Is "service to self" bad?

[FooSnik]

i just want to add one more thing to all of these great comments.

from my own personal experience, i have noticed that when i am concentrating really hard on myself, all of my short comings, that i need more money, i am too this or too that, then i lose sight of the beauty that is right around me.

but, when i offer myself in loving service to others, i feel new things opening up inside of me. my heart broadens and i begin to feel at a new depth. i also have begun to see the angels that are always all around us.

and i am beginning to see and meet the angels that are with us here in human form. there are so many levels and dimensions that are right here in our 3d world that are waiting to be accessed.

i think they are accessed by opening up new dimensions within your own heart and body. and to do this, i have found, is to begin to open up and actively share your love with other people. and also to accept it in return. it is a two way street and both directions must be fully active.

to be perfectly honest, i had to get over the whole corniness of it, and it took a while for me to do that. but now i am starting to feel the power that comes from it.

cheers,
foo

[lovelylia]

i heard that we must serve the one creator. i also heard that the one creator is ourselves, so if i serve myself, wouldn't i be serving the creator (me!)...or is it never really about yourself but other selves?

o.o i'm confused....

this is a good question because it seems tricky until you realize that the answer depends on how you are perceiving your idea of "self" in relation to "others."

service to self
if you perceive yourself in your personality-mind-body, as separate from the other "selves" walking around on the planet, then your motivations will be driven by a need to compete with others in order to get your needs met. this environment is the breeding ground for the shadow side of human nature, which will resort to manipulation and/or seek to dominate others to ensure that you "get yours."

service to others
if you see your self connected to and one with others, then you know that that which you do to others you are actually doing to yourself...

do onto others as you would have them do onto you.

and the other way around as well. if you are serving the divine self within you, that is the divine self within everyone, that is the all-one-creator-self, then serving yourself is serving others.

i find that my body always knows the answer. if serving myself is in alignment with serving others, my heart space will feel peaceful and relaxed.

on that note, there are also some choices that some of us have been programmed to believe are "selfish" behaviors that are actually not, such as taking time to take care of ourselves and our bodies. self care replenishes our personal resources so that we can have more to give others, and this benefits everyone.

at each step and with each breath we are given the option of acting and responding, both inwardly and outwardly, from the conditioning of egoic consciousness which values control and separation above all else, or from the intuitive awareness of unity which resides in the inner silence of our being.
-adyashanti

[MichaelFromGod]

rocky,

when you are serving others you are serving yourself, the course says "to have, you must give all".


michael

i heard that we must serve the one creator. i also heard that the one creator is ourselves, so if i serve myself, wouldn't i be serving the creator (me!)...or is it never really about yourself but other selves?

o.o i'm confused....

[Matthew Clark]

hi all,

ok, just to chuck a spanner in the works....

watching the awake and aware videos today, there were many incredibly interesting people on stage, of course the best one imo was our very own david, though i may be a bit biased.

anyway, 1 or 2 (sorry cant remember the names) of them suggested that we were created or co-created by our cosmic friends. when david had his turn on the mic, he did not contradict or correct those who said this. incidentally i have heard this theory many times before and if you think about it, it could well make sense.

if we are to serve the one infinite creater, then are we serving a portion to our cosmic friends who may or may not have been involved in our creation? or are we serving the creater and bypassing a possible section of our very own creation?

i guess it is all about love, compassion and forgiveness for our fellow humans and may not matter one way or another at the end of the day.

just wanted to put this point across.

love and light,

matt