Ah Man Blog

Helping Ourselves...and Others

Of all the service and sacrifice one can perform, the highest form is helping ourselves and/or others attain God Consciousness, Buddha Consciousness, Christ Consciousness, Krishna Consciousness, etc.  Attaining or helping another to attain Self-realization (who they really are) is actually the goal of human life.

Attaining God Consciousness is when one is able to see God in everything...realizing that She/He is the Supreme Doer, the cause of all causes.  I know that this description can be elaborated on, but for my purposes, I’ll use this very concise description.

The Self-realization I speak of is not the realization of one’s full potential here on the material plane, but the realization of I AM.  Yes, I AM that I AM.  This is pure love, pure consciousness, pure awareness.

So being an environmentalist, humanitarian, etc., is important, and each of those roles helps raise our consciousness. Some are even able to see and experience God while performing these services. Those who are on the receiving end can, at times, also see the service as an act of God.  They may even come to realize that there is something more to life then this experience and are then lead on their journey to the path of Self-realization and a deeper relationship with God.

So, why is Self-realization and God consciousness the highest form of service?  There are so many reasons that I cannot answer them all.  But think of service and sacrifice for a moment and what it means to you.  In my April Newsletter and the blogs for this month, I said service and sacrifice is the act of giving without expecting anything in return.

In order to obtain God consciousness or Self-realization, one has to give up one’s own desires.  We get a glimpse of this when we fall in love or have children.  We give up certain activities and other things we like for the one we love.  And in return we receive something back.  It could be as simple as spending more time with that person or saving up to buy them something, etc.

In attaining God consciousness and Self-realization, we give up our own selfish desires.  To have a desire to be the best you can be…to create the best project at school…to become the best ball player…raise the most money during an event…these are not the desires I am talking about.

The desires I refer to include having the biggest house, the most money in the bank, the best-looking body, etc.  This does not mean we live like hermits.  We can still enjoy life and experience pleasure, but not to the extent that those things are controlling us.  They are not our goals in life.

We need money to exist and we work to earn it, but we don’t let work become the most important thing in our lives.  We buy a home to have a nice place for our family to live, but not to the point of letting it become an obsession.  We take care of the wonderful bodies we are blessed with, but remember that we are not our bodies.  When we pass on, our bodies remain behind.

The Prophet Mohammad said, “Be of this world as if you are a traveler—a passerby—because this is not your home. Sometimes you sit under the shade of a tree. Sometimes you sit by a lake with your clothes and shoes full of dust.  But you are just a traveler-passerby. This is not your home.”

So while you’re performing your service, whatever it may be, remember the Love that never ends, the Divine Love.  The love of the Divine is a love that is unselfish.

Following is a wonderful poem:

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.
~Rabindranath Tagore

[Rabindranath Tagore, (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941), was a poet, novelist, musician, and playwright who reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1913, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tagore was perhaps the most important literary figure of Bengali literature. He was a representative of the Indian culture whose international influence and popularity internationally perhaps could only be compared to that of Gandhi, whom Tagore named “Mahatma” out of deep admiration.]

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Sacrifice and Service

As I have discussed over the past few weeks, there are different ways of performing service. 

For example, there is environmentalism, as mentioned last week.  Another way is humanitarianism…helping other living entities on the planet. There are so many people doing such important work on the planet today by helping others who are less fortunate.

Like ripples in a pond, it expands from individuals such as Sam, the young man who’s Bar Mitzvah I attended, to celebrities, to organizations, to Temples and Churches and so many more.

Most of these people are truly sacrificing something to try and help others. We who are more fortunate than others have a responsibility to help the less fortunate.  At the 12-step group meetings, there is often a sign that says something like this: “Whenever someone is in need, the hand of AA is there.”

But we have to remember something.  This is the material world, not the spiritual world.  There is pain here and there always will be.  What is important is that we try to help others through their pain and remember that we can only offer help.  There will be times when our help will not be – or cannot be – accepted.  Not everyone is meant to be helped.

Pain and suffering is part of the journey for all of us.  It is our teacher. Some saints and sages say that we choose a particular pain before we take a human form, so that it will help us heal from our past…help us on our journey back home…the journey to our higher Self.

Even the greatest saints and avatars suffered.  The Buddha suffered until he became self realized. Jesus had The Passion.  Mohammad suffered great mental anguish concerning his relationship with his father. Who are we to expect to go through life without suffering?

Service is important, but is also important to realize that sacrifice is often a part of the package. We just must remember not to get caught up in or distracted by the consequences.

