I had the opportunity to meet and visit one of my spiritual mentors. This was the second time I had the pleasure of meeting him in person. On this visit, I walked away with some new epiphanies in addition to the benefits and insights that come from being in the presence of a great teacher. Located out in the middle of pristine forested land in Alachua County Florida, sits a small building called The Temple of the Universe. It is on this property where Michael Singer resides. He has lived there since the 1970s when he built himself a home in the woods. His plan was to meditate in solitude and peace out in the woods away from the world. Of course, what unfolded over the next 40 years was much different than he originally planned. But that is another story, which he tells beautifully in his book The Surrender Experiment.

What I wanted to share today was more about the authenticity, simplicity and refreshing nature of my time spent with Michael Singer at the Temple. For those of you who don’t know, over those 40 years, Michael did quite well for himself in the traditional way the world defines success. He was the creator of one of the very first software programs that helped medical practitioners to digitize their medical records. He was at the helm of a billion-dollar public company whose achievements are archived in the Smithsonian Institution. Michael ran it all from his property in the woods. A fact I share with you only as a point of reference and context for what I am going to elaborate on next.

You see, part of the magic and beauty of this place is that both the property and Michael are without any pretense. The Temple looks pretty much exactly as it would have when he built it in the 1970s. It is basic and simple, nothing is elaborately done or updated to look modern. There is no image promotion or concern about how this might look to potential visitors. There is no hype, spin or any thinly veiled attempt to sell or promote anything whatsoever. In other words, there is no show here. It is a beautiful space to gather and remains there with all its simplicity.

The same thing can be said about Michael. He is a shining example of what truly being of service to the world and humanity actually looks like. There is no marketing or promotion, no collection of donations or charge for anything whatsoever (and this has been the case for the past 40 years). The Temple has a weekly schedule of yoga, mantra chanting and talks by Michael. All of the programs they offer are free and open to everyone. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against people charging for their time and services. The point I am making here is that in this day and age, the amount of focus on self-promotion and self-aggrandizing has all gotten to be a bit much.

People can get so focused on their social media profile, Twitter feed, marketing their message, and trying to sell and promote themselves that it can start to become less about the service of helping others and more about all those other things that seem oh so important to building a business. There is an underlying feeling of “I’ve got to make this happen” and the mindset of push energy, competition and masterminding outcomes that is so prevalent and in vogue these days. Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with self-promotion and marketing to clientele, however there has been some misdirection in applying spiritual principle as a means to increase one’s bottom line and business growth.

The highest spiritual mountaintop is not being able to manifest our own individual idea of success. The highest spiritual mountaintop is “how may I serve?”. When we go to the Universe/God/Spirit with that as our one and only goal everything we need will be added unto us. This will include meeting the right people, attracting clients to serve, and whatever else is necessary to do the job we have been assigned to do. All of this was demonstrated for me during my most recent visit. People have been coming to The Temple of the Universe for 40 years and there is no advertising campaign or clever marketing techniques to draw in visitors. It served as a wonderful reminder to take a step back and really look at our motives and behavior. Do we believe that we have to “take the bull by the horns” or do we trust that by staying in alignment with a service minded way of living everything we need will be laid before us? I think it’s an important point for all of us to consider.