“Oh no, I wouldn’t take anything for it. It’s my duty!” exclaimed eighteen year-old Hassan. He said this after refusing compensation for taking off a half day of work to act as translator for Eliyahu on the streets of Kolkata. The Lotzars - Eliyahu and Devorah, our husband and wife team whom you will recall from our last newsletter - found time and time again during their late-fall 2004 trip to India that service is woven so deeply into Indian culture that it is done with no thought of personal reward. GBPI’s second newsletter is devoted to looking at different facets of Indians’ living loving service as part of who they are and how they see themselves fitting into the world.

GBPI believes that helping others is a natural result of opening the heart. New York Times bestselling author Caroline Myss believes that being of service to another person is a biological necessity. Western society tends to create divisions across social, cultural and religious lines that make it easy to see someone different as ‘other.’ Once this distinction is made it is an easy step, even if it is subconscious, to close one’s heart to that person or group and write them off.

India is a country with eighteen officially recognized languages, over 1,600 languages and dialects, a 5,000-year recorded history replete with accounts of invading armies and the influence of immigrants and traders, and is made up of numerous cultures all with their own rich history and traditions. A great part of the beauty of India lies in the tolerance and harmony that is part of daily life. They have developed a culture that welcomes and celebrates diversity on a deep level.

Americans are a very generous people. The aftermath of 9-11 and the recent tsunami disaster showed how quickly we are ready to open our hearts and pocketbooks to those in need. Even so, there remains a ‘me first’ attitude and a sense of competition in the culture that is not always productive for society. GBPI believes that all of us will benefit by adopting a cultural attitude that puts more emphasis on helping another. Even if it costs personally in the short run, we will be building a more compassionate, tolerant, loving society for ourselves and our children. We hope you enjoy reading about the Lotzars’ experience of being submerged in India’s culture of loving service. As always, feel free to write to us at info@goldenblossom.com with comments about it.

As I walked up A.J.C. Bose Street searching for Mother Theresa’s Shi Shu Bhavan orphanage in Kolkata, I was awed by the entire street scene. Children bathed themselves, colorful shopkeepers sold their goods, taxis and rickshaws by the dozens zoomed by beeping their horns full blast, and crowds of people filled the streets. After about 15 minutes I finally spotted the entrance. It was a huge green metal gate with no opening, no door, and no handle.

“How am I supposed to get in there?” I thought. I was feeling a bit tense. It was my first day of volunteering and I didn’t want to be late. It wasn’t long before a group of Indian women came up to me eager to help. “Shi Shu Bhavan, Shi Shu Bhavan?” they asked. When I nodded yes, they pounded on the gate, a tiny window opened up, and a little face appeared. She and my new Indian friends chatted and magically, a square section of the gate opened up. Grateful and relieved, I thanked and “Namaste’d” (an Indian custom of bowing with palms together in reverence) the helpful Indian women. I hopped through the square opening into Shi Shu Bhavan. I was touched by the women’s ease and willingness to help me out.I came to the orphanage to play guitar, sing, and dance with children with special needs. Their challenges ranged from emotional disturbance and autism, to lack of mobility and inability to speak. When I got there I walked into a large room filled with children running around and playing, plus Sisters and over a dozen volunteers hard at work. Everyone was focused, on task, not noticing at all that a new volunteer had arrived who had no idea what to do next. At first I thought, “What kind of place is this? Isn’t there someone in charge to orient me?” After a few minutes I asked one of the English speaking volunteers what was needed and I got to work. It was clear that everyone there was dedicated to serving the children and doing whatever was required for their well being. I felt a beautiful spirit of joy, ease, and relaxation, even though everybody made sure not to waste a moment’s time with so much to be done. No one hesitated to help whether it meant changing diapers and beds, mopping the floor, playing with the children, or feeding them. At times the work was challenging, like feeding a quadriplegic three year-old who resisted the feeding. Nevertheless, the love the staff radiated for these children, and the joy of serving them, was bigger than any difficulty. The volunteers and Sisters cared for these children as if they were their own.GBPI has a vision for the world where we stop focusing on differences and instead focus on what we have in common. We believe that when we open our hearts to another, it is natural to want to serve out of the spirit that recognizes we are in this world together. While many of the volunteers at the orphanage came from different cultural backgrounds and spoke different languages, we immediately felt a sense of connection. The thread that brought us together was the heartfelt desire to serve.I came to Shi Shu Bhavan with an open heart. Yet day after day, seeing the love and devotion of the staff for the children, my heart broke open even wider as I joyfully did my part to serve with more love and devotion and live GBPI’s vision to the fullest.

