The Writings of George S Arundale
The Way of Service
By
First Published 1919
TO ALCYONE IN WHOM THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE SHINES OUT UNDIMMED
FOREWORD
In this
little book will be found a few hints on the art of service which I have
gathered from my elders and from my own experience. I am still trying to follow
these hints, sometimes successfully, more often unsuccessfully; but I feel that
they are all true, and I am thankful to be permitted to share them with others
who - like myself - are learning how to serve.
Geo. S.
Arundale
IF you
desire to be of service to others with advantage to them and without danger to
yourself, see that these three principles guide you in your service:
(i) That
your greatest joy is to tread the path of service;
(ii) That
you know yourself to be but the agent of some force greater than your own which
sends the power of service through you;
(iii) That
you see in others the same divine nature you yourself possess.
Remember
that everything you can say or think about another has probably already been
said or thought by others about you.
When you
yourself are injured in any way, remember that he who injures another suffers
more than the person injured.
Do not
allow the force of your affection for another to disturb either your balance or
his. Your service must strengthen and not weaken.
Do not be
jealous of another's greater power of service, rather be glad that a greater
power exists to help those whom your own weaker force may be unable to reach.
When you
give, do not expect the recipient to keep the gift for himself alone. Rejoice
when the gift which has given him happiness makes glad another also.
When you
are in the act of helping another, try to be for the time the ideal from which
you have gained your power to serve. So shall you attain your ideal and at the
same time help more surely.
Do not look
for the fruits of your service, nor feel unhappy when no words of gratitude
come from him you help. It is the soul you serve and not the body, and you may
always see the gratitude of the soul, though the lips remain silent.
Never look
for affection from those you love. If your love for them is true, sooner or
later it will enter their hearts and call forth response; if it is but
fleeting, better that they should escape the sorrow of some day knowing that
your love is gone.
Remember
that no one can truly serve who has not begun to gain control over himself.
The best
service is that which makes the burden light, not that which takes it away.
You will
serve people best when you accept them as expressions of their own ideals.
Through
that which is best in him lies each man's best way of service. There are as
many ways of service as there are people in the world to be helped.
The time
for service is every moment of the day for though there may not always be
occasion for a kindly action, there is always occasion for a kindly attitude.
The less a
person thinks about himself, the more he is really paying attention to his
growth. Each little act of service returns to the doer in the shape of an added
power to serve.
If a person
rejects the way in which you wish to serve him, try to find out another form of
service. Your desire is to serve him, not to dictate to him the way in which he
must be helped.
Do not be
too shy to offer your help to anyone in need, whether you know him or not. His
need makes him your brother, but your shyness is a form of pride which deprives
him of a helper in the time of his trouble.
Do not say
to yourself: "I have given much help to others to-day." Rather look
to see whether you could not have given more, and think how little you have
really done to lessen all the misery and trouble in the world.
Those who
are the best followers of great leaders are the best leaders for those who know
less, for no one can command wisely who has not learned to obey.
The best
way of inducing a person to take good advice is to follow it yourself.
Give to
others as much credit for good intentions as you would wish bestowed upon
yourself.
No one is
insulted unless he brings himself down within reach of the insult, for an
insult is a product of the lower nature and cannot affect the higher.
When you
think yourself better than others because you are learning to serve and they
apparently are not, in that moment you cease to serve.
True
service consists in sharing your life with another, and not in pointing
yourself out to him - directly or indirectly - as an estimable example.
It is
better to act first and to speak afterwards than to speak first and to act
afterwards, but it is generally best of all to act and then to be silent.
A person's
capacity to serve well can only be judged by the way in which he leads his
ordinary home life, not by the books he has written, nor by the reputation he
enjoys, nor by his public speeches or public actions. It is not great public
actions which make the great man, but the small daily acts of self-denial which
perhaps nobody notices.
He who
would serve to the uttermost must be prepared to give up all he has for the
sake of the privilege of service.
A person
may ask service of you in many ways, but you will serve him best by giving him
that which he needs and not that which he may want, even though he may feel
annoyance at the form your service takes. But try to put your service in a way
which makes it acceptable.
It is no
true service to give to another the help which in reality belongs to some one
else. Many people wish to serve in any way except the right way, and neglect
those they ought to serve for others whom they want to serve.
The better
the deed, the better the day.
There is no
one in the world who does not need something, and there is no one in the world
who cannot give something.
When you
are trying to serve someone, do not become impatient of his weaknesses. His
weaknesses give you the privilege of serving him, for if he had no weaknesses
he would need no service.
Just as
there is no grief which does not contain the promise of a future joy, so there
is no weakness which will not some day merge into a noble quality.
Try to
remember, when you are helping some one, that the force in his weakness will
become, through your help, the force of a future quality. You cannot change the
force, but you ought to try to change its form and its direction.
A little
help actually given out of your own existing resources is worth more than the
thought of how much better you would be able to serve were your resources
greater.
You can
best help another by displaying in your own character the qualities he lacks.
The way to
test the value of your daily service to others is to notice whether you are day
by day growing more peaceful, more contented, happier, and more tolerant.
The world
asks from you your own utmost service, not the utmost of some one else. When
you are doing all that you can, you are doing all that you ought.
Never allow
a person's rejection of your offer of service to be an excuse for refusing any
further help. He who refuses acts of service ends by needing them all the more.
Be careful
how you reject loving service offered freely to you, for there is as much
service in receiving service as in performing it.
When once
you have served as wisely and as whole-heartedly as you can, do not be anxious
about the result; for the purity of your service returns in blessing to the
server, and surrounds with blessing the person served.
