May 21

“Service is not possible unless it is rooted in love, or ahimsa.”

–Gandhi (Truth is God, p. 138)

Everywhere we go we hear the word service. Our banks provide various services; our clothing and grocery stores, all are there to serve us. Even the military is called service! Let’s just pause for a minute: service of whom? And then we come to the real answer: service of oneself.  Banks, etc. are not in business to serve their clients so much as to make a profit themselves; and the military?  This is “service” of one’s own group very much at the expense of others and it exploits a noble concept for personal gain.

In this system, we are told,  the more money you have, the more service you get. Let others make our food, wash our clothes, and make our commercial experiences pleasant. What great service!  But in doing so, we are also lulled into letting others make our choices for us. Don’t worry about the wars we wage, actually, don’t even think about them, we’ll think about them for you. Here’s a drink. How was your service today? Let’s not buy into it. Literally!

When Gandhi maintains that real service must be rooted in love or ahimsa, he is raising the bar. Can we have servicemen and women who do not learn hatred, but cultural sensitivity and nonviolence? Can we have relationships of growing service in our midst where those who have more see themselves at the service of those who have less, instead of expecting the opposite? Of course we can, and we have many examples of people doing just that. The key, Gandhi would urge, is that we expand beyond pockets of people here or there, by getting to the root and changing the way we view service itself, in its true meaning, so it becomes a force to uplift all concerned. A deep freedom is at the other end.

Experiment in Nonviolence:

Every time you hear the word service, look behind it and see what is really meant.

Daily Metta 2015, a service of the Metta Center for Nonviolence, is a daily reflection on the strategic and spiritual insights of Mahatma Gandhi in thought, word and deed. As Gandhi called his life an “experiment in truth,” we have included an experiment in nonviolence to accompany each Daily Metta. Check in every day for new inspiration. Each year will be dedicated to another wisdom teacher.