What Survives

Here is the difference between the nature of service and the nature of greed. Service is responsible for harmony, commitment, creativity, cooperation, responsibility, love...all great things done by humans were done in the spirit of service. Greed is responsible for destruction, devastation, irreparable damage, hostility, possessiveness, defensiveness to the point of anger, pain, and death...

Greed is the opposite of gratitude. It bespeaks that more is always better, and from that stance it makes decisions that are inhumane, unsustaining, irresponsible, and hazardous to the health of mankind.

Ultimately it is only our service which survives us, and ultimately, that which is built on greed is destined to crumble, fall and fail hideously. You can think that there has to be something right about massive conglomerate big business companies that can successfully coin the big corporate dollars, but the truth is those dollars won't buy anyone's health or happiness. If that business refuses to operate from the base of service, it will ultimately die its own hideous death too.

Because what survives is so much more than money. Money cannot be eaten, it cannot change a diagnosis of illness, it cannot magically bring back loved ones who have died, it cannot bring back species of animals rotted out by human habitats, it cannot save the soul of someone tortured by self-doubt and self-hatred.

What survives is service. It is miraculous, when you make the welfare of others your primary concern, how well the Universe takes care of you. It is miraculous how much hope is born of service, how much love, how much kindness, compassion, harmony, unity, responsibility, how much good, positive change in the world is created because we learned how to serve another person.

Greed will never, ever survive, despite the grossly misleading number game. It is the heart which moves us out of survival mode, out of greed, lust, envy and the emptiness encompassed in that life.

Operate in life from the heart and what survives is your service. Meditate on it, study it. It is worth the time invested in understanding the concept of service. It is what makes true love possible, it is what makes a difference in the world, it is what survives beyond time and space.

Blessings.
- Darshan

© 2009 Darshan F Jessop