Yesterday we noticed our desire for service and our desire for self-centered living. We acknowledged the presence of both, and we looked within to see which one represents our true desire.
If you realized that service is your true heart’s desire, and then you notice yourself making choices from self-centeredness, you may be tempted to judge yourself for going against your true desire. Today’s reading addresses this temptation. The reading says:
You are not separate, and so you can do nothing alone. All that you do, you do of Me.
What does that mean? Does it mean that I can indulge my self-centered tendencies and be in harmony with my Self?
No, it doesn’t mean that.
It means that everything is consciousness. To knowledge, which sees only consciousness, whether you are being kind or selfish, whether you are taking care of the body or hurting it, etcetera, you are still consciousness within consciousness, so consciousness is present in everything you do.
Think of the exercises we did with children’s molding clay. Whether you mold a little girl smelling a flower, a man killing a woman, one person helping another person or one person stealing from another person, they are all made out of clay, so clay is always present. From the point-of-view of clay, the only thing that ever actually exists is clay.
Consciousness is more than molding clay. Consciousness is intelligence. Since all things are consciousness, the intelligence of consciousness is always present. That means no matter what choices you have made, you have not left the realm of guidance. At any moment, whenever you are ready and regardless of what you have done, you can always ask for the highest vibrational choice and it will be available for you. You can’t go so deep into darkness that you leave consciousness or its benevolent intelligence behind.
If you cannot ever step outside of consciousness or its benevolent intelligence, is there a reason one should choose service over self-centered living?
Yes. The reason for choosing service over self-centered living is joy.
Although you cannot ever exit consciousness, you can go further and further out of harmony with your true heart. Joy comes from being in harmony with your true heart, so the further you are from being in harmony with it, the more you suffer.
As you read today’s reading, consider this quote from Ramana Maharshi:
Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.
