Theos-Talk Archives (March 1997 Message tl00173)

Here is a msg I saw on usenet. Looks like a good compilation. Can be
useful in lectures.

mkr

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SERVING OTHERS

       The way of serving others is the topic of passages in this
section.
The purest service is to help others and to seek the welfare of others
without the expectation of reward.  On the contrary, the way of selfish-

ness brings only disharmony and failure; the selfish person eventually
will find himself alone and without friends in his time of need.  In the

Bhagavad Gita, and paralleled by passages in the Tao Te Ching, the way
of
selfless service is described as the fundamental principle by which God
creates and sustains the universe; whenever a person acts selflessly in
the service of others, that act is born of God.  Another group of
passages
connects service with true lordship.  While the conventional rulers
abuse
their powers by seeking to be served by their charges, the true leader
is
a servant to his people; as exemplified by Jesus, who came "not to be
served, but to serve."

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

                   Christianity.  Galatians 6.2

Rendering help to another is the function of all human beings.

                   Jainism.  Tattvarthasutra 5.21

All men are responsible for one another.

                   Judaism.  Talmud, Sanhedrin 27b

The best of men are those who are useful to others.

                   Islam.  Hadith of Bukhari

Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

                   Christianity.  1 Corinthians 10.24

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Galatians 6.2: Cf. John 15.13, p. 236.  This fulfills not only a law of
Christ, but also a dhamma of Buddhism; cf. Guide to the Bodhisattva's
Way
of Life 8.112-16, p. 165.  Hadith of Bukhari: Cf. Bodhipathapradipa, p.
404.  1 Corinthians 10.24: Cf. Galatians 5.13, p. 465; Philippians
2.3-4,
p. 787.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

Without selfless service are no objectives fulfilled;
In service lies the purest action.

                   Sikhism.  Adi Granth, Maru, M.1, p. 992

He who prays for his fellowman, while he himself has the same need, will

be answered first.

                   Judaism.  Talmud, Baba Kamma 92a

The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also

to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to
enlarge others.

                   Confucianism.  Analects 6.28.2

I tell you these things that you may learn wisdom; that you may learn
that
when you are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the
service of your God.

                   Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Book of

                   Mormon, Mosiah 2.17

One who serves and seeks no recompense
Finds union with the Lord.
Such a servant alone takes the Master's guidance, says Nanak,
As on him is divine grace.

                   Sikhism. Adi Granth, Sukhmani 18, M.5, pp. 286f.

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others
better than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own inter-

ests, but also to the interests of others.

                   Christianity.  Philippians 2.3-4

God's definition of goodness is total giving, total service, and
absolute
unselfishness.  We are to live for others.  You live for others and
others
live for you.  God lives for man and man lives for God.  The husband
lives
for his wife and the wife lives for her husband.  This is goodness.  And

here unity, harmony, and prosperity abound.

                   Unification Church.  Sun Myung Moon, 10-20-73

Until now each and everyone throughout the world has been concerned only

with himself.  How pitiful it is!  You have no mind to help others,
however hard you may think it over.  Henceforth, replace your mind
indefinitely!  I, Tsukihi, request it from you all equally.  If you ask
what kind of mind it is, it is the mind to save single-heartedly all
people of the world.  Henceforth, if only all people of the world
equally
help each other on any and every matter, believe that I, Tsukhihi, will
accept your minds and will work any and every kind of salvation!

                Tenrikyo.  Ofudesaki 12.89-94

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Sun Myung Moon, 10-20-73: See Sun Myung Moon, 10-20-73; Key tp
Theosophy, p.
356; Key to Theosophy, p. 356.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

       Do not seek to benefit only yourself, but think of other people
also.  If you yourself have an abundance, do not say, "The others do not

concern me, I need not bother about them!"  If you were lucky in
hunting,
let others share it.  Moreover, show them the favorable spots where
there
are many sea lions which can be easily slain.  Let others have their
share
occasionally.  If you want to amass everything for yourself, other
people
will stay away from you and no one will want to be with you.  If you
should one day fall ill, no one will visit you because, for your part,
you
did not formerly concern yourself about others.

