Serve and be near.
Devotion is not measured by physical closeness to the Master, but by the degree of surrender in the heart. Wherever we are, a thousand miles away, we can serve and be near.
If I "serve humanity," I may soon burn out with disappointment. But let me serve the Guru Tattva dwelling in each heart, the Divine Seed. Let me serve the infinite possibility of Love planted in all finite creatures. That is service to the Master.
Is one form of service superior to another? It is neither whom nor how we serve that makes our service pure, but the depth of our faith in the heart. The social activist uplifts the poor and homeless. Mother serves by raising her child. How can one be better than the other?
One protests injustice or marches for peace. Another rescues and heals abused animals. A student serves by learning human values. A blacksmith shoes the horse. A merchant expands business, providing jobs. An artist creates pictures, poems and music to heal the world. A soldier serves by protecting.
One of the deepest forms of vanity is to imagine that one's own way of service is better, or that one is really saving the earth, saving humanity. The earth is impermanent; it cannot be saved. Humanity cannot be saved. What dissolves cannot be saved, whether it vanishes in a moment or in ten million years. What is saved is eternal Awareness of the divine.
When we practice meditation, for a little while we relinquish all belief, all anxiety, all memory, every form of 'I,' and we dissolve into boundless Love. Even a moment of that transcendence sends a purifying thrill of beauty through the whole creation. This too is of great service.
Serve and be near, wherever you are. Jai Guru Dev.
Devotion is not measured by physical closeness to the Master, but by the degree of surrender in the heart. Wherever we are, a thousand miles away, we can serve and be near.
If I "serve humanity," I may soon burn out with disappointment. But let me serve the Guru Tattva dwelling in each heart, the Divine Seed. Let me serve the infinite possibility of Love planted in all finite creatures. That is service to the Master.
Is one form of service superior to another? It is neither whom nor how we serve that makes our service pure, but the depth of our faith in the heart. The social activist uplifts the poor and homeless. Mother serves by raising her child. How can one be better than the other?
One protests injustice or marches for peace. Another rescues and heals abused animals. A student serves by learning human values. A blacksmith shoes the horse. A merchant expands business, providing jobs. An artist creates pictures, poems and music to heal the world. A soldier serves by protecting.
One of the deepest forms of vanity is to imagine that one's own way of service is better, or that one is really saving the earth, saving humanity. The earth is impermanent; it cannot be saved. Humanity cannot be saved. What dissolves cannot be saved, whether it vanishes in a moment or in ten million years. What is saved is eternal Awareness of the divine.
When we practice meditation, for a little while we relinquish all belief, all anxiety, all memory, every form of 'I,' and we dissolve into boundless Love. Even a moment of that transcendence sends a purifying thrill of beauty through the whole creation. This too is of great service.
Serve and be near, wherever you are. Jai Guru Dev.
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