Learning to Serve

Destroying Your Negative States of Mind!

Learning to Serve
by MeditateAndDestroy

Central to all social movements is self-less service. Its a call to go above and beyond our normal daily responsibilities and work without pay or reward. As we learn what is means to serve, we realize that to truly serve we must think outsides ourselves learning to overcome our often selfish attitudes. The drive to serve come's from a wish to benefit others and should arise from a heart of love and compassion. With these positive mental states we will find it easier to work for others as we have more energy and personal motivation to make the positive change we wish to see. The dangers of falling into negative states of mind are many and to serve to our greatest potential we have to avoid at all costs the minds of anger, discouragement, and selfishness.

Avoiding Anger and Discouragement

1. Anger divides: We've all dealt with someone who's upset or angry and our first reaction is either to completely avoid them or join them in their anger. Anger can divide the very bonds that are nessariry to make positive change, and is the fastest method to dismantle important social relationships that are central to make progress both as small groups and larger social groups. Anger is very much like holding a flame, its we who get the most burned.

2.Anger leads to discouragement: If we have no way of expressing or challenging anger we tend to internalize it, destroying ourselves from the inside out. We can't expect to make progress in the world if at the very core of our being exists a deep and unresolved conflict. We must liberate ourselves from discouragement, and move towards action, anger holds us back from productivity, creativity, and confidence three key elements to making positive social change.

Avoiding Selfishness

Any call to action is a call to transcend our selfish attitudes. Its a call to destroy our laziness, our indifference, and our apathy. Its a call to liberate ourselves from all personal obstacles that prevent us from making the change we wish to see both within ourselves and within the world. We must be able to tame our mind enough to avoid falling into the traps of laziness and inaction, for too long have we listened to our uncontrolled mind. For too long have we done nothing for the world or ourselves, its too easy to fall into bad habits, we must start our change from within abolishing selfishness and feeling the true freedom of self control and discipline!

A Practice

Actively watch your mind, any time a discouraging, angry or lazy state of mind arises counteract it!

• For anger use the mind of love, try smiling even if its just physically at first you'll soon watch your anger dissolve.
• For discouragement think of all the other people in the world who don't even have the ability to serve, tell your self that you have no time for discouragement, there's too much work to be done!
• For laziness think of death, think of how limited our lifetimes are, think of how little time we have, push yourself to work!

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MeditateAndDestroy is a radical Buddhist blogger sharing the importance of non-violence, personal responsibility and self-reliance. Focusing on DIY meditation practices and other forms of radical self-transformation.
Promoting the transcendence of the political spectrum and their corresponding ideologies, replacing it with the fundamental human values of love, virtue, and compassion.

"The inner revolution will not be televised or sold on the Internet. It must take place within one's own mind and heart."