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Commemorating Earth Day

Service is a wonderful activity. And helping the environment is one of the highest forms of service.  It is the equivalent of respecting the Divine Mother in a different way.

Thursday, April 22, 2010, is Earth Day.

Our earth has been created and given to us as a gift. It provides us life, just as our mothers provided us with our lives. It’s easy to understand why so many traditions refer to our planet as Mother Earth or our Mother.

There are so many ways to do service for the environment.

Ever since I was a teenager, I have understood the importance of not polluting and trying to make things better then they are now.  Let’s face it…Mother Earth is not in the same condition as she was thousands of years ago.

Earth Day is every day to a lot of us.  There are many ways to honor Mother Earth, including:

Not polluting: Properly disposing of trash.  Let’s not forget that others can use some of the things we are no longer using.

Recycling: Most of the pollution we have is from us not properly recycling. For instance, our neighbor to the north (Canada) recycles approximately 80% of its trash. In the U.S., we recycle about 20%.  If you take into consideration that Canada has about 32 million people and the U.S. has a population of about 300 million, it’s clear that we are causing a big problem.

There are so many other ways to help our environment, such as:

• Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling.
  

• Being more conscious of how much air conditioning and heat you’re using.
  

• Making the switch to more energy-efficient light bulbs. Yes, this works! Use the new CFL bulbs wherever you can.
  

• Drive less and drive smart.  An example of driving smart is making sure your tires are properly inflated. This one action saves gas and causes less carbon dioxide emission.
  

• Buying energy-efficient appliances and vehicles, especially new cars.
  

• And there’s so much more we can do…shutting off the lights, using less hot water, planting trees, etc.
  

But what is equally, if not more, important is to not let these activities become too vital to you.  In other words, do what you can.  But if/when your efforts to be environmentally responsible become more significant then your daily spiritual activities and well-being, it’s a sign that you have become overshadowed by your efforts.

Even good intentions go south sometimes. Not everyone is going to be in the same place as we are, or where we’d like him or her to be. Educating others and letting go is important. For more ways to find out how not to be over shadowed by life events, contact me at Michael@ah-man.com.

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Different Types of Service and Sacrifice

Service/sacrifice is something we do without expecting it to result in any acknowledgement or personal gain. We put something that has value to us out to others, in hopes that it will make their lives better.So are we doing service when we make sacrifices for our family?  When a mother and father get along with less so that they can give more to their children, is that service?  Of course it is.

Is volunteering our time to the local community to help others who are less fortunate then us service?  Yes, it is.

If you own your own business, taking on a client who can benefit from your service, but who is unable to pay for it, is another possible form of service.

Praying for others daily is service.

Tithing is a form of service (and a sacrifice, as well, for some).

Meditating is another form of service.

What we are trying to do is have compassion for others and help them in some way, shape or form, without expecting anything in return.  In some cases, we are helping them at the very core of their being…their Higher Self.

There are different types of service… environmentalists… humanitarians…  religious… spiritualists… mystics.  Each of these groups provides help to others in some form.  Over the next couple of weeks, I will expand on the different types of service and explore which ones bring about the greatest benefit.

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The Service and Sacrifice of Silence

I will start off the first blog of the month by describing something I do on a daily basis: honoring the Silence.

I have always felt comfortable in the silence, even at a very young age.  I can remember being attracted to George Harrison because he was “the quiet one.”  Friends would always ask me, “What’s wrong, why are you so quiet?”

I never understood why something had to be wrong, just because I was quiet.  Later in life I was told about meditation.  I remember thinking “Now I can be quiet without anyone asking me ‘what’s wrong.’”

So, as you can see, silence was natural for me.  I understand that it’s not for everyone.  Some people always need some activity going on to feel comfortable, which is fine for them.  But for me it’s disturbing

When I became a monk, I fell into the silence easily. Later, after I left the ashram, I continued to practice silence whenever I could; mostly in nature.  I would go away to the mountains, sometimes by myself, and just sit in the silence.  I was always aware of the peace that came over me and stayed with me after being in the silence.

People would be attracted to me because of my silence.  They would tell me they feel my silence and are more at peace with themselves when around me.

Later, I would learn about TM…Transcendental Meditation. It has been scientifically proven that TM, also known as contemplative meditation, sends out vibrations that can alter the consciousness of a plant, person or even a state of people.

Paramahansa Yogananda, a self realized soul once said “One sincere person in meditation and prayer does more for the world then all its leaders, humanitarians, and politicians combined.”

Today, I sit in silent meditation every day for some time.  This is my sacrifice/service to the world.  Yes, I enjoy meditation. But to commit one’s self daily is a sacrifice.

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