Guest guest Posted August 6, 2001 Report Share Posted August 6, 2001 Service is the greatest worship of Lord. Service is indeed the essence of all religions. May it be a great saint, a great Self-realized soul, a great devotee of the Lord, a great Raja Yogin or a person who tries to attain the Supreme Lord through meditation, or ever a true atheist, or may it be a true orthodox person believing in any religion, there is one thing common among all of them, they serve the needy and poor. Every prophet, every seer or every avatar, has taught us to serve those who deserve it. Let us understand something in this context, our every single deed affects the entire community, and hence our own self, because we are a part of it. That means, if we do something with a destructive nature, it ends in our own destruction; and if something is done with a constructive nature, it leads to our own elevation. According to the Rig-veda, community is a manifestation of the Supreme Lord, hence serving the community means service of God. But, we should always remember that we need to SERVE and not to HELP. There is a great difference between serving and helping. In the letter, there is a sort of superiority complex, but in the former there is no such thing. If such superiority complex would be there, we would never be able to serve somebody truly with all heartedness, thus we need to avoid it. We are not a single drop greater or better than anybody else, only we are maybe a bit fortunate that the Lord has provided us with some facilities, which are only useful because they enable us to serve the next person. For this we should be thankful to the Lord. But we should also know that such facilities don't last long, because there is nothing stable in this world. Thus, we should always serve a person like we serve our own self by giving food, shelter or anything it needs. Due to some good or bad Karmas, some people have less facilities and other are provided with really much of them. This creates a state of misbalance in the community. Then what is the only way to reconstruct the equilibrium? The only way is that those who are provided with more facilities ought to share them with those who are provided with less of them. The task of every religion or religious scripture is to impel a rich person in this great work. If the Supreme God is seen in every one while we are serving, this is His greatest worship. We cannot do any greater favor to Him, than to worship Him in those forms that need it. I think it is what Krishna wants to say in the following Shlokas, "devoted to the welfare of all beings, my devotees attain Me, indeed" (12th chapter of Gita) and "The Yogin, who adores Me, feeling my presence in all beings, lives always in Me, no matter how he appears to live" (6th chapter of Gita). Vedism teaches us, that once free from bondage we can tread any path we feel perfect for ourselves. Thus, Vedism has developed many alternative paths to reach the same goal, God Realization. Among these various Paths of Yoga, there is one called Nada Yoga or meditation on Nada, the internal and eternal sound. Sound is the creative force of this Universe. This Yoga takes us to the same goal, which can be reached by other types of Yogas. But, we should always remember, as it is the case with all the paths of God-realization, perfection in any path can only be gained by serving God, may He be in any form. I'm very thankful to you that you are serving the community in two ways. You are giving knowledge to those who need it to reach the Supreme Goal of life and you are also serving those who need shelter and food etc. Let us pray together, "na tvaham kaamaye raajyam na svargam na punarbhavam. kaamaye dukhataptaanaam praaninaam aarti naashanam". O Lord! I don't want the Kingdome of this world, neither I want the Kingdome of heaven, neither I want freedom from this world. The only thing which I want is the annihilation of all sorrows and pains of all souls. Loving Regards, Siddhartha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2001 Report Share Posted August 7, 2001 Namastey ! Regarding service, i could not help adding yet another priceless quote by Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamiji: Saastram saareera meemaamsaa Devastu paramesvarah ! Aacaaryaah Sankaraachaaryaah Santu janmani janmani In all my future births, if my Guru is Sri Sankaracharya (and i do service to Him), and if my faith and understanding is the Sareera Mimaamsa and if the God i worship is Sri Paremaswara Himself, it does not matter how many births and rebirths i take. May these be granted to me in life after life. >From http://www.kamakoti.org/souv/1-1.html , the Genius of Bhaghavatpada ------------------- > Service is the greatest worship of Lord. Service is indeed the essence of > all religions. May it be a great saint, a great Self-realized soul, a great > devotee of the Lord, a great Raja Yogin or a person who tries to attain the > Supreme Lord through meditation, or ever a true atheist, or may it be a true > orthodox person believing in any religion, there is one thing common among > all of them, they serve the needy and poor. Every prophet, every seer or > every avatar, has taught us to serve those who deserve