Part 26: Kundalini Rising and Service
We’re 26 episodes into the series, and we’ve covered a lot of ground, but I haven’t spoken much about an extremely important aspect of the journey: service.
That’s where all of this journey leads. As we find stability in the advanced stages of the journey, our hearts are open, we feel connected to all that is, so naturally, serving others and the world becomes our inclination.
So today we’ll dive deep into what service really means, some of the ways we can engage in it, some practices for you to open yourself up to finding your calling, and things like that.
Very early on in my Kundalini process, I met with a mentor of mine who had gone through this process about 15 years prior. She told me, Brent, you must get down on your knees and surrender your whole life to service.
At this time, I was going through many challenges on my journey, but I understood that eventually, I would be in a positon where I would be able to be of service. Knowing this, I found the courage to keep going through my hard times.
If it was just about myself, if this process was only going to bring rewards for me, I probably would have given up. But whenever things got really hard, I remembered that there are other people out there that I need to keep going for, so that I can one day support them in the way that so many great teachers have supported me.
So like I was saying, as the Kundalini process reaches relative completion, by this point, we’ve reached a relative sense of stability in our healing journey.
Our chakras are functioning well, they’re open and balanced because we’ve addressed much of the trauma and conditioning. Our hearts are open, and we feel a strong sense of oneness and connectedness to the world and others.
At this point, we might ask, what next? Do we just sit around in meditation? Or is there more to the journey?
Well, this is where service comes in. As we live in this state of oneness, we see clearly that by serving another, we are ultimately serving ourselves, and so we are naturally inclined to do so.
But there are so many different ways that we can be of service. Being a spiritual teacher is just one of many roles we can play. Truthfully, not everyone is called to play that role. But we are all called to serve in some way.
Being of service doesn’t need to take the form of a very obvious outward expression, such as being an energy healer or guru. It certainly can, but our role doesn’t need to have explicit spiritual themes.
These roles also don’t necessarily need to be professional. They can be on a volunteer basis or even just part of who we are on an everyday basis, interwoven into our other ordinary roles.
We can quite literally serve the hungry as a volunteer, we can completely change our careers to one that better aligns with our values and dedication to service in an obvious way, or we can simply dedicate ourselves to serving and offering our energy to all who we encounter in an incognito way.
You can think back to the episode where I mentioned the concept of shaktipat, which is the transmission of Divine energy, Shakti. In essence, this energy is contagious. We can radiate it and transmit it in silence to others. We don’t need to do anything overtly spiritual in order to offer this radiance. Just our presence alone is enough.
So in that way, we can play any role, with the intention of being of service, and we can be very effective. For example, maybe we’re a bartender, and we bless each drink that we offer our customers, wishing them well. Maybe we’re a personal trainer, wanting to get our clients in touch with self-love. These are all possibilities. Service doesn’t have to just be obviously spiritual roles.
Service can look like spreading joy, love, happiness, hope, and peace. Maybe that comes in the form of art or music on a big stage.
Or it can come in the form of simply listening deeply to what someone is sharing with you and holding space for them without judgment.
Maybe your calling isn’t to write a spiritual book. Maybe it’s just to be the most grounded, balanced, and loving parent, partner, coworker, or friend.
Service isn’t so much about outward expression as it is about inner orientation. Has your attention moved outwards to encompass the world and your own body and mind? If so, service comes naturally.
This is why my mentor told me to get down on my knees and surrender to service. It was to orient my life and journey around it.
It wasn’t something I did just once. It was something I had to do many times, over and over again as my journey unfolded further. And it’s something I still do.
One of the most common struggles for many on this journey is the fear of not having any direction in life. The Kundalini process can cause a person to suddenly leave their job, have a change of heart about their career, and lose interest in things that they were once passionate about.
And often what’s left is an empty space and a lack of direction. People ask me quite often, what am I supposed to do once things settle?
And I always tell them that they will be of service in some way.
Service orients our lives. It gives us direction. We may not necessarily have a clear career path or vocation, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be of service to others in our immediate circumstances. We can begin to see that the line between career and recreation, between work and play, begins to blur. Service becomes the only thing left for us to do in many different ways.
If you do not know how you are meant to serve, simply surrender, give yourself up to the Divine, ask for a calling and wait with patience, and pay attention to the impulses, invitations, and opportunities that come.
I sometimes talk to the Universe or God, and I say “I am here, at your service, willing to do whatever you want me to do, but I am not going to fight to figure it out. Show me the way, I am paying attention.” And then I simply relax, wait, and let go of any guilt about not taking action, or being lazy, or not being productive. In time, I receive some sort of call. You can have similar conversations with the Universe yourself.
Once we begin to be of service, in whatever way that is, it’s important to remember a few things. Firstly, we don’t need to become egotistical about it. The ego can latch onto anything, even something noble such as service. Be mindful of whether or not we’re using our roles to show others that we’re better than them, or anything like that. Humility is key. And service makes us humble. It is an honour to serve, a privilege, and nothing to take for granted or feel that we are entitled to.
Find balance between taking care of yourself, taking breaks, and resting. You must take care of yourself if you wish to support others sustainably. We cannot pour from an empty cup. Serve yourself, not out of selfishness, but out of a higher purpose to offer as much as you can for as long as you can without burning out.
Boundaries are still necessary, even if you give yourself up to service, that doesn’t mean that your time and energy become a free for all for everyone. You will have to find out how to manage your time and energy accordingly. If you don’t figure out boundaries, don’t worry, life will teach you in some interesting but difficult ways.
For me, there are parts of my life that I am not perfectly dedicated to service. I am working on it. My careers are still developing. I’m relatively young. But as I get older, my life is becoming more and more oriented around being of service, not just in this role as a spiritual teacher, but in general. It is something that unfolds over time.
So honour the blossoming and development of your role, and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t figure out how to be a perfect saint by tomorrow. Being of service is, like the other parts of the journey, an unfolding that brings something new each day. There is no rush for any of this.
Contact me with any questions about your Kundalini awakening process.
Find out more about meeting with me one-on-one here.