June 27

A Donkey Is a Donkey

Our first priority is to serve others. In the process of doing that, if you think that you have to take a little rest so that you can serve more, then go take rest. Still, your taking rest is for the purpose of serving. That’s how you should eat, sleep, rest, bathe, everything.

You take a bath with a nice soap not just to make yourself clean. You have to come here with a clean body so that you won’t send out a bad odor to others. It’s for the sake of others that you are keeping your body clean. It’s to serve others that you eat your lunch. It’s to serve others tomorrow that you go and rest tonight. We should think, “Everything I do is aimed towards serving others, my all is for others.” If we can apply this in our daily lives then we don’t have to worry about taking care of ourselves. Each one is already taken care of by everyone else.

Even being overly enthusiastic in wanting to serve more is the wrong approach. That’s egoism. You should simply serve in whatever way you can. Don’t try to show off. Don’t pretend that you can do more than you are able to. A parrot can talk to you, but not a donkey. Does the donkey get upset over it? No. It’s happy as a donkey. It need not try to copy the parrot and then cry, “Oh, I can’t even sing or repeat anything.” If you have been created as a donkey, be happy as a donkey, because you have a purpose. If you have been made something else, be happy that way.