Radhanath Swami on service and false pride

HOW TO RENDER SERVICE ?

Devotional service should not be rendered in a proud way. We should not think that rendering service is to show how nice we are, how good we are, how devoted we are. Rendering service in a proper state of mind means to always take a position of being menial and insignificant. We may not have this consciousness of menial significance frame of mind, but we should aspire for that in our service and we should aspire for that when we hear the glories of the Lord. And we should aspire for that when we chant the holy name of the Lord. Das das das dasanu das. When we aspire in all our devotional practices for this most glorious position of das dasanu das, then Krishna will take our prayers seriously and then by His Grace, He will remove ahankara, the false ego. Until He removes it, we will all be imprisoned by it. You do not have the power to remove it. But by your humble menial service to the Lord you will attract His Divine Mercy. He removes it. And for Him, nothing is impossible.

FALSE PRIDE:

Unless you very diligently strive to free yourself of false pride, that pride , that pride will creep into your spiritual life and cause you to be envious and inimical towards other devotees. This is the greatest danger. Srila Prabhupada used to tell us that Maya cannot harm us in any way, by attacking outside. All outside attacks will only make us stonger if we are sincere. They cannot break us. But when she attacks from within, which means, attacking from from within our minds, that creates a sense of pride, a sense of competition, which ultimately results in a breakdown in love and trust and the mission is crippled. It is love and trust amongst the devotees of the Lord that attracts the empowerment of the Lord. It gives potency.

submitted by Gopinath Das
Link to source