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Divine love manifests itself in service.
When we say service, we mean serving with love.
Serve with an attitude of selflessness.
Serve because of your love of God, not because of a selfish motive.
One of the important milestones on the spirtual path is the transformation
of selfishness into selflessness. Monitor your motives constantly and make
sure your service is selfless.
Selfless service is an ideal offering to the divine.
Serve with humility. Why? Because
God distances himself from the proud and the arrogant.
True lovers of God are humble and modest.
They are grateful that God has blessed
them with an opportunity to serve. They don't take credit for the service they
render. They remain convinced that it was God's grace that made them do whatever
good they did. They think of themselves as instruments of God, not as
prime movers.
Always remember the three ornaments of service:
How exactly does the devotee serve God?
The devotee serves God by serving God's houses of worship,
God's representatives,
God's devotees and God's children.
There's nothing in this universe that's not God, but the divine spark is present
in a greater degree in some and to a lesser degree in others. Likewise, God is present
everywhere, but his presence is more pronounced in his houses of worship than in other places.
So temple service is an important way of serving God. Temple service doesn't just mean
going to the temple, church or mosque. It means upkeep and renovation.
The devotee wants to ensure that everyone can get the most out of their visit to the temple.
To this end, he makes sure that
all temple related activities happen smoothly. He works to make sure that everything
is in proper repair and prays for the good of all.
Who are God's representatives? The Sathgurus and the Siddhas are God's representatives.
They have been sent here for the spiritual upliftment of the masses.
So serving them and being of assistance to them is the best way of serving God.
The Siddhas say that God loves his devotees so much that he becomes a devotee of his devotees!
So serving the devotees plays an important role in serving God.
Who are God's children? All of us are.
If you want to see God, first learn to see him in the poor and the needy.
If you serve the poor and the needy, you will see God easily.
Ther are many ways to serve the poor and the needy.
First, feed the poor. Why? Because food = life. The scriptures
refer to the body as anna maya kosha, the sheath made out of food.
Without food, there's no way of keeping body and soul together.
So the first step in serving God's children is to feed the poor.
Once you have fed them, clothe and shelter them.
Arrange for free medical help for them. Educate them for free. In short,
do your best to
improve their lot in life. He who does this with love, selflessness and humility
is a saint among men and it is such a one that sees God. God's love flows in torrents
towards he who loses his self by immersing himself in the service of
God's children. Since he identified himself with others,
he doesn't lose his self but becomes one with God, the Universal Self.
