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There are three factors that determine the type and quality of the service that we perform: 1. The inner connectivity we have with Truth. When people start out to serve, they "want to do good" and thus they give money, aid the homeless, etc. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. It builds good karma and there is merit to that. They are connected up with their mental idea of what service is, and serve accordingly. Later, people see that the service that they are performing is not something that is meaningful in the higher sense. That is, they see that their feeding the homeless only affects the fate of human beings temporarily, in this one lifetime, and is relatively meaningless towards leading someone Home to the divine Reality in which homelessness cannot exist. So they seek a higher purpose, and a greater Truth that their service may be anchored to. They therefore eventually realize that they need to connect up inwardly to Truth, and be guided by it, and therefore directly respond to the divine Plan, and thus serve at this higher level. Thus they connect up with the Heart, so that the inner divine inspiration may flow. Then their aim is no longer to fix or modify things in this world, which is after all only an illusion, but to bring through whatever they can of the divine Reality so that It may act within this world as It Wills. 2. The emptiness of our personality nature. At first we are taught that we need to "equip ourselves for service." That is, to purify the emotions, build up the mind with knowledge, obtain virtues, and otherwise become fit disciples capable of serving humanity. This is certainly fine and necessary when we seek to perform the service that is done within the world, e.g., feed the homeless. When, however, we realize that we are seeking to do the higher kind of service, the whole task shifts. If we are able to connect up with the Heart — and thus with Truth — and let the energies of the Heart express through us, then it does not particularly matter what knowledge we have acquired, or how loving we may be as individuals. The Heart knows what to do, and uses the personality instrument as needed to inspire, lift, and aid. If the individual server lets their own energies of personal loving and individual mentality manifest, it literally blocks the outflow of the Heart's power. The ego gets in the way of expressing the divine Will. Thus instead of building up virtue, knowledge, and loving kindness, the task shifts to becoming a vessel that can effectively transmit divine Qualities. Instead of "building up" the personality we are seeking to "empty it" so that there is no impediment to the divine Will acting in our lives. Therefore, instead of going out to serve on our own volition, we wait for the Heart to act within us. Instead of trying to produce effects in this world, we stand serene and "let God do the work." It's true, too, that most people need to build up the personality for a time — for lifetimes usually — before they are really ready to empty themselves. 3. The ability to work in group formation. At first, we work with others to serve. We gather people together, form a non-profit, and otherwise jointly unite to produce a given service effect, such as feeding the homeless, or gather to study, meditate together, and pray. People call this "group work" and I guess by the standards of the world it is. In this higher type of service, we are not doing things of ourselves, based on the capacity of our own personality. We are acting as a part of the group, and the divine Spirit clearly moves each of us individually in such a way that the action of the whole group produces one united service effect. The group is like a hand, and each of us are fingers; individually we cannot grasp anything nor direct the hand, but together there is an accomplishment that none of us on our own could either see or achieve. Thus it is no longer "my service" but rather is and must be "our service." It is no longer "individual" in nature at all, for the divine Life does not see us as personalities... it sees the group as a whole in action. Being a part of the world illusion, our individual knowledge, love, and actions are totally invisible to God. But our united work, together, is indeed visible, and when a group of people with an awakened Heart serve, they can be guided by divine Love and Will to produce planetary and cosmic effects. When Christ said "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I also" he sounded the call to group work, and to united, collaborative action. People have of course thought that simply getting together was enough for Christ to be present. But it takes an inner connectivity with the Truth in the Heart and an empty ego to really allow Christ to work in our lives. You will surely see, then, that it depends on where we inwardly stand as to what type of service we perform. We will do the type of service that we are inwardly called to do. |
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