Is it not the selfless service to God our goal?

[Redchic12]

So who is Shri Datta swami?

Originally Posted by Redchic12

So who is Shri Datta swami?

Please visit this website, you will get all the details.

https://www.universal-spirituality.org/

[JustBe]

Originally Posted by FallingLeaves

i find that a lot of times, knowing what I'm doing just takes me down. it never appeals much to one's own sense of vanity to assume oneself in the wrong...

Control is the big issue. If we know, we feel in control of this crazy little thing called life. We have something to measure the drivers we hold onto, up against.

Letting go fully of everything we think we know, doesn’t mean we have to let go if beliefs entirely, but more looking at what resides in the unknown of ourselves ‘the one’ holding onto them. Often when those parts of you designing creation
fall away, the beliefs no longer fit anyway.

All experiences ‘spiritually’ taught me to let go of stuff inside me, sit in the nothingness of myself. Reaching that place in myself without anything to hold onto, I realised..

That place is where you begin to really live more aligned to life..not your beliefs or your past experiences that no longer are you, but the essence of life you are without the minds ideas of who and what and why ‘I am’

Originally Posted by iamthat

I doubt that God has any need of our service or our worship.
But there is undoubtedly value for us in praising the Divine and serving our fellow human beings.

Some people say that God does not require any service from anybody because He is the basic potential doer of any work in this world. But if you go to such fundamental stage God alone remains and the entire creation disappears with which you will also vanish.

The Lord does not need your service in anyway for His work. He is only testing your attitude of your sincerity in His work by taking help from you in His work. You should not think that He really needs your help. You should not also think that you need not help Him because He does not need your help. Both these are the two branches of ignorance. He is actually testing your extent of sacrifice towards Him and thus He does not need your help in reality. But based on this reality you should not withdraw your help to Him because He is testing your attitude and extent to work for Him.

When the examiner asks a question, the student should not think that the examiner is really ignorant about the answer and is in search of the answer from the student. The student should not also keep silent thinking that there is no need of giving answer to the examiner since the examiner knows the answer. Both these views of the student are wrong regarding the examiner.

[AngelBlue]

I take it you believe you are a "messenger?"
This was my first thought !

[Unseeking Seeker]

In my view, the inherent paradox of the OP suggests:

We are here and God is somewhere out there. A corollary to this question would also be, ‘is God a concept or have we directly seen and so known?’

‘Selfless service’, is it as a conduit of God’s energy, in which case, we as the earth entity do nothing or is it as a doer doing something, perhaps seeking to raise his vibration or whatever? We need to look at purity of intent and delusion of separate self here.

‘A goal’ again signals that we, as separate identity, seek something and thus need to do something to attain the goal.

Of course, ‘spontaneous expression of love’ ~ there is no argument against such an orientation, being a state of no-mind, in surrender, flowing gently and mindfully, in resonance with the rhythm of the universe. This requires a becoming as such. It cannot be a practice; the word ‘practice’ negates spontaneity.

A problem related to the path of service, laudable as it is, perhaps even necessary at some point during our spiritual journey, is that it may tend to inflate the ego, unless breath by breath we are aware that it is God operating through the mind-body and not us, seeking a this or that outcome.

[Redchic12]

Dattawami……..you state….”The Lord does not need your service in anyway for His work. He is only testing your attitude of your sincerity in His work by taking help from you in His work. You should not think that He really needs your help. You should not also think that you need not help Him because He does not need your help. Both these are the two branches of ignorance. He is actually testing your extent of sacrifice towards Him and thus He does not need your help in reality. But based on this reality you should not withdraw your help to Him because He is testing your attitude and extent to work for Him.”

Well I gotta say there’s a helluva lot of should’s and should nots in your comments, so ide like to know WHO says the Lord does not need your service and WHO says the Lord is testing us. Is that your opinion or the opinion of the Guru that you seem to idolise or is it from something you have read?

Who is “HIM” that is making all these rules and requirements.

[Gem]

I have basic goals like feel strong and healthy and still do hard things even in old age. It's just the life I want to live. I used to be interested in selfless service for my entire adult life, but in the last few years I lost interest and became more into me just doing my own thing. I like to train and work in the garden, so I do, and I think people might be happier just living the kind of life they want to. Not that I'm a very happy person or anything... or any other kind of exemplar.

[Redchic12]

At the beginning of the website you posted, it states the following……

“His Holiness Shri Datta Swami is a world-renowned Master of spiritual knowledge. Shri Swami is believed to be a complete incarnation of God Datta by His close devotees……”

So it looks like his devotees have stated that he is an incarnation of God. Or did the guru himself state this and if so, what makes him think that he is? But more importantly, why would he want to set himself up as an “incarnation of God”. I see that as a definite concern for me personally.

Other comments on your website state…….

Shri Swami explains — “Every religion says that their God created this entire world. Since there is only one world, there should be one God, who must be impartial to all the children in the universe. The same single Unimaginable God revealed Himself in different human forms, in different places across the world.”

Well a couple of things concern me. Firstly, about god creating the world. Well nobody knows FOR SURE who or what created this world. FACT. Everyone has an opinion on that.

Secondly, science shows us that there isn’t just one world but many worlds out there in the universe, so what he states about there only being one world is incorrect.

Thirdly, As for “one God being impartial to all children” that is only the Swamis opinion and definitely not a FACT.

Fourth……where did this God you talk about reveal himself in different forms? Never heard of that one before.

[HITESH SHAH]

Originally Posted by dattaswami

Is it not the selfless service to God our goal?

Ms. Thrylokya asked: Is it not good to think that we should undergo the fruits of our deeds and worship God without aspiring for any fruit in return from God?

Swami replied:- Already, I have told that you shall be in that stage only like the fan devotion without aspiring for any fruit from God. You are continuing in that initial state only. In that case, God will take care of your progress in spiritual life and also in materialistic life (Yogakṣemaṃ vahāmyaham… Gita). Yoga means spiritual progress and kshema means materialistic progress.

While I am in agreement with you so far essence of the message is , there is more to it if we think more .

We need to think who serves whom by answering questions like
1. do we know how to induce sleep or to awake from sleep .We just sleep or awake but without knowing the exact process . We can not even control precise time of our sleep or awake .
2. how our food is digested and it produces energy for us
3. how our body organs work automatically without any intricate knowledge of it or precision control over it.

We may have answers to every question outside. But we know little of it . Doctors may know bit more but can not make an exact replica of it by himself/herself alone.
Careful though will guide us that these processes are done by in-dwelling God for all people all the time without any expectation . ISnt God serving us and gives us enough realistic practical reasons to be more grateful and humble.