Ramana Maharshi Says Self-satisfaction Is The Driving Force Behind All So-called Selfless Work

Some People say "My love is not for myself; I work in this world not for my own happiness but for the welfare of other people. In fact, I live for others. To
care only for my own happiness is selfishness – that is not my aim. My aim is the happiness of others”.

This is superficial talk, betraying a lack of sincere and serious analysis! People do not realize that every so-called selfless act which they do brings happiness only to themselves!

Let us take the example of a man who is prepared to undergo,throughout his lifetime, all kinds of sufferings for his son just to maintain, educate, and keep him above needs and wants; in doing so it is he alone who gets satisfaction from seeing the prosperity of his son. He worked for this satisfaction alone. Is not this satisfaction his own? Is not this self-satisfaction the driving force behind all his socalled selfless work?

The former American President Abraham Lincoln once saved a pig by lifting it out of the mire in which it was caught, and while doing so his body and clothes became very dirty. The onlookers asked him why he, the president of such a vast country, should dirty himself just to save a common pig. He replied : “I got involved in this action not so much to relieve the suffering of the pig, but to relieve myself from the suffering I experienced at the sight of the pig, I did this only for my own peace of mind!” What Lincoln said then is the practical truth of the matter.

It is only this self-satisfaction – one’s own happiness–which is the hidden motive behind all kinds of selfless acts! This can in no way be denied.

Source: The Path of Sri Ramana PART ONE The Jñana aspect of the teaching By Sri Sadhu Om