Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, November 11, 2010

If you dedicate yourself to service, the doors will open.

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
"Alchemical Wisdom"


The doors will open, to ………. what???

This “line” has been held up before the human race by religionists and philosophers for ages. It says, You will be happy if you don’t put yourself first, perhaps if you don’t think of yourself at all, if you just love other people and spend your Life helping others meet their needs, be “humble”. God will love you for behaving this way and will reward you in Heaven – not in this Earthly Life because the point of this Earthly Life is to humiliate the Self so it’s clear that you are clear that you can’t “deserve” the love of the Divine One.

I think this is utter masochistic spiritual crap.

I believe that we can never authentically begin to serve others until we have been awakened to Belovedness. Oh, many people “serve” others, for various reasons. Because we “must”. Because it’s taught us. Because we think that serving others means denying ourselves. We may all begin this way – though I have been blessed to know some Great Souls who transcended this at an early stage. Such “service” may assist others, but it is not true Service. It is condescension, and it dangerous to our souls.

Authentic service flowers when we know that the Other is Us; when we serve because what we offer enhances the humanity of our Self and the Other; it can’t be otherwise. Serving another out of a sense of serving oneself reveals that we have understood Compassion and the Unity of all things Holy.

Serve by all means. But remember it is an invitation to the transformation of yourself.

Brian+