Mata Amritanandamayi, better known around the world as Amma (Mother), is one of India’s most famous spiritual teachers. Known as “the Hugging Saint,” she is said to have hugged at least 21 million people in the last 30 years (it is one of her ways of giving a blessing). She created a large ashram, or spiritual community, close to the village where she grew up in the seaside state of Kerala. She and her staff are involved in many service projects including the creation of a large hospital, a housing development for the poor and an ayurvedic medical college. The Lotzars were guests at her ashram towards the end of their trip.The moment they got out of the taxi a woman came up to them, seeing they had just arrived, and said, “This is what you do, this is where you put your stuff. Don’t drink the tap water! Here is where you can drink.” In a short time she gave them the run down on the entire place. The contrast to arriving in a US city was striking to Devorah. “If you walk out of a cab in New York, chances are no one would come up to you to let you know what to look out for.” This was the Lotzars’ introduction into a community that radiated harmony and beauty because they were devoted to loving service.Devorah noted, “No matter what was going on, there was a sense of cooperation, a sense of peace, a sense of people living in a family even though there were around 15,000 people there.”Why? “Everything that was going on everyone was doing for each other. No one was getting paid.” Even though there are no requirements for guests to serve, at least 90 percent of them do the recommended 1-2 hours/day of service work. Everyone there realizes that no one else is there to do the work (i.e., there is no paid staff like in a hotel). It creates a remarkable sense of harmony knowing that there is no one else to depend on to get things done. To make it work, it also takes the willingness to let go of what one thinks he or she should be doing.Even though everyone goes to the ashram to be close to Amma, her example of selfless service (imagine hugging over 21 million people!) inspires all who visit to open their hearts and serve in whatever way they can. Devorah saw that, “The love there, and the love for service, really did create a community. There was a sense of “I will do for you like your family.” That was very, very unique. Imagine if the whole world could be that way!”It all happened in an environment where it wasn’t always easy. People live in simple conditions. The “flats” for guests are small, empty rooms with a thin mat for a bed and a bucket of brown water for a shower. Bugs of various varieties abound. Due to the demand to see Amma, and the fear that it wouldn’t happen, many issues came up for people around the amount of personal space, one’s turn to see her, and one’s entitlement based on status. At times it created tension, anger and frustration. For Eliyahu, “It became an opportunity to understand that my needs aren’t really that significant in the big picture, that when I let go of them I got what I needed anyway.”For Devorah, it turned out to be just fine to live in a simple environment. She sensed that she didn’t really need anything more. The tensions and frustrations that arose in the course of the day became opportunities to let go, to open the heart, and to embrace the deeper truth that we are here to help each other.Devorah found that, “There is nothing more satisfying than service.” Imagine creating a world with the diversity of living arrangements that we know, where the beauty and harmony the Lotzars found at Amma’s would be part of daily life. GBPI believes that it is possible. All it will take is the willingness for each one of us to want it to be so, and follow up that willingness by serving with all our hearts.

There is so much to be done;
let us unroll the earth,
let us put leaves on the trees,
blossoms on branches,
let us set mountains in a row,
hang the moon;
add vast space to blue heavens,
light the stars,
to the wind give velocity,
to stones, wings, to movement, melody;
also smiles to lips,
glowlight to eyes,
and to moving shadow on the roadside,
life.
God is silent.
Why don't you come
And help create the universe.
I can't do this all by myself.