Selfless Service: A Foundation for Expansion

PART 1 OF A QUESTION AND ANSWER SERIES WITH JACK BARRATT, WHICH ADDRESSES VARIOUS QUERIES ABOUT MANY DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE DATTATREYA-AVADHUTA TRADITION. 

Q: Since hearing about an apparently immortal Spiritual Master on a popular YouTube show, and after having some unusual experiences in the last two years, I would like to receive some guidance from this Master on what I should do. When I mediate, I have out-of-body experiences and go to different universes. I am scared to meditate now and have issues sleeping.

A: Spirituality is the science of developing true unconditional inner contentment and acting through that contentment by living a benevolent life for the benefit of other beings. Experiences, ‘out-of-body’ or otherwise, are absolutely meaningless when it comes to real spiritual development. Such experiences, if they occur in a way that seems to imbalance or disturb you, actually point to the fact that you are not grounded within a proper spiritual lifestyle where the core thought is what you can do for others and what you can give to the world.

If you really want to develop spiritually, your first task should be to get involved in some sort of service activity where you use your skills to benefit others. This can be in the form of volunteering, offering food to the homeless, or even going and feeding birds or fish every day. Until you become grounded in the practice of such activities consistently, then things like meditation will only imbalance you further. Before we go beyond our individuality, we have to perfect that individuality. Individuality is perfected through adhering to the principle of complete non-violence in thought, word and deed, and also getting into the habit of regularly rendering service towards a benevolent cause. Before we ascend to the peaks of spirituality, we have to have a foundation. Suggestions for building such a spiritual foundation have been offered here. Be well! Jai Guru Datta.

FURTHER COMMENTARY: In His monumental text, Avadhuta Gita, Lord Dattatreya clearly affirms the non-dual, non-relative nature of existence. What Lord Datta does not offer us within the scripture is a clear recipe for reaching that state of spotless perfection; He simply transmits that state directly in a fiery blaze of powerful text. It has been the role of great Datta Avatars and Masters to help beings work their way up the ladder of spiritual perfection gradually. The present figurehead of the Dattatreya Tradition, Brahmarishi Mohanji, has clearly stated that the best way to dissolve inner and outer obstacles on the spiritual path is through selfless service. This is recommended because A) the practice of selfless service actually reverses the accumulation of binding karmic impressions because it is based on the perspective of trans-karmic unity, and B) because by serving selflessly we actually fashion ourselves a lifestyle that can contain and actually make good use of higher, more expanded states of awareness. 

Many people who have visionary or even awakening spiritual experiences, if they are not well grounded within the container of a Tradition and its selfless activities, and if they are not connected to fully established Master, become lost and fall by using whatever spiritual power they attain to re-constellate their ego around the idea of being ‘special’ or a ‘Guru’. There is no path within the Dattatreya Tradition without service. In fact, if we still do not have the natural desire to be of service to the Tradition, Master or the world in general, then we have not even begun walking this path.