Service - Whom do we serve?

Whatever we think, speak or act, we are serving someone or something. The main question to ask is, "Whom and what am I serving?" Meditation upon this question will provide great illumination in our life. We often do not know the answer, but when we discover it, our life will change immensely.

We must find out for example, whether or not we are serving things like our vanity, ego, hatred, jealousy, sex, stomach, house, business, stupidity, or accumulated post-hypnotic suggestions. Most of humanity serves these things, which means that they dedicate their thoughts, actions, and feelings tot these things. Fortunately, there are those who are serving higher causes and higher values.

It is very good to sit for two or three minutes daily and consider what we are serving. Whatever we serve directs our energy, and we become the object of the thing we serve. The object of our service formulates and then builds our future image.

People find themselves in different living situations and conditions because they serve different "lords" - different objects or people. People's faces are different, their health and their lives are different because they serve different objectives. People who are half healthy/half sick, half beautiful/half ugly, are serving "mixed lords." Whatever object a person serves, he become that object.

Lord Buddha, in one of His lectures, said, "I became a Buddha because, throughout millions of ages, I served Buddhas." A superficial examination of this statement does not reveal much, but if a person meditates upon it, he will find something very important. For millions of ages and incarnations, Lord Buddha served other Buddhas - Those Who serve the Supreme Light. In this way, Lord Buddha's life was dedicated to the Light, the Great Purpose and Plan, the objectives of these Great Ones - and because of His service to these Great Ones, He became one of Them.

We see in this that a person cannot achieve spiritual heights and spiritual powers unless he dedicates his whole life to the service of a Great One, or serves the disciples of the Great Ones. In serving, a person is exerting and sublimating himself, and eventually the object of his service will reveal the great beauty that the server is in his essence.


-Torkom Saraydarian
The Sense of Responsibility in Society

Ego worship

At present, due to our religious and educational systems, people have become ego worshipers. They worship their own interests, even when they pray to the Lord. They want to be successful, prosperous, healthy, happy, informed, and wise - individually. Almost everything people do is for their own interest.

• They expect payment.
• They expect personal happiness and salvation.
• They expect rewards, recognition, and position.
• They expect inner satisfaction.

Behind all these expectations there stands the ego.

They learn for personal gain; they try to become specialists in any field to make more money and enjoy life. They even try to achieve higher positions just to shine, just to make money, or to have enough influence to turn the currents of interest toward themselves.

There are reasons why we have so much pain and suffering in the world. People in general do not realize that one can only be healthy when he tries to make others healthy and when he creates healthy conditions in the environment. If we do not make our neighbors healthy, they will make us sick.

One can be successful when he tries to make his society successful; a failing society eventually will make him fail. One can be prosperous if he makes others prosperous; if others are not prosperous, they will make him poor. One cannot be happy if his environment is unhappy; if he does not succeed in making the people around him happy, they will make him unhappy.

The light of a person's knowledge cannot increase unless he shares his light with others. Everyone who learns has a chance to be a teacher, has a chance to challenge us and help us all strive for greater knowledge.

If a person wants to be virtuous or holy, he must try to make the people around him virtuous and holy, because if he tries to be virtuous and holy on his own, the others will soon make him work against his own virtues.

The principle behind all of these concepts is that in giving, we can have more, and the more we give, the more we have.

Even if we serve people for our own interests, it is beneficial. Only be serving people can we eventually learn to forget ourselves in the performance of service.


-Torkom Saraydarian
The Sense of Responsibility in Society

A true Teacher destroys your ego

The moment you become a disciple to a true Teacher, that Teacher will do everything existing in heaven and earth to destroy your ego. The building that has lasted ten thousand years must be demolished if you want to build a new mansion with a new plan, new visions, new regulations and new needs. Old-fashioned buildings are obsolete and we are ninety percent old-fashioned buildings which cannot survive earthquakes, floods, rain, lightning, and so on. They are obsolete and must be demolished. Yet, the Teacher has a very difficult time doing this, because the dwellers in that building pray and cry to be left alone. Poor us, we want exactly that body, exactly that emotion, exactly that mental build-up. Well, how to break it? So the Teacher fails if he feels pity and does not break down the old buildings.

This is the battlefield of suffering for the Teacher. He must use high-level tactics and wisdom to destroy old buildings and endure the reactions and animosity of the people who dwell in them. If a Teacher cannot destroy these faulty structures, he fails. He fails in his duty. Some teachers are there only to be worshipped.

Real aspirants realize that their ego must be destroyed. Whenever one is ready, he must go to the Teacher and say, "Now I think I am ready to receive that big hammer on the head of my ego." When he is really ready, the Teacher looks into his eyes and says, "You are entering the path of discipleship."

As long as one caries his ego, his showing-off, he will never enter the Kingdom of God. It is impossible because ego is the "Dweller on the Threshold." It sits there and anytime you want to go through, it swallows you into its stomach and you stay there another ten thousand years.

The Master of a Teacher will ask Him, "What did you do with your disciple?" If the Teacher answers, "Oh Lord, I took her to the movies, and restaurants, I kissed and caressed her, I danced with her and had a good time," the Master will say to the Teacher, "You nasty person; be gone from the field of service!"

When a real Teacher sees your vanity, it will be so uncomfortable for you. The Teacher always steps on your tail and it aches so bad. I know when my Teacher started stepping on my tail, all my being became unhappy. But if the Teacher does not do this, be very careful; he is not a true Teacher. You are going to be really uncomfortable with a Teacher, or else that Teacher is not active in your life.


-Torkom Saraydarian
Spiritual Regeneration