Service

"Everything in our modern substitutes for religion—whether Baconian or Rousseauistic—will be found to converge upon the idea of service. The crucial question is whether one is safe in assuming that the immense machinery of power that has resulted from activity of the utilitarian type can be made, on anything like present lines, to serve disinterested ends; whether it will not rather minister to the egoistic aims either of national groups or of individuals."

"The attitude following action. What should this attitude be? Utter dispassion, utter self-forgetfulness, and utter occupation with the next step to be taken. The perfect server is he who does to the utmost of his ability what he believes to be the Master's will, and the work to be done by him in co-operation with God's plan. Then, having done his part, he passes on to a continuance of the work, and cares not for the result of his action. He knows that wiser eyes than his see the end from the beginning... He does not suffer from pride over what he has done, nor from undue depression over lack of accomplishment. At all times he does his very best, and wastes not time in backward contemplation, but steadily presses forward to the accomplishment of the next duty. P. 343/9"

"This call to service usually meets with a response, but that response is coloured by the personality of the aspirant, and tinctured with his pride, and his ambition. Need is truly realised. The desire to meet the need is genuine and sincere; the longing to serve and lift is real. Steps are taken which are intended by the aspirant to enable him to fit in with the plan... It is easy to be glamoured by the beauty of one's own ideals and vision, and by the supposed rectitude of one's own position, and yet all the time be influenced subjectively by love of personal power, individual ambition, jealousy of other workers, and the many traps which catch the feet of the unwary disciple... But if true impersonality is cultivated, if the power to stand steady is developed, if every situation is handled in a spirit of love, and if there is a refusal to take hasty action and to permit separation to creep in, then there will be the growth of a group of true servers, and the gathering out of those who can materialise the plan, and bring to birth the new age and its attendant wonders. p. 622- 625"

"This Law of Service was expressed for the first time fully by the Christ, two thousand years ago. . . . Today, we have a world which is steadily coming to the realisation that "no man liveth unto himself", and that only as the love, about which so much has been written and spoken, finds its outlet in service, can man begin to measure up to his innate capacity. . . . Service is usually interpreted as exceedingly desirable, and it is seldom realised how very difficult service essentially is. It involves so much sacrifice of time and of interest, and of one's own ideas, it requires exceedingly hard work, because it necessitates deliberate effort, conscious wisdom, and the ability to work without attachment. These qualities are not easy of attainment... and yet today the tendency to serve is an attitude which is true of a vast majority of the people of the world. Such has been the success of the evolutionary process. p. 119/20"

"Service itself is definitely the result of a tremendous inner happening, and when that result is brought about, it will be found to have produced a number of creative secondary causes. These are, primarily, a change in the lower consciousness, a tendency to turn away from the things of the personal self, to the larger issues of the group, a re-orientation which is real and expressive, and a power to change conditions (through creative activity) which is the demonstration of something dynamically new... As the work of learning to serve proceeds, and the inner contact becomes more sure, the next thing which will occur, will be a deepening of the life of meditation, and a more frequent illumining of the mind by the light of the soul. Thereby the Plan is revealed. p.15 - 133/5"

"We are his, To serve him nobly in the common cause, True to the death, but not to be his slaves."

"A master is embarrassed before his servant; a servant before his master. Only in the presence of his equals is a man entirely at his ease."

"The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve."

"A servant is the true reflection of his master."

"Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."

"We say that life is service for evolution. One might find it simpler to say that life is evolution, but We emphasize the idea of service. Indeed, everything is in the process of evolution, but life’s full expression can come only under conditions of voluntary service. It is the voluntary quality of service that indicates the rightness of the path. In general, people dislike the concept of service. They dream about a time when there will be no need for it, and would be horrified to learn that all of life is unending service... It is hard for them to understand that art is a refined aid for evolution, and that We recommend the mastery of any art or craft as a rapid approach to service. A master will willingly agree to perpetual service in the perfection of his art, and feels no need to count the hours of labor.... Our life is a voluntary mastership and is not concerned with limits. 305"

