The culmination of a path with the plants, or any spiritual healing path, leads us to the search for true human Dharma through service. As we begin to recognize the Dharma as the path to true humanity, we can begin to recognize the illusions of a false self that binds us to our suffering, and we recognize that the way out of our suffering is through service. Serving leads us to let go of all the ideas and conditioning of the false ego, and recognizing that in order to reach what is transcendent we must simply give of ourselves, for the benefit of others. Real love is in the hands that extend themselves without waiting. This is the gesture that converts us into humanity, by elevating us in consciousness to the divine being that is extending its hands to us and saying ‘trust’.
If we seek to understand real love, let us think of it as a one-way street, in a surrender that comes without conditions or expectations. This is the beginning of reaching towards the deepest essence of humanity which is compassion, and the search for this truth is a search to open the heart to love and through love.
As we progress on the path of healing, we begin to step out of our self-centeredness and to care for others; to extend our hands for the benefit and awakening of those around us. We begin to recognize the suffering within us, and to recognize that all around us there is suffering and misery. As we begin to see the benefits of the healing we receive, a sympathetic joy awakens in us and a natural desire arises to share and help others out of their suffering.
What does it mean to truly serve? No matter how noble the mission, true benefit cannot be received if the motivation for service is not sound. Service is not beneficial if it is rendered to inflate the ego, or to obtain something in return, even if it is just a few words of praise or appreciation or in search of gratitude, or to obtain positions of authority, respect, recognition, etc. It is important to observe whether such motivations arise in us, to observe our motivations with humility and rectitude, and to try to bow our heads in the spirit of true service – to give without expecting anything in return. For there is no reality nor truth in opening the hands to support another, if contaminated by the need for gratitude, aggrandisement or any other form of power.
The true nature of humanity is the energy of compassion, and it is available to all of us. If we give love, without attachments or expectations, we are truly giving and serving. The greatest limiting factor of human beings is pride, behind which most of our fears and suffering hide. The absence of pride opens the doors of any path and elevates us, but this is the most difficult task, because it is the same pride that prevents us from seeing it. It is similar to stupidity because it locks us in a limiting blindness. Pride is our greatest weakness of this human time and the result of pride is the need for recognition that blinds understanding and castrates the entire spiritual path; pride makes service unreal, fills us with fears through the ego, and worse still puts us in a limited world similar to stupidity. Serving with silence and humility frees us from this burden and brings us closer to our own nature. There are many ways to serve, and no form of service is less valuable than any other. All are invaluable, and it is a noble aspiration to serve simply and humbly in whatever way befits us.
By extending our hands in service, we can begin to rise to our true nature of compassion, and we are all equally capable of attaining it. What is important is the motivation for true service, though we need time for the intention to mature and to see the truth and purity in it: to really see the selfless intention to help without expecting anything in return. Seeking to open our hearts, and rising to our true nature of Being compassion and love. In every moment, with every action, with every potato we peel, we can seek to feel the prayer of service and compassion swelling in our hearts: “May others benefit, as I have benefited; may the fruits of my labor help relieve others of their suffering; may this work be for the benefit and awakening of all beings.”
As we practise, we begin to recognize the fruits of our labor: actions that cause harm to others also harm those who perform them, while actions that help others begin to bring peace and happiness to those who perform them. The true concept of sin is performing actions that harm myself. By recognizing this through experience, you begin to recognize the law of nature: You reap what you sow, and by helping others you are equally helping yourself. In serving others, we serve ourselves. In truly serving Love, we become our own nature of Love. By recognizing our true nature, and letting go of a false self, the fruit of selfishness and pain, we begin to plant seeds of love, peace and goodwill for others – through our intentions, thoughts and in our actions – and these same seeds begin to bear fruit. Peace, harmony and goodwill begin to arise spontaneously within us and, like an upward spiral, lift us into union with what we are.
There is no outer, there is no inner. In serving the other we are working our inner self. We are the reflection of the whole, and we reflect ourselves towards the understanding of our own suffering because we are everything – a little of every pain, limitation, addiction or suffering. Our inner self is filled with understanding, and we continue to discover ourselves and our nature. The pain and horror that you recognize in others is the same that you can recognize in yourself. What in others provokes a reaction in you, exists in you, it is your frequency or radiates from you; it is not alien to you. Seeing and serving others becomes our way to discover ourselves, to recognize our wounds, to let go and open our hearts.
Through service, you learn to apply your understanding in everyday life as well. By learning to act with equanimity and compassion when faced with difficult situations while serving, you are training yourself to reach and live in this frequency. Despite sometimes encountering unwanted behavior from another person, you practise generating love and compassion in response to the suffering of another, and maintaining the balance of your mind. This is the lesson we seek to master here, and in serving we remember that we are as much students and walkers on the path as those we serve.
As we serve, we can continually seek humility and compassion. We can continually remind ourselves, “I am here in training, to practise serving without expecting anything in return. I am working so that others may benefit.” And at all times seek to feel the nature of selfless service, of Love, Ananda, the love that gives and continues to give of itself.
Sanango, in collaboration with Ananda
January 27th 2023
Salir, Portugal
