Spiritual Portal

Mother tells the story of a disciple who did something wrong and felt he needed to be punished for it. The Guru asked different disciples what kind of punishment should be given. The gardener said he should be made to pull weeds for a year. The farmer said he should be made to clean up cow dung for a year.  The Cook said he should be made to chop vegetables for a year.

Listening to these various punishments; The only conclusion the Guru could make is that none of these devotees did their service with love since all of them felt their service as a form of punishment. When we do our service for God and Love we find God in our service.

what a wonderful lesson on service, very contemplative to say the least-
finding god wherever we are, even amidst our daily chores. i think the message here focuses no longer on the boys punishment or even whether he deserved to be punished or not but on the perception of the gardener, farmer and the cook.
i'm feeling the change in my outlook already and hope to bring this lesson to life at the work place and at home. thanks for sharing  :)
are you and Namaste2All feeling inspired ? how's the trip ? =)

Very great. Perhaps it's more truthful to not serve at all than to serve with this type of mindset?

i suppose most of us would rather be doing something else than working. So to what degree do we see work as drudgery?

maybe The chef, gardener and farmer lost their passion

Work is drudgery when the mind is somewhere agitated. Your energy is spread out in all directions, creating a tension. The mind is thinking too much. Even the thought, "I should be doing this more joyfully" is a form of restlessness. The idea that you are doing anything and that any effort is required must fall away. Become the observer of the actions. Everything happens on it's own, without effort or strain. Strain is in the mind. Dropping resistance to performing an action is quite enough for an action to get done. Effort is excessive.

hi brock
what about will power ?

"All is God's will, but maya prevents you from knowing it's all God's will." - Neem Karoli Baba

Will power is only an illusion. It is both God's will and his power. The idea that "you" are willing anything is the illusion. This "you" entity that is supposed to do all of this willing is non-existent. Just as you say that "you" ate breakfast, but "you" did not digest the breakfast nor distribute the nutrients into your bodies systems nor did you produce the hunger. All actions are done on their own, even though the "I" believes it is doing. This is what is meant by aligning your will with God's will. "You" don't know God's will, so how can you align yourself with it? By getting rid of the "you" then God's will is all that remains; that is the alignment.


"Whoever works for God, his work will be done by itself. " - Neem Karoli Baba

It means that whoever realizes that he is not existent, finds that it is an illusion that "he" does anything. His work is found to be done by itself.

It is good to have your thoughts coming out so clearly in the expression of another non-entity (lol) But i have been watching this being do these things and create a reality all his own which can be such an illusion. Yet the ego wants to be recognized and express.  At least i give it breaks now and then to meditate and relax from it's desire to express. We do express a lot... don't we. But your words reflect my recent reflections.

We think we do this or that. That is our maya. We attribute all good and bad qualities to an entity which we think we are. I think I am sitting here posting something. That is maya. Or "I" may think I am not posting, that God is posting this. Still, the "I" remains thinking this or that. Who is this entity who is meditating, who is this entity who is witnessing, who is this entity that is stepping back from it all? Who is posting this? Who is talking to whom on tihs forum? That is the maya. It is our awareness as an ego, not our belief or opinion about it. I can sit here and say all this and still not have freed my awareness from the consciousness of a small self. In fact, that is what is happening.

You see, I have a certain philosophical understanding of adwaita. Still, as "I" sit here, it has not become my own realization. Only through imperfect glimpses am I saying all of this stuff. That's why I say I am a hypocrite and that it is an inevitable stage on the path to knowledge. Now the question arises, how do I know that I have had imperfect glimpses of this? The answer is, I don't.

brock. i don't believe will power is an illusion. i do believe you're speaking from an enlightened perspective. i don't accept. maybe i am a fool drowning in maya but i believe in Self/I and Will Power.

brock, i'd like to think i am open to new ideas maybe you can help me....
i'm struggling in trying to understand that the person i think i am is an illusion versus the person i think i am- is this way- very real and a part of god.

the idea of non existence can not exist here, in tangible terms, if there is not a self to define its understanding...

mr khan says i am dethroning god in trying to use words that define god.
but it is as you said.
i am a firm believer in the moose totem which is seen as a walking contradiction

i believe i am real and celebrate life and expression

but i also believe in a force that exist in me/outside of me/is greater then me- yet i am that- which can acknowledge, using forces outside myself- my control, my inner reality.

so. i have two opposing beliefs... or do i. they are separate but they are not separate. i am stuck. i might be going in circles trying to figure this one out. is there anything to figure out from this point- or do i let go

To say that you are a part of God is also to say that you are an illusion. If the whole alone is real, then the part which feels separate from the whole is unreal. It is a limitation set up in the mind.

Also: This is not very well understood, but to be nowhere is the same thing as to be everywhere. Somewhere is a localization, which places something at a specific point. To say that something exists at every point is also to say that it exists nowhere.

i understand your feelings here about being hypocritical because we are somewhat getting glimpses and not seeing the whole picture. In that sense i see serving as flowing when i start feeling glimpses of joy in serving...then it becomes more effortless. This does occur as we meditate more often and the expression of the results of meditation flow into our lives.

What does this mean though? People hear this type of thing said but don't understand what is meant by it.