by Steve Pollack

Many people in the world are struggling to find ways to control others, especially those who are close to them. But the main goal in spiritual and mystical pursuits is simply to learn how to control our own self. In the struggle for self-control, the ultimate weapon is love...self-love.

Let's work our way logically along the path of self-love. People often put the cart before the horse by reading the beautiful inner experiences of the Masters and saints. But contact with the Light is actually the last step in the process. Experiencing self-love starts in a much more mundane way. Remember, to love your higher self we must start to know the higher self. That knowledge begins to manifest only when we break free of the lower, petty self which is concerned mainly with our own welfare and that of the people nearest and dearest to us. The first step in experiencing love of the higher self is to get out of ourself by way of doing something completely and purely selfless, for the benefit of others. The Masters call this Seva or selfless service, or service before self.

There's a book called Random Acts of Kindness with hundreds of ideas for doing selfless service in our everyday lives. The ideas are presented in the form of mini- stories of real people who actually discovered these novel acts of kindness on their own. And here's a huge pitfall to watch out for. If we do these kinds of acts expecting to receive anything in return, or if we let them inflate our ego or false pride, we quickly and completely defeat the whole purpose of doing them. They must be done with a very pure motive; they must come from the heart. Otherwise, as Master Darshan Singh once explained to me, we are engaging in little more than an act of bartering, trading or manipulating. In other words we may be trying to exchange an act of kindness for an inner experience of contact with the light. Sant Darshan Singh once said to me that spirituality is not and never will be a business. You can't trade, barter or buy it. God gives us the gift of Light of his own sweet will, at the time which is best for our long-term spiritual progress.

It is helpful while trying to do selfless service to remember another er truth stated quite simply by Darshan Singh. Selfless service is its own reward. And we naturally receive the full benefit of it when we do it with that understanding.

How important can one little random act of kindness be? What difference can it possibly make in a hectic world filled with impatience, ego, anger, nastiness etc A precious little bit of human kindness can go a long way in the course of a lifetime. Who knows how many people who committed suicide, would have thought twice if they encountered more kind people during that emotionally insufferable day when they lost all hope.

A tiny act of human kindness can seem like a huge thing, a saving grace for someone who is starving for love, or for higher self-knowledge--which is the pure form of love.

There are two ways to receive love: One is when someone does an act of loving kindness to you. These can range from tiny acts such as a stranger holding a door open for you, all the way to huge acts, such as a spouse devoting his or her life to you.

The second way to receive love is to go within and receive it directly from the Celestial Light of God. To someone who learns how to do this, the other form of love is still very nice, but it is seen as a mere reflection of the brilliant love from within.

These two elements of 1) selfless service, and 2) contacting the light in meditation, are extremely powerful when they're both found combined in one person. In the ancient tradition of Sant Mat, such a person is called a mystic saint, or a master or prophet. These people provide inspiration and instruction...very loving instruction which helps other people to develop the same spiritual qualities and capabilities. This relationship that develops between teacher and student is a very special, beautiful one. This kind of teacher was at the root of all the great spiritual and religious traditions of this world. They taught people how important it is to do both, selfless service, and to go within to contact the light. It's the contact with the light that motivates us to do more selfless service, which in turn makes us more receptive to experiencing the light, and on and on, back and forth. Sant Darshan Singh used to describe it as acts of effort and grace.

Doing selfless service before you meditate generally makes the meditation process seem a little easier, a little more effortless. But still, we usually find meditation to be a great challenge. When it seems just too hard to even keep trying, that's when you have to be determined not to give up. Even if you see no results, never give up. If you keep going, you will eventually begin to see some results. Think of Michelangelo's persistence as he started chipping away at that huge slab of stone to create his famous sculpture, or the way he struggled to paint the ceiling of the Cistine Chapel.

Some want to just have a peak inner experience right away in meditation. But the secret is if you just practice the simple art of expressing your deepest love to God, then the peak experiences come in their own time.

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Copyright © All Rights Reserved 1996, 1997 Steve Pollack

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