Hercules & Unconditional Service
Holokautoma is a Greek word that means “whole burnt offering,” with the further explanation, “consumed on the altar of dedication to God.” Hercules is generally remembered for his feats of strength, which were actually feats of service. Hercules was a vira, a spiritual warrior whose death was regarded as a perfect one by the Greek gods. He had fully manifested both his mortal and divine nature during his lifetime on earth, and thus, at the end of his life, he himself ended up being the offering into the fire sacrifice on the top of the mountain. In this sense, he was a wholly burnt offering, consumed on the altar of dedication to God.
Intention Put Into Action
The essence of our intention to live in freedom is the offering of ourselves unconditionally to God in both thought and action. We may feel a beautiful desire to serve, and yet the pressures of life may seem to be in conflict with that, or at least have the capacity to derail our commitment to service. It is our willingness and capacity to marry the feats of strength and the feats of service together that create unconditionality. These “feats of strength” are the actions of our life, and our responsibilities to our spouses, children, family, or to our community, should be performed as service.
Don’t let yourself be consumed by the pressures of life. These pressures are, in fact, vaults of energy available to us for our spiritual evolution. We must develop the capacity to respond to the demands of life and not only maintain contact with ourselves, but strengthen our willingness to serve. This is how we come to understand that as we are acting, we are serving the very life that we have been given — so that life can give us what it intends to offer, which is our freedom.
The mind may kick up some dust. We think, I can’t live my life and serve at the same time, but that is part of what’s thrown into the fire of surrender. Remember that the circumstances of our lives are created on the screen of our own consciousness, for the sole purpose of freeing us.
When difficult situations challenge us, perhaps God is asking, How much do you really want to be free? It is the capacity to envelop all the aspects of our life that frees us from the duality that exists in the mind. We must move beyond any sense that this is my life, that’s not my life. . . this is my spiritual life, that is a prison term imposed on me. Engage whatever life is asking of you as service, and you will grow from it.
Service Must Be Unconditional
Life is whole, but if we start to compartmentalize it in our minds, then we have no capacity to understand unity. If we focus on what we’re worried about or afraid of, we’re only magnetizing those things to ourselves. Focus on what you want to have happen and make sure that your life is built on the simple, beautiful foundation of freedom, in which the form life takes is irrelevant. Hold on to the intent of freedom, and then whatever you have to do to support yourself or your family, to serve the people around you, do it with joy and understanding.
Extraordinary strength is required to offer ourselves in unconditional service. Anyone can write a check that will bounce. Do not allow yourself to live from fear, doubt, and resistance. Acting from those feelings is not service, so to be free of those limitations, do the opposite. Be consumed on the altar of your dedication to serving God, and you will discover the absolute freedom and joy of that offering.
I love to watch Sufi dancers who whirl around a central axis of stillness. All that movement is for the purpose of turning the dancer inside. Similarly, when we act in service, our life swirls around a central channel, and everything we do arises from and strengthens our core of simple fullness and stillness.
Live life as a celebration and let everything serve freedom. Be grateful that you can be of service to God, the source of your joy, and let that service be the burnt offering of your gratitude. How amazing that we have the possibility of living in that state!