       Grant other people something also.  The Yamana do not like a
person
who acts selfishly.

                   Native American Religions.  Yamana Eskimo Initiation

Heaven is eternal and Earth everlasting.
They can be eternal and everlasting because they do not exist for them-
     selves,
And for this reason can exist forever.
Therefore the sage places himself in the background,
     but finds himself in the foreground.
He puts himself away, and yet he always remains.
Is it not because he has no personal interests?
This is the reason why his personal interests are fulfilled.

                   Taoism.  Tao Te Ching 7

At the beginning, mankind and the obligation of selfless service were
created together.  "Through selfless service, you will always be
fruitful
and find the fulfillment of your desires": this is the promise of the
Creator....

Every selfless act, Arjuna, is born from the eternal, infinite Godhead.
God is present in every act of service.  All life turns on this law, O
Arjuna.  Whoever violates it, indulging his senses for his own pleasure
and ignoring the needs of others, has wasted his life.  But those who
realize the God within are always satisfied.  Having found the source of

joy and fulfillment, they no longer seek happiness from the external
world.  They have nothing to gain or lose by any action; neither people
nor things can affect their security.

What the outstanding person does, others will try to do.  The standards
such people set will be followed by the whole world.  There is nothing
in
the three worlds for Me to gain, Arjuna, nor is there anything I do not
have; I continue to act, but I am not driven by any need of my own.  If
I
ever refrained from continuous work, everyone would immediately follow
my
example.  If I stopped working I would be the cause of cosmic chaos, and

finally of the destruction of this world and these people.

Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to
self-
less work one attains the supreme goal in life.  Do your work with the
welfare of others always in mind.  It was by such work that Janaka
attain-
ed perfection; others, too, have followed this path.

The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the
welfare of the world, without thought to themselves.  By abstaining from

work you will confuse the ignorant, who are engrossed in their actions.
Perform all work carefully, guided by compassion.

                   Hinduism.  Bhagavad Gita 3.10-26

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Bhagavad Gita 3.10-26: Vv. 10, 15-26.  See Bhagavad Gita 3.4-9, p. 847;
5.10-12, p. 674; Satapatha Brahmana 5.1.1.1-2, pp. 383f.  On Gandhi's
interpretation of selfless action as satyagraha, see Bhagavad Gita
2.31-38, p. 887n.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

Guardianship is not to give an order but to give one's self.

                   African Traditional Religions.  Nyika Proverb (Kenya
                   and Tanzania)

Jesus said, "You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them,

and their great men exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so
among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and
whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of
man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom

for many."

                   Christianity.  Matthew 20.25-28

The sage does not accumulate for himself.
The more he uses for others, the more he has himself.
The more he gives to others, the more he possesses of his own.
The Way of Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure.
The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

                   Taoism.  Tao Te Ching 81

If, for my own sake, I cause harm to others,
I shall be tormented in hellish realms;
But if for the sake of others I cause harm to myself,
I shall acquire all that is magnificent.

By holding myself in high esteem
I shall find myself in unpleasant realms, ugly and stupid;
But should this [attitude] be shifted to others
I shall acquire honors in a joyful realm.

If I employ others for my own purposes
I myself shall experience servitude,
But if I use myself for the sake of others
I shall experience only lordliness.

                   Buddhism.  Shantideva, Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way

                   of Life 8.126-128

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Matthew 20.25-28: Cf. Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life 5.51-52, p.
791.
Tao Te Ching 81: Cf. Tao Te Ching 64, p. 790.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

--
Damian J. Anderson
Jack of All Trades - Master of Several
Cable & Wireless Internet Exchange (CWIX)
damian@cwix.net