I would say that selflessness is a level of awareness where one elevates himself to a certain level and becomes capable of sharing and truly caring for all living beings on earth.
Before that happens, one does not experience true richness. Material possessions are good as a support for us in this material plane, but if materials makes us forget about the true richness, richness of the heart, it is useless. The first time I have experienced the true richness is when I fed the hungry mouth without expectations of applauses or anything in return. They say the hands that give are holier than the mouth that pray, and they are right. No prayer or meditation can give us what we can gain through selfless service. The second time I experienced the same is when I made a person feel better than what he was feeling like when he first came to me. Whatever people feel, think, whatever people are, if you embrace their true being, accept them as they are and give your best to make them happier, and if you do this with all people and all species, you can call yourself successful. Some say they are busy in this life where time is less, but there is always time for selfless service. We should be able to express love and kindness unconditionally wherever we go and serve everybody as we would want to be served. Let’s take a moment and look at our parents, for instance. When did we do something nice or say ‘Thank you’ to a person that carried us nine months in her belly? When did we try our best to serve her and make it up to her for bringing us into this world full of possibilities? Do we even look back at our life to see how many opportunities we had in one day to make somebody happier? This is a part of selfless service too. It is up to us to recognize this precious opportunity of giving and live it.
I must mention one more very important aspect of selflessness which is being capable of sacrificing our taste for the sake of saving lives. That is Veganism. Veganism is a part of and is born from selflessness. When our deep inner calling tells us to forget about the momentary pleasure and care for the animals that suffer terribly, we become rich from the inside. Just like sharing food with the hungry, clothes with the needy, medicine with the sick – sharing life with the victim who is about to be killed or tortured for a few moments of pleasure is equal to that. Animals in dairy, meat, fashion, egg industries have never experienced the freedom that we enjoy. A man walking this earth wants all of it – money, position, family, health, love, friends, joy, while everything that these animals want is FREEDOM. We rarely look back and see if our actions harmed or disturbed anybody’s life, instead we often complain about the things we don’t have. Freedom is the highest desire of every animal from these cruel industries, yet we take the same freedom for granted. If we intend to make this world a better place, to live peacefully and to let everybody else live peacefully, selflessness is our future.
Article Credit: Mina Obradović
