Pure service: compassion free of expectation

The purpose of service is not to change society, but first to make oneself balanced and compassionate from within. If irritation, despair or hardness is growing in the mind while serving, that is a sign to look inward. In true service there is no expectation: not of praise, not of result, not the insistence that things must change. Social work becomes a burden when hopes like "let people understand" and "let everything be set right" attach themselves to the service. Service is the act, not the result; attachment to the result turns service into a struggle. Pure service is the service that keeps the mind calm and steady even in hard circumstances. Society may not change at once, but the one who serves should not break within: that is the success of service. There is no need to give up service; there is a need to give up expectation. When expectations fall away, service becomes sadhana once more. Only such service can bring lasting, positive and humane change to society. This article is offered with love to all those who serve, but who do not wish to lose themselves in the doing.