Right Understanding To Help Others

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Mahavideh Foundation

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Right Understanding to Help Others
mankind once he has had a vision (darshan) of God because having had such a vision, he would not leave God alone. To see and experience God, people offer service to others. Service to others should be sincere and done from the heart; only then it is fruitful. When a person acquires fame and prestige for his service to others, it can create a lot of difficulties for him. When service to people is done without any expectations of recognition, then it is real. Prestige may indeed come, but one should not have any expectations and desire for it.
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Generally, people are not inclined to serve others, but within them lay the need and the greed for fame and recognition; this is what drives them to do so. The one whose services for others are true and pure is the one who is non-acquisitive (aparigrahi). Such a one has no desire or need for anything. On the whole, people give service to others with expectations and subtle beggary and greed for fame, recognition and an expectation of position of power down the road. When one's intentions are devious, external difficulties will arise. When one becomes free from beggary and expectations, everything works out. On the one hand, people want to possess as much as they can (parigraha), and on the other, they want to Help Others. How can the two together be possible?
Questioner: Right now, my service to people is that I go begging from door to door and then give to the poor.
Dadashri: All your efforts will be credited in your karmic account. Whatever you do as a middleman will be taken into consideration and you will be rewarded accordingly. As your reward, you will have peace in your next life and you will also have peace in this life.
Real service is that which is done silently, without anyone's knowledge. If it is visible, then it is not called a service.
I met a man in Surat who told me that he was doing community service. I asked him, 'What kind of community
Right Understanding to Help Others
service (samaaj seva)?" He told me that he collected money from wealthy businessmen and gave it to the poor. I asked him whether he knew how the money he gave away was spent. He asked me why there was a need to know once he had given the money away. I told him that I would show him a way to help the poor. He should collect the money from the wealthy, but instead of giving it directly to the poor, he should buy a vegetable cart for a poor man and give him some money to buy vegetables. He should tell him to sell the vegetables and from the profit he makes, he should reimburse him a certain amount every day for the cart, allowing him to keep the rest. It is not necessary for the poor to start a large business. Selling vegetables would earn them enough money at the end of the day. This incense fills the entire room with its fragrance as it burns. Can we not create a fragrance also? How can we do that?
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In my late twenties, I had a heavy ego and not only that, my ego was very eccentric. I used to feel that if a person did not benefit in some way by meeting me, then it was useless for him to meet me. So everyone that I came across benefited from meeting me. What good would it do them to meet me if they did not gain something from me? Similarly, this mango tree stands to benefit others. It says, 'I am not a mango tree if a person cannot enjoy my fruits while the mangos are in season. It does not matter if my mangos are small, they should pick whatever they like and get some enjoyment from eating my fruits." The tree does not reap its own fruits. Should we not think like this too? How can we become worthy of a human life? If people were explained in this manner, they would become wise. What do you think?
Questioner: Yes, groups of such good community workers were to be found everywhere, just as you are saying.
Dadashri: But today, even that too is ruined. Nobody is at fault! It was meant to happen, but if a person were to change his way of thinking, he could improve things. It is the duty