The ideal
reward of service is an increased power to love and therefore to serve.
A person
who is not truly happy cannot truly serve.
A service
lovingly rendered, though it prove unwise, cannot in the long run harm the
person whom you sought to help. The force of the love will protect him from the
harm of the unwisdom.
True
forgiveness of another consists in a loving and eager effort to help him to
avoid in future the weakness for which forgiveness is asked.
Sometimes -
but not often - it may be our duty to judge others; it is always our duty to
help them.
If you
desire to test your spiritual progress, look to see whether you neglect fewer
opportunities of service than formerly.
When you
are criticising another's form of service you are perhaps forgetting that he is
helping those to whom your own form of service cannot appeal.
Do not be
afraid to proclaim the origin of your own inspiration to serve, for the
knowledge of the source of your own happiness is one of the most beautiful
offerings you can make to the world.
Each loving
service you render to another is a guardian angel whom you have created to be
near him, encouraging him and protecting him. The more love you pour into the
service, the more life you give to the guardian angel, the longer, therefore,
will he live to encourage and to protect.
Do not
imagine that they alone serve whose acts of service are seen with physical
eyes. Some of the greatest acts of service are those which no one sees.
If you postpone
an act of service until to-morrow, you may have lost an opportunity to serve,
for that particular act may not be needed tomorrow and has not been performed
to-day.
One of the
most neglected acts of service is that of paying deliberate attention to each
person who comes to visit you. Half the act of service is over when you have
listened with interest to what he has to say.
When you
are suffering, try to remember that you are gaining, though perhaps with
difficulty, an added power to sympathise with the sufferings of others, for
when you have passed through a particular sorrow you can, at least to the
extent of the pain you have yourself endured, the better understand the pain of
such a sorrow to another.
There are
two aspects of the unity which those who would serve must understand: The
aspect of pain and the aspect of joy. The one teaches of a common struggle
which all must share, while the other proclaims a common goal towards which all
are bound.
The
judgment of the world upon your acts of service matters infinitely less than
the judgment of your heart.
Many people
are willing and able to serve somewhere. How many are willing and able to serve
anywhere ?
As
beautiful flowers are found in barren places, so is the most beautiful service
that which is rendered in times and places of greatest need.
As even a
little flame shines brightly in surrounding darkness, so does a little act of
service shine out clearly amidst surrounding selfishness.
The more
your surroundings are ugly, the greater the need to beautify them by acts of
service.
If you are
unable to discover opportunities for service where you are at present, you will
be unable to discover them in the place in which you would like to be.
He is most
lonely and miserable in this world who, receiving many acts of service, offers
none in return.
Service in
the physical world is action, in the emotional world sympathy, in the mental
world understanding.
The
brightness of your day depends as much upon the shining of an act of service as
upon the shining of the sun.
The best
key with which, in the early morning, to unlock the storehouse of happiness for
the day is some little act of service eagerly and lovingly performed.
Service is,
like mercy, twice blessed: it blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
The
knowledge of the Self within is gained through the service of the Self without.
The truest
acts of service are those which we perform instinctively.
Service is
the expression of a quality in harmony with your duty to your surroundings. For
example, to those older in wisdom than yourself the truest expression of love
is reverence, while to those who know less it is protection.
With some,
service is conditional on the admiration and applause of those around them;
with others, it depends solely on the need of those around them.
Just as
there are fair-weather friends, so there are fair-weather servers. Look into
your heart that you may judge how unselfish is your desire to serve.
It is
sometimes difficult to realise that the man who has no friends needs our
friendship more than one who has many friends. If he cannot make friends, all
the more reason that we should make them for him.
People who
think they ought to be treated better by others are generally the very people
who themselves ought to treat others better.
One of the
truest signs of a pure affection is to be able to ask a favour from a friend
without being misunderstood.
God records
all acts of service, men only those which they can understand and which they
approve.
The acts of
service of many people have their origin in custom, ours must have their origin
in love.
The cry of
need is suffering, the cry of service is love.While correcting another's fault,
imagine yourself as having committed it.
Do not
speak of others as you would not speak to them.
The only
knowledge worth having is that which draws you nearer to your fellow-men.
You do not
know more than others unless you love, and therefore serve, more than others.
Those who really
know cannot be proud of their knowledge, for they know how ignorant they are.
If you are
placed in authority over others, remember that while your position may gain for
you their flattery, only your qualities will win their love.
When you
are among strangers think how you are to earn their goodwill rather than how to
impress them with your own estimate of your importance.
The worship
of God lies in the service of His worlds.
If you are
able to acknowledge your mistakes, people will gladly acknowledge your virtues.
If you begin to feel proud of your influence, examine how far it is due to
position and how far to character. Every person in a position of power has an
influence of a certain kind.
Be very
careful not to favour persons at the expense of duty.
True
devotion is that which serves, not that which clings.
It is
better to begin by adapting yourself to your work, rather than to complain
because the work does not adapt itself to you.
True
meditation results in an added power to serve, and in a decreasing absorption
in our own personal progress.
People who
express dissatisfaction with the manner in which their services are recognised
have not yet learned what true service really is.
Be careful
to see that your acts of service surpass your promises.
It is no
true act of service the performance of which prevents you from fulfilling a
duty.
In times of
difficulty, silent sympathy is generally more valuable than ignorant activity.
People who feel
that there are no services for them to perform often forget the existence of
animals and plants.
People who
have no time in which to give service somehow manage to find plenty of time in
which to receive it.
One of the
rarest acts of service is to refrain from judging a person unheard.
Our
illnesses help us to understand that acts of service exist as much in the
attitude of the mind as in the activity of the body.
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