Helping Others

 

Photo Credit: Dada Bhagwan Store

Helping Others

It is not necessary that one needs to be physically, emotionally and mentally strong to help others; all that is required is an inner desire to help others without any selfish motive. Helping others is like a double-edged sword, especially for those on the spiritual path.

Remember this. It is impossible to help others till we ourselves have obtained some certainty of our own. Resist the temptation to help others. It is evil unless we have obtained some certainty of our own. Don’t try to be a guru, don’t try to be a helper. because if we do, we will create disturbance; we will create more problems. Remember well that we cannot help, we cannot guide anyone unless we have got the inner light. When the inner light is there, the help, the guidance, will flow from within.

The temptation to help others is great, because the ego gets a boost, it gives the feeling of being very fulfilled. If someone comes and asks us for advice, we feel very good about it and are compelled by our ego to offer advice. In many instances we observe situations and people in certain predicaments and we offer unsolicited advice. This is very dangerous because we have no idea about the underlying reasons, we are offering advice based on what we are seeing and hearing at that moment!

The temptation to give advice to someone who asks for it is so great that we end up advising without having any idea what we are talking about, without knowing what we are doing, without the awareness that we don’t know anything about the matter. One needs to be really strong to say, “I don’t know, I cannot help you”. Only people with a very strong will power can resist the temptation to offer advice on being aware that they have no clue about the matter for which advice is being sought.

If someone asks us about the existence of God, we are not strong enough to display our ignorance and say – “I don’t know”. We say something like, “Yes. God exists, I am a believer,” or we say, “God does not exist, I am not a believer,” but in both these cases we are giving advice. In both these instances we are confirming something that we don’t know. Basically, our ego prevents us from expressing the truth about our own ignorance.

Remember this, for the spiritual seeker a very basic, very significant point: whatsoever we really know, confirm only that. If we don’t know, it is better to say, ”I don’t know.” This saves us from its karmic effects.