Service is an essential duty for the disciple. Its gains are superior to those of worship. It kills the desire-nature; it breeds humility and good manners; it destroys pride, impurity and inertia, quickens the soul and illumines the inner and the outer man.
They asked a Great One, “How many ways are there to God?” He said: “There are as many ways as there are atoms in the universe. But the best and the shortest is Service. I have reached the Goal by treading this Path, and recommend it to my disciples.” . . . .
Rules of Service: To put aside one’s own desires, to render oneself agreeable to others, . . . . and to regard one’s powers and possessions as intended for the use of others . . . .
As the wealthy are to serve with their wealth and the learned with their knowledge—so the disciple is to use all his activities for the service of others . . . .
All Great Ones began with Service, which gradually lifted them to the rank of Masters.— Letter 71.
[The following Notes gleaned from other works of the Author are added as bearing on the subject. —Trs.]
The outer conduct of an occultist should be in accordance with the mental capacity of the people surrounding him. He should speak what concerns them only, and not of his own relations with God. Master Yehiâ observes: “When with others, I say ‘My Lord’; when alone, I say ‘My Beloved’; when united, I say ‘I’.” Obey the Law, whatever your stage or position. Such is the approved mode of conduct, as recommended by the Masters of Wisdom.—The Series of 28 Letters,— Letter 21.
A certain Great One was told that the chief of a certain town spent the whole night in prayers. He replied that the poor fellow had missed the way and undertaken the work of others. On being questioned again, he added that that man’s path of duty lay in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the distressed, and fulfilling the wants of the needy; and that keeping up all night in prayer was the duty of a recluse. Each man ought to work according to his position in life. —Fawâed-i-Ruknî.