Directions of Service and Other's Views

[kokopelle]

A recent experience on a group blog educated me to the concept of "strongly serving a few people or lightly serving many people". Human beings only so so much energy and effort to put forth. Our efforts have to go somewhere. These two views of service can focus attentions in different directions. How we view other people can change also. IMO this is how it plays out...

"serving few greatly" person.
They see themselves as honest, stalwart guardians of a few people. They see themselves as extremely passionate caretakers of those around them. The amount of attention that can be given to specific people is substantial, providing for maximum impact and growth. Those who criticize do it from a place of not understanding.

The extreme "serving many lightly" people are seen as scattered, uncaring, lazy, unfocused, and so on.

"Serving many lightly" person
They see themselves as compassionate, open-minded, dedicated, and sharing. With a larger group served, the person's resources of time, effort and material are split in multiple directions. Many are touched in some way, with the "whole" benefiting from the efforts. Those who criticize do it from a place of not understanding.

The extreme "serving few greatly" people are seen as xenophobic, close minded, mean-spirited, aggressive, and so on.


I saw the following saying on the same group blog...

A specialist learns more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing.
A generalist learns less and less about more and more until he knows nothing about everything.

Bringing this wisdom to my examination of services, it can be said that in the extreme, each direction of service runs the risk of serving nobody. This is sad no matter which direction the service is pointed. Fortunately, the vast majority of people are somewhere in between the two poles. If only those who detract us could see this too.

Comments

[chimerae.livejournal.com]

I've become fascinated in recent years by a population skew toward the POSTURE of service. I've found that there's a lot of sincere effort expended to "be of service" but that it's more driven by a false altruism that's really a form of touchy-feely ritual of exchange. Long story but there's major social benefit to appearing altruistic to the degree that the individual believes their life to be driven by altruism. Genuine altruism is costly in the individual life without concurrent social benefit.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I've written on the connection between selfishness and "charity". The link is http://greensh.livejournal.com/9617.html (http://greensh.livejournal.com/9617.html). Here is a blurb...

Is there a true form of charity that does not involve selfishness? As you will see there is not, but there is a point where the selfishness is transformed. There is a saying: “A good is never so good as when you have no awareness that you are doing good”. The Sufi wise man says: “A saint is one until he or she knows it”. The key to true charity is to be unselfconscious!

Here's my question... the seekers come to the teachers and the religious leaders. The seekers say, "tell us what you know, mold us, help us become like you". What are the teachers and religious leaders to do?

[chimerae.livejournal.com]

. . . or the gospel instruction to never let your right hand know what your left hand is doing .. . . Still, I disagree with your blurb (realizing of course that it IS a blurb and not in context) I believe that there IS true charity, even in selfconsciousness.

To your question about seekers -- I think it depends on what that individual teacher teaches and what aspect of religion is being led.

Some teachers are most effective by simply living their lives in such a way that the cognitive dissonance created in the awareness of others creates a hunger that leads the "student" deeper into truth for the rest of their life. Some teachers are most effective by presenting patterns and ego lessons broken down into little book size lessons. And there's every other variation. My favorite teachers of every kind tailor their teaching to the students and never stop learning, especially learning from the student.

As for religious leaders -- every religion I know has it's own set of answers for what their specific religous leaders are to do in response to seekers. My sense of the best of them are those who live the duality of fulfilling that religious mission and still maintain the truth of spirit and the essence of being human. That's a tough, tough road.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

Good answers...

Another question... what is the nature of a true charity?

[chimerae.livejournal.com]

You know that gospel bit about "love thy neighbor as thyself"?

For me,that's the true face of charity where another's need is equal to my own. Creates an interesting paradox, because it means that my capacity to give has to be balanced with self-love.

I think the act of true charity comes from grace and in consequence is usually bewildering.