it. > Let us understand something in this context, our every single deed affects > the entire community, and hence our own self, because we are a part of it. > That means, if we do something with a destructive nature, it ends in our own > destruction; and if something is done with a constructive nature, it leads > to our own elevation. According to the Rig-veda, community is a > manifestation of the Supreme Lord, hence serving the community means service > of God. But, we should always remember that we need to SERVE and not to > HELP. There is a great difference between serving and helping. In the > letter, there is a sort of superiority complex, but in the former there is > no such thing. If such superiority complex would be there, we would never be > able to serve somebody truly with all heartedness, thus we need to avoid it. > We are not a single drop greater or better than anybody else, only we are > maybe a bit fortunate that the Lord has provided us with some facilities, > which are only useful because they enable us to serve the next person. For > this we should be thankful to the Lord. But we should also know that such > facilities don't last long, because there is nothing stable in this world. > Thus, we should always serve a person like we serve our own self by giving > food, shelter or anything it needs. > Due to some good or bad Karmas, some people have less facilities and other > are provided with really much of them. This creates a state of misbalance in > the community. Then what is the only way to reconstruct the equilibrium? The > only way is that those who are provided with more facilities ought to share > them with those who are provided with less of them. The task of every > religion or religious scripture is to impel a rich person in this great > work. If the Supreme God is seen in every one while we are serving, this is > His greatest worship. We cannot do any greater favor to Him, than to worship > Him in those forms that need it. I think it is what Krishna wants to say in > the following Shlokas, "devoted to the welfare of all beings, my devotees > attain Me, indeed" (12th chapter of Gita) and "The Yogin, who adores Me, > feeling my presence in all beings, lives always in Me, no matter how he > appears to live" (6th chapter of Gita). > Vedism teaches us, that once free from bondage we can tread any path we feel > perfect for ourselves. Thus, Vedism has developed many alternative paths to > reach the same goal, God Realization. Among these various Paths of Yoga, > there is one called Nada Yoga or meditation on Nada, the internal and > eternal sound. Sound is the creative force of this Universe. This Yoga takes > us to the same goal, which can be reached by other types of Yogas. But, we > should always remember, as it is the case with all the paths of > God-realization, perfection in any path can only be gained by serving God, > may He be in any form. > I'm very thankful to you that you are serving the community in two ways. You > are giving knowledge to those who need it to reach the Supreme Goal of life > and you are also serving those who need shelter and food etc. > Let us pray together, "na tvaham kaamaye raajyam na svargam na punarbhavam. > kaamaye dukhataptaanaam praaninaam aarti naashanam". O Lord! I don't want > the Kingdome of this world, neither I want the Kingdome of heaven, neither I > want freedom from this world. The only thing which I want is the > annihilation of all sorrows and pains of all souls. > Loving Regards, > Siddhartha > > > ------------------------ Sponsor ---------------------~--> > Small business owners... > Tell us what you think! > http://us.click./vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/XUWolB/TM > ---~ -> > > Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman. > Advaitin List Archives available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/ > To Post a message send an email to : advaitin > Messages Archived at: advaitin/messages > > > > Your use of is subject to > > > -------------------------- | http://www.kamakoti.org/ | | A website on Hinduism, | | with a difference ... | ----------------------- --- OREKA ! L'ACCES A INTERNET MOINS CHER ! Connaissez vous nos nouveaux forfaits ? 10H pour moins de 40F, ou 25H pour moins de 80F (Internet + télécoms) ! Découvrez les vite ! 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Guest guest Posted August 8, 2001 Report Share Posted August 8, 2001 Dear Venkatesh Ji, Very special thanks for sharing the precious quote. It has touched me deep to my heart. Thank you, Siddhartha > Namastey ! > > Regarding service, i could not help adding yet another priceless quote > by Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamiji: > > Saastram saareera meemaamsaa > Devastu paramesvarah ! > Aacaaryaah Sankaraachaaryaah > Santu janmani janmani > > In all my future births, if my Guru is Sri Sankaracharya (and i do > service to Him), and if my faith and understanding is the Sareera > Mimaamsa and if the God i worship is Sri Paremaswara Himself, it does > not matter how many births and rebirths i take. May these be granted > to me in life after life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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