Goodness

Remember when you'd go off and Mom would say "Be good!" and you'd laugh or wink or maybe even just say "okay" wanting to please? This morning, when I did my random search for a poem or phrase that would catch my eye, I read:

"He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open." ~ Tagore

We find this profundity everywhere. For example, the 38th verse of the Tao Te Ching says (there are many translations, interpretations and presentations of the Tao):

"A truly good man is not aware of his goodness

and is therefore good.

A foolish man tries to be good

and is therefore not good."

(excerpt from Wayne Dyer's presentation of the Tao in Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life)

Witter Bynner in his presentation in 1944 of the Tao Te Ching (The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu) states:

"The man of sure fitness never makes an act of it

Nor considers what it may profit him;

The man of unsure fitness makes an act of it

And considers what it may profit him.

However a man with a kind heart proceed

he forgets what it may profit him;

However a man with a just mind proceed,

He remembers what it may profit him;"

I felt particularly drawn to this message today because I had been pondering my own inner compass. Does my call to be of service come from heart or head?

Karma Yoga is that of selfless action in the service of others. In fact, in a presentation of the Bhagavad Gita, Eknath Easwaran's introduction specifically mentions "forgetting the finite self in the service of others" and he shares Mahatma Gandhi's experience-driven words "By detachment I mean that you must not worry whether the desired result follows from your action or not, so long as your motive is pure, your means correct. Really, it means that things will come right in the end if you take care of the means and leave the rest to Him." The Gita is an ancient guide to living and acting from love.

Doing good work is wonderful, of course. But is that good work coming from the Egoic desire to show others, saying "Hey, look at me and what I'm doing. Aren't I great?" Or is the good work stemming from love? What kind of energy are we bringing to our actions? We can't force ourselves to love, but we can cultivate love within - loving our divinity within ourselves and loving the Infinite Source of all life - and that love will be reflected outward without any direction from our minds or egos.

So, lets BE LOVE and thus truly BE good instead of "trying to be/do good"!

(((BIG HUG)))