Podcast details
Service to all creatures is service to me
True service arises from non-separation, not personal desire. Serving any being is serving God, for "I am that one, and that one is me." This connection is ever-present and known. A story illustrates the flaw of selfishness within service. A devoted disciple was sent on an errand and, when offered food by a host, requested a specific dish to fulfill a personal wish. Upon returning, he suffered stomach pain. The master explained the pain was karmic result of that selfish demand, lasting hours. A guest should accept what is given with love; to demand is to act from selfishness, which creates suffering. Do not demand. What comes, comes. Our benefit lies in following the guiding words; otherwise we suffer. Emotional feelings come and go; they cannot be controlled or sustained. But one must be of the nature of bliss.
"Service to all creatures is service to me."
"Your selfish wish... A guest should accept whatever the host offers you to eat... Then it is real love."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.
The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:
- Yoga in Daily Life - The System
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2000. ISBN 978-3-85052-000-3 - The Hidden Power in Humans - Chakras and Kundalini
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2004. ISBN 978-3-85052-197-0 - Lila Amrit - The Divine Life of Sri Mahaprabhuji
Paramhans Swami Madhavananda. Int. Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship, Vienna, 1998. ISBN 3-85052-104-4
