The Eighth Principle addresses the meaning and nature of spiritual service. Here, we come to understand service in a larger way as we consecrate our lives more fully to God. The more we work with this principle, the more it becomes clear that the deepest meaning of selfless service can only be achieved by a self that is willing to commit itself to others and to embrace a sanctified life with integrity. This commitment must come from within. It develops over time as awareness deepens and responsibility toward God increases.

Integrity matures out of a growing perception of ourselves as united within and as centered in our own perceptions and values. As integrity deepens, the self relates more and more to its own center in making choices and decisions in life, and is less and less stirred by external opinion or judgment. This development is needed in order for service to others and a consecrated life to be most complete. For if we choose this life from the very deepest part of ourselves, we will be offering our whole self to our path of service, rather than just part of ourselves while we exclude other portions. It is out of the wholeness of selfhood and the depth of integrity that the fullest commitment to God and to others can be made.

This development takes time, and individuals vary greatly in where they are on the spectrum of selfhood and the capacity for selflessness. It is for this reason that in defining appropriate work for individuals within the Principles of Sacred Consciousness community, we must look at the choice that allows for each individual's maximum self-expression, as well as their capacity to serve in relation to the greater whole. These two are related, but are not the same. One fosters the expansion of selfhood; the other fosters the expansion of selflessness. Both need to be considered as certain individuals are in need of areas which will help them awaken integrity, while others are in need of tasks that arise out of the pure desire to serve others. Sometimes, and for some individuals, both directions may be pursued simultaneously. Clarity about what is needed for each one may be felt intuitively, or be based on what each individual naturally gravitates toward with a feeling of comfort, satisfaction, or joy.

The progression from work that enhances self-expression to work whose aim lies in the identification of the self with the needs of the greater whole is part of the process of spiritual evolution. Within the purification process, this development may be speeded up so that individuals move from one level to another more quickly.

Within a spiritual organization there must be a place for all who wish to serve. Not only does awareness of self in general define the realm of service; attitudes toward money also must play a part. Since each one who seeks to serve will be at a different stage of development in relation to their perception of money and their need for it, opportunities for service and payment for service need to correspond to the different levels of spiritual development that individuals bring to the organization.

How much money a person thinks he or she needs for the self is a matter of the evolution of consciousness. Therefore, the question of financial remuneration within the structure of the community needs to be based on the fit between an individual's consciousness and the level of consciousness that a particular position within the community requires. Those who have the greatest commitment to the spiritual goals of the teachings should, from the standpoint of consciousness, have the highest level of responsibility, and at the same time, possess the highest degree of selflessness. These individuals would be fully supported by the community, yet would earn (or be given) less than others might, needing only what was necessary in order for them to do their work effectively. This would not happen because it was spiritually incorrect to have money, but rather because such souls would no longer seek it or want it. Individuals who had a more conventional or ordinary view of their relationship to money, or whose commitment to the goals of the teachings was more partial, would get paid in a more conventional way.

Principles of Sacred Consciousness upholds the idea that if tasks are given to individuals according to their abilities and level of consciousness in this way, everyone will be supported in feeling valued for being exactly where they are in their spiritual journey.

As each person is met by the organization at the level where the most growth can occur, a kind of Divine power or collective alchemy can take place which allows each part of the whole to complement all other parts. The result is collaboration in the truest sense - all parts working together most efficiently and enhancing each other's function and expression.

What can be achieved by this effort at congruence between the needs of the self and the organizational structure should not be underestimated, for it is how God intended us to work with each other. When our efforts are in alignment with God's will and express the highest integrity that we are capable of, we are empowered to exceed our previously conceived of limitations and to realize a new vision of the possible.