“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
~Mahatma Gandhi
When my nephew Julian was growing up, every Christmas, my sister So would make him donate a toy gift to their local church for homeless children. One Christmas, when Julian was about 6, he really wanted to keep the toy for himself but he understood, even at such an early age, the meaning of giving. He said, “Mommy, I really wanted that gift, but, at the same time, I’m glad a kid without parents is going to get a Christmas gift.” For that still and honest moment, my sister’s heart swelled with joy.
As Julian knew the value of giving as early as 6, we are all born with a selfless sense of giving, serving, and helping others, so it is inherently in us. Marianne Williamson, one of my spiritual icons, teaches that our spiritual intelligence is programmed in our DNA to serve the Universe — that we each have a purpose or job that we are born to do — in order to keep our cosmic universe in harmony. When we collectively deviate from serving the Universe and engage in a “Me” behavior, then we create stress points which become like malignant cancer cells destroying ourselves and the world we live in. That is when we have diseases, poverty, wars, environmental crisis, etc. But our true nature — which is healthy, vibrant and full of love — is meant to serve and help others.
Whether you believe in this collective consciousness or not, have you ever felt the most fulfilled when you helped someone else in a genuine way without the expectation of anything in return? I know I have, and I am sure that each and every one of us has experienced that feeling at some point in our lives — even for a glimmer of moment. What was that feeling like? Happiness, inspiration, liberation, to name a few, right? As wise Gandhi believed, it is when we serve others that we really find ourselves because we have tapped into our true and organic Being of compassion, love, giving and selflessness, which is when we experience those overwhelming positive feelings. When we know and engage in our true nature, it brings out the very best in each of us.
I know that, in my life, whenever I made the shift to giving, rather than taking, the Universe has always shown me more compassion, more love and even more clarity in my purpose, and am certain that Ying & Yang Living and I exist to serve my fellow humans and our magical Universe. It is the spiritual law of cause and effect: when you give, you shall receive. Therefore, it is important that we all nurture and cultivate our sense of giving and serving our fellow humans and the universe, which is really love. When we depart from it, we not only harm ourselves as individuals, but also our whole society, and threatens our human existence, so the global implications are deep and far reaching. From this perspective, we can not turn blind to serving. But when we do show love, it is the most fulfilling gift we can receive, and, for that reason alone, it is enough to do it. But it is not about picking and choosing the days when you want to love because then we can only have universal harmony if we practice it every day. So be active and vigilant about nurturing love and giving every day, and the light will always shine upon your soul.
I share with you famous and inspiring words by John F. Kennedy: “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” So, I say to You, my fellow humans, ask not what the Universe can do for you, ask what you can do for the Universe!
By Moon Cho, Creator of Ying & Yang Living
Recommended Readings:
Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth
