Right Understanding To Help Others

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Mahavideh Foundation

Page 18

Right Understanding to Help Others
Right Understanding to Help Others
should be his dharma (duty, obligation, religion)?
Dadashri: Whatever he does is verily his dharma. One says, 'I am doing this,' and, therefore, it is egoism. From here on, one should try to find the answer to the question, "Who am I?' You should make the effort to understand this so that all the puzzles of life will be solved and, thereafter, no new puzzles will arise. Once this happens, You will become independent.
The Ideal Use of the Engine Questioner: People have different professions, whether it is a lawyer or a doctor, but ultimately their work is such that other people benefit, is that not correct?
Dadashri: Yes, but they go about their work without having decided a goal or purpose in life. Without having decided on a destination, the train just keeps on chugging. They just keep on running aimlessly. That is why there is so much confusion and entanglement. One should first decide on a purpose, and then do the work.
You just have to change your intent (hetu), nothing else. If you have an engine of a pump, you can do two things, you can attach a belt at one end to siphon water and you can also attach a belt at the other end that will separate rice from the husk. The only difference is that you know how to utilize the belt. You have to decide on a goal and keep it in your awareness laksha). That is all. Nothing else is needed. Money should not be in your awareness.
Service to the Self Encompasses All Religions
There are only two kinds of religion (dharma). One is service to the world and the other is service to the Self. The service to the Self falls under the 'home department, and those who perform worldly service will get worldly happiness and material wealth. Where neither is to be found, there exist only social lectures which can dangerously delude and intoxicate (key)
the ego of a person. Wherever there is any kind of a worldly service, there exists dharma. If you cannot provide service for the world, then do the service to your own Self. The service to one's own Self is higher than the service to the world, because the one who serves his Self does not hurt anyone!
Questioner: But surely a person has to have this realization?
Dadashri: That realization is not easy. Questioner: How can it be acquired?
Dadashri: You have to ask a Gnani Purush, 'Sir, are you doing service for the world or are you serving your Self?' He will reply, 'I am serving the Self only!' Then you have to request, *Please show me that way.'
The Signs of Service to the Self (Atma)
Questioner: What are the signs of the service to one's Self?
Dadashri: The primary sign, prerequisite, is to not hurt any living being. Everything falls under this main quality. This includes celibacy (brahmacharya). Non-celibacy is tantamount to hurting someone. Even in consensual sex, millions of potentially living beings (ivas) die in the process. This is the same as willfully hurting others. With such non-celibacy (abrahmacharya), service to others ceases. Other signs (lakshan) of service to the Self are that one does not lie, steal, commit violence or hoard money. Hoarding money and other material things is a kind of violence (himsa). It hurts others. Everything is encompassed in this.
Questioner: What are the other signs (lakshan) of service to the Self? When can one say that he is doing service to the Self?
Dadashri: The one who serves the Self does not hurt