Service

There is no denying the personal benefits derived from living a quiet, aware, meditative life rooted in gratitude. But such a life is incomplete if it is lived only as a selfish or shortsighted means to that end. Ultimately, awareness must be cultivated for the benefit of all, and of everything there is. However busy one is with work, family, and other involvements, there needs to be in one’s daily life something of the monk’s contemplative outlook and the element of retreat. Everything that happens is a gentle reminder that being a conscious part of this grand cosmos is precious beyond measure, and that we are not here alone. Like the cells in our bodies, and the bacteria living in us and without which we cannot live, our lives are fully realized when they are recognized and understood as lives of complementary service.

Or, to put it another way, Be then a bee hymn, even as you flower.

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