Dear Brothers and Sisters,

What is the essence of spirituality, without it there is no spirituality?

People can call a thousand things spirituality – Zen, mediation, praying, reciting sutras, worshiping, fasting, exorcism, shamanship, fengshui, witchcraft, voo doo… and what have you. Some of these activities, especially in the well-established large spiritual traditions such as Buddhism and Christianity, may help a little, but they are not spiritual if exercised without the essence of spirituality.

What is then the essence of spirituality?

It is “serving others.”

If you do something to serve others – that is a spiritual action.

If you do something to serve only yourself – that is a non-spiritual action.

Who you serve is a matter of your subjective thinking. If you think you serve others, then you are serving others. If you think you serve only you, then you are serving only you.

Serving yourself is chấp ngã – attaching to the self – the source of all sins.

Serving others means loving kindness to all – vô ngã, non-attachment to the self, Enlightened.

So, whatever you do, be it Zen, fasting, reciting sutra, helping others, if you do to serve others, then that is a spiritual action. If you do it to serve yourself, that is a non-spiritual action.

Please note that, you may be “helping others,” just to serve yourself – such as doing charity work or donating much money, only for your name to become famous. So, helping others could be serving yourself.

“Serving others” has to be a sincere and true purpose in your heart, for your service to be spiritual.

Last reminder: The essence of spirituality is “serving others.”

With compassion,

Hoành

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Trần Đình Hoành
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