"Even on Earth it is possible to almost forget time, and service becomes joy. I affirm that one can prepare oneself for such service under all circumstances. One need not be a sage to accept life as something important and responsible. There are examples of even simple farmers who were ready to devote themselves to the idea of service. It was the loss of this concept of service that turned earthly life into slavery and insanity. But the time is approaching when people will be looking, even unwittingly, for the purpose of life. They will first refer to evolution in scientific terms, but the next step will be the acceptance of service as the right approach to life. The Thinker taught that the concept of service can solve the riddles of life. 305"

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

"Servant of God, well done."

"We all have different types of duties and responsibilities towards our family, our society, our spiritual life and our dharma – righteousness. We are one big family; we depend on each other for our existence – we cannot exist alone. Therefore, Therefore, we should work for the good of all. That is what dharma essentially is, to perform our duties... When we think of our duties towards our family, our society, our religious life and our dharma, we do not become self-centred, but start to think more about others, trying to do things for others; that is what is called seva – selfless service. Through the spirit of selfless service we become detached and our mind becomes purified. The essential teaching of the Bhagavad Gita is to do seva. Lord Krishna said that through that spirit of selfless activities, when we have nothing to gain and nothing to lose by not doing, performing seva all the time to our family, and so on, we attain that height of realization whereby our mind becomes absorbed in God."

"Master, go on, and I will follow thee, To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty."

"Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies."

"We cannot all be masters, nor all masters cannot be truly followed."

"My heart is ever at your service."

"You know that love Will creep in service where it cannot go."

"There comes a time, not too long into the journey to God, when the realization that the world could work beautifully if we would give it the chance, begins to excite us. It becomes our new motivation... The news isn’t how bad things are. The news is how good they could be. And our own activity could be part of the unfolding of Heaven on earth. There is no more powerful motivation than to feel we’re being used in the creation of a world where love has healed all wounds... We are no longer ambitious for ourselves, but are rather inspired by the vision of a healed world. Inspiration rearranges our energies. It sources within us a new power and direction. We no longer feel like we’re trying to carry a football to the finish line, clutching it to our chest and surrounded by hostile forces. We feel instead as though angels are pushing us from behind and making straight our path as we go. (Ch. 7... Sales to Service)"

"Purity of heart will not make us poor. The exaltation of poverty as a spiritual virtue is of the ego, not the spirit. A person acting from a motivation of contribution and service rises to such a level of moral authority, that worldly success is a natural result... Give all your gifts away in service to the world. If you want to paint, don’t wait for a grant. Paint a wall in your town that looks drab and uninviting. You never know who’s going to see that wall. Whatever it is you want to do, give it away in service to your community. (Ch. 7... Sales to Service)"

"Understanding who you serve is always a very important problem, and it only gets harder the more people that you serve. We try to pay a lot of attention to this by a combination of very rigorous quantitative and qualitative feedback. But if you’re serving 1.2 billion people, it’s very hard."

"If I had always served God as I have served you, Madam, I should not have a great account to render at my death."

"And Master Kingston, this I will say—had I but served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would not have given me over in my grey hairs."

"When I have attempted to join myself to others by services, it proved an intellectual trick,—no more. They eat your service like apples, and leave you out. But love them, and they feel you, and delight in you all the time."

"Had I but written as many odes in praise of Muhammad and Ali as I have composed for King Mahmud, they would have showered a hundred blessings on me."

"Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?"

"Sidney Godolphin," said Charles (II), "is never in the way and never out of the way."

"Who seeks for aid Must show how service sought can be repaid."

"They also serve who only stand and wait."

"They serve God well, Who serve his creatures."

"God curse Moawiyah. If I had served God so well as I have served him, he would never have damned me to all eternity."

"Domini pudet non servitutis."

"Small service is true service while it lasts: Of humblest friends, bright Creature! scorn not one; The Daisy, by the shadow that it casts, Protects the lingering dew drop from the Sun."