WHAT IS SERVICE TO SELF ?
Questioner: What do you mean by Service to Self ? Can you please explain ?
Enlightened soul: There are only two kinds of religion (dharma). One is service to the world and the other is service to the Self. The service to the Self falls under the 'home department,' and those who perform worldly service will get worldly happiness and material wealth. Where neither is to be found, there exist only social lectures which can dangerously delude and intoxicate (keyf) the ego of a person. Wherever there is any kind of a worldly service, there exists dharma. If you cannot provide service for the world, then do the service to your own Self. The service to one's own Self is higher than the service to the world, because the one who serves his Self does not hurt anyone!
Enlightened soul: There are only two kinds of religion (dharma). One is service to the world and the other is service to the Self. The service to the Self falls under the 'home department,' and those who perform worldly service will get worldly happiness and material wealth. Where neither is to be found, there exist only social lectures which can dangerously delude and intoxicate (keyf) the ego of a person. Wherever there is any kind of a worldly service, there exists dharma. If you cannot provide service for the world, then do the service to your own Self. The service to one's own Self is higher than the service to the world, because the one who serves his Self does not hurt anyone!
Questioner: But surely a person has to have this realization?
Enlightened soul:That realization is not easy.
Questioner: How can it be acquired?
Enlightened soul: You have to ask a Gnani Purush, 'Sir, are you doing service for the world or are you serving your Self?' He will reply, 'I am serving the Self only!' Then you have to request, 'Please show me that way.'
The Signs of Service to the Self (Atma)
Questioner: What are the signs of the service to one's Self?
Enlightened soul: The primary sign, prerequisite, is to not hurt any living being. Everything falls under this main quality. This includes celibacy (brahmacharya). Non-celibacy is tantamount to hurting someone. Even in consensual sex, millions of potentially living beings (jivas) die in the process. This is the same as willfully hurting others. With such non-celibacy (abrahmacharya), service to others ceases. Other signs (lakshan) of service to the Self are that one does not lie, steal, commit violence or hoard money. Hoarding money and other material things is a kind of violence (himsa). It hurts others. Everything is encompassed in this.
Questioner: What are the other signs (lakshan) of service to the Self? When can one say that he is doing service to the Self?
Enlightened soul: The one who serves the Self does not hurt anyone even when others hurt him. Not only that, he will not wish them ill. On the contrary, he will bless the person who hurts him. In the service to the Self, even when a person yells abusively at you, you will not be affected. You simply have to 'see' what you are doing. The other person may continue to talk like a radio, but You simply have to 'see' that 'the radio is blaring.'
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