Life is given. Nothing is earned. So, learn to serve others, not your own desire, greed, and ego. They steal your energies. Whereas devotion builds your strength and protects the intelligent flame that leads to the Truth within.
~ Saint Lalleshwari
Acharya Prashant: So, the Questioner is asking, ‘Is the intelligent flame vulnerable? Does the strength fade away too? Is Truth a by-product of devotion, intelligence, and strength? Can I not be in Truth prior to it? Are devotion and serving others necessary steppingstones?’
It is not a question of whether and if and assumptions. If one is firmly established in Truth, then one does not need devotion. The establishment is devotion.
If one is Lalleswari already, to the extent that one has given up identities with all sheaths, just as Lalleswari had given up her identification with the social regiment, clothing, then obviously serving others as a tool is not needed, then serving others is just an expression of who you are.
But one is not there. One is at a distance from one’s own heart, and therefore tools and methods are needed.
The distance is both an illusion and a reality. Absolutely seeing no one is ever at a distance from Truth because Truth is the only reality, where else will you go? But relatively speaking, looking at oneself from one’s own eyes, from one’s own deluded eyes, one is obviously at a distance.
One does not look at himself as the absolute Truth. One looks at himself as a limited person. This limited looking and subsequent conclusion that I am this person, leading this life, mired in such responsibilities, troubled by such fears, hoping for such gains. This limited person needs that flame of intelligence. Needs the help of devotion. The limited person needs all the help possible.
Yes, later on a point may come when the transformed person may say, "Oh! All that was not really needed! Oh! All that was just a game!" But the fellow who says this is not the fellow who is deluded right now. For the deluded one, help is needed. Methods are needed.
