So I was re-reading some of these posts and I realized they’re really long and quite a bit heavy. Not to mention they’re two months old. (I can mention it, you probably shouldn’t) So I thought I would put some things down in more raw form as they come to me. For example, this morning during Sadhana-meditation some stuff occurred to me. Yogi Bhajan saying (and I can’t reference the quote directly but…) basically when you serve others, The Creator serves you. I understood it as it came to me in meditation, but explaining what I think it is, is a whole other thing.
Here goes. When you do something self-less, meaning you forget about your own needs and concerns for a moment and serve another, your ego is suppressed. That creates an imbalance because the whole world is duality– pairs of opposites and when everything you see is in terms of “us and them,” then it’s in balance, because that’s our world. When you act in selflessness, a vacuum is created and the divine has no choice but to serve you. I guess this is what’s known as Karma Yoga. Selfless acts are said to take you out of the wheel of karma, the push-pull of cause and effect. So when an individual acts without regard to self, all focus is on the other and for that time there’s just the one rather than the dual focus of me and mine, theirs and them. Also remember it’s all one– energy is neither created nor destroyed (this is science talking.) It’s one big ball of wax and when you look at it like that, then the law of the vaccum makes sense. By being selfless and serving your fellow man (or wo-man) you create an imbalance in the one big system and that imbalance has to be filled. This is a blessing and as far as I am able to go explaining it, because at some point, you just have to try selfless service for the experience of it.
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Okay so I won’t stop trying to explain it there…
Yet another way to look at it simply is: It feels good to do good for others, however you define that. And what is the root of the word “good,” but God. And what is God? (calm down this isn’t religion) God is simply the force of creation within every one and every thing. Or not.
I think what Yogi Bhajan meant, and what seemed to come to me this morning is: that vacuum must be filled and since you’re focused on another in selflessness, The Creator focuses on you to fill that void or bring nature back into balance. It’s as if helping another is helping yourself since all are one. So give till it hurts… or rather give until no one hurts anymore.
Another thing I thought was interesting is the word INDIVIDUAL. In-Divi-Dual
- In=not
- divi=divisible
- dual=a duad or pair
So the word individual essentially means (to me) one not divisible by dual(ity) or perhaps one living in duality?
The dictionary has an interesting take on it: I always thought you weren’t supposed to use the actual word in its definition. At least that’s what I was taught. Anyway you can see for yourself, but the dictionary pretty much defines an ‘individual’ as a person or personality set apart from society or a group. I think it actually has much more power and meaning than that. I think an individual being is one (indivisible) by duality. When you’re actually being, in the moment, really focused on being rather than wanting to be somewhere else, you’re one with the moment, and the moment is the gateway to the soul. The soul is one, so when you’re truly expressing your individuality in the moment, you’re one with soul and not suffering the chasm of duality, which is where pain is. This is definitely hair-splitting, but it’s cool when you think about it, because everyone wants to be a distinct individual– especially in this age of reality TV and instant, talentless fame.
So what does being an individual truly mean? Different from the rest? One person just living in a dual world? One apart from the society? One in contrast to two? By virtue of that, when an individual acts selflessly, then they drop part of their duality and become one with that which they are serving. When you put the focus on others and give in a true spirit of service to another, you don’t have time to think about all your own miserable problems. In a way, that’s an act of surrender and surrendering to the higher within yourself is always where miracles happen, surprises appear and good luck thrives.
I guess that’s a lot of words to say selflessness is like godliness. Anyway, it gets tricky no matter how you slice it, because if you’re standing around stroking your hair, going, “I’m soo selfless.” then it’s not gonna work. The trick is to really be truly selfless and that takes a lot of work because there are greater and greater degrees of it. For example, your Mom, for one… and then, let’s say, Mother Theresa.
Selfishness? Sorry I really don’t have time to explore that right now.