, but by a power higher than you,
then you could safely say, “I have faith in that power, and the
mission I have to accomplish will be accomplished.”
As you give service to humanity what is happening is that you
serve yourself. This service, or the desire or yearning for
service, that is within you, is not being objectified for personal
gain or ego building.
All service performed in total humility will rebound back to you tenfold, because there is a
sincerity of purpose.
Divinity is there as all the scriptures tell you; it is nearer than you think. It’s closer than your
very own breath. It’s there: just open up and let it flow. Teaching and serving are two of the
ways which quicken the opening up, and when the blood races and the heart is quickened,
love pours in us and through us. When you water a garden remember that even before the
garden receives the water, the hose is cleaned first. So when we teach or serve in this
purity, that divine energy flows through us first before it goes to the student.
To the true humble person there is no praise nor blame: he keeps on working. For nothing
can inflate him or deflate him. He rises above it all and nothing can distract him from the
path of service.
What is the motivation? Is it self-aggrandizement, or is it the expression of ego: “I must be
held on a pedestal because I am doing this.” That kind of service has no value for the
person himself. You will always find that people who try to serve others in this manner have
many kinds of sufferings and imbalances. The reason is that they are not thinking of
others, but of themselves. That kind of service is not humility, it is vanity.
If service is performed as an offering, then praise or blame will not affect you at all.
Because once you find that inner joy of serving, you become like the lotus flower growing
amidst all the mud and yet untouched, forever remaining pure. Your very offering is joy,
and joy is the essence of purity.
People fail to serve because it is not natural to them. Because of karmic values, wrong
thinking, or wrong action they have lost the art of service. Service has not mechanics, it
must be allowed to flow. If we apply a mechanism or a pattern, service becomes a drudgery
and service ceases to be service, for service is an art. All offering is an art.
MORE ABOUT SERVICE BY GURURAJ ANANDA
sincerity of purpose.
Divinity is there as all the scriptures tell you; it is nearer than you think. It’s closer than your
very own breath. It’s there: just open up and let it flow. Teaching and serving are two of the
ways which quicken the opening up, and when the blood races and the heart is quickened,
love pours in us and through us. When you water a garden remember that even before the
garden receives the water, the hose is cleaned first. So when we teach or serve in this
purity, that divine energy flows through us first before it goes to the student.
To the true humble person there is no praise nor blame: he keeps on working. For nothing
can inflate him or deflate him. He rises above it all and nothing can distract him from the
path of service.
What is the motivation? Is it self-aggrandizement, or is it the expression of ego: “I must be
held on a pedestal because I am doing this.” That kind of service has no value for the
person himself. You will always find that people who try to serve others in this manner have
many kinds of sufferings and imbalances. The reason is that they are not thinking of
others, but of themselves. That kind of service is not humility, it is vanity.
If service is performed as an offering, then praise or blame will not affect you at all.
Because once you find that inner joy of serving, you become like the lotus flower growing
amidst all the mud and yet untouched, forever remaining pure. Your very offering is joy,
and joy is the essence of purity.
People fail to serve because it is not natural to them. Because of karmic values, wrong
thinking, or wrong action they have lost the art of service. Service has not mechanics, it
must be allowed to flow. If we apply a mechanism or a pattern, service becomes a drudgery
and service ceases to be service, for service is an art. All offering is an art.
MORE ABOUT SERVICE BY GURURAJ ANANDA
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