STO (Service to Others) – This is the path of love, compassion, and unity. Beings on this path seek to help and uplift others, seeing all as one. In Ra’s teachings, a soul must be at least 51% oriented toward serving others to graduate to the higher, more positive densities.
STS (Service to Self) – This is the path of control, power, and self-interest. Beings on this path seek to dominate others for their own benefit. To progress on this path, a soul must be at least 95% oriented toward serving itself, which requires intense dedication to self-centeredness and manipulation.
ok so here is my issue with this concept,
there can not be self-centeredness without the idea of others, the description of sts and sto should be exchanged(?)
when diversity is viewed as complexity all is one, all is self, there are no others, the symptoms described in sts are born out of seeing others as others rather than aspects of self, make sense?
thus the description of sts and sto are confused from a oneness standpoint, and should be the other way around(?)
I would like to share my visual interpretation of STO and STS, which may provide more insight into how to think about polarization.
Imagine a light bulb, as we know it, but this time under slightly different—let’s say, magical—circumstances. Place it somewhere in space and imagine that it is drawing energy from what lies beneath it, allowing it to shine and radiate.
Now, intensify this brightness. Each increase in radiance corresponds to more energy being pulled in—the greater the luminosity, the more energy is returned, ready to sustain the bulb’s system once again.
Assume that all blockages and frictions that could disrupt the system are neutralized, and no distortions occur.
The description above serves as a visual analogy for how one might conceptualize an STO entity.
Now, let’s construct a similar model for STS—a perfect example of STS—in this case, imagine that all energy is completely trapped—nothing, absolutely nothing, is emitted. As a result, the flow of energy from the space below is also halted—since no energy is being radiated outward, no new energy can be drawn in. No output, no power—simple as that.
Therefore, the ‘STS bulb’ must find another way to sustain itself. That way is to extract energy from others—by dominating and siphoning off their energy instead.
And now to answer your questions.
Let’s take another look at our metaphorical light bulb. Should this description be changed? In my opinion, no because now you can clearly see the differences. STO is the free reception, flow, and expression of energy in at least 51%. STS, on the other hand, is about cutting off from it and reclaiming energy from others in at least 95%. And taking care of yourself comes from the desire to care for others and share your light with them.
It’s like being a cell in a body and seeing other cells as enemies, wanting to dominate or destroy them—when, in reality, all of them together form the body in which that very cell also exists. This is STS.
STO, on the other hand, is when a cell in a body recognizes other cells as part of the whole organism, of which it is also a part. Because of this, the cell cares for the others, knowing that together they create the same living system.
From the Perspective of Unity, STS vs. STO Can Be Understood as Follows:
STS: The Creator looks at itself and sees the “cells” of its “body,” some of which act in ways the Creator would never conceive. It begins to observe both the positive and negative aspects of these cells’ actions (in a sense of influence on others cell)—none of which are fully aligned with its design or its awareness of the unity of the greater whole.
STO: The Creator looks at itself and sees cells that recognize they are part of a larger body and actively seek to support others. This pleases the Creator, as it delights in a reality where cells act in ways that benefit both themselves and the whole, understanding that everything belongs to its own body.
To illustrate this with the metaphor of light bulbs: the Creator sees within itself dark spots that absorb the light of other cells (STS), as well as the luminous, radiant cells—these supported by the entire organism, which is, ultimately, the Creator itself (STO).
The Creator is all that is; therefore, this stolen energy is not truly lost, as it ultimately returns to Him. STS is merely an expression of His own Shadow. However, such a situation does not directly align with His expresive Will. The Will of the Creator is to be as radiant as those luminous cells, and thus, He will strive to support and protect the radiant cells.
If I interpret the material correctly, that all is one is only a hypothesis, “seeming one” and Quo states only it is it’s opinion.
From my personal experience, the synchronicities and kind of hints are so numerous that it seems that someone is pushing individuals purposefully. Thus it seems there are 2 levels, the so called creator/one, and personal level.
Also, how do they count the percentage, there is some kind of material to fill or number of actions to be taken.
As Ra and Quo often mention, all is love, there is nothing else, and you are love formed by light. So the way I tend to look at it is that we go through a forgetting (lower our vibration) just to experience the joy of remembering.
Everything is vibration. Nothing ever rests. You are vibrating love energy.
The more you can connect to that highest vibration of love the closer you come to returning to your original vibration.
As we slowly remember how to love we advance back up through levels of experience.
There’s 2 ways to more connect with the vibration of love.
STS - to fully love yourself to the point that you’re happy to do whatever it takes to show yourself more of that love. You are ready to take that love and light from others with no hesitation and no guilt, for you are loving all that there is. Yourself. Allowing yourself to vibrate higher and transcend the lower physical realms.
STO - to fully love others AND YOURSELF. You are fully aware that others are self and by loving them you are loving all that is. Yourself. But you must also love yourself, knowing you are apart of the same whole. The combined energy of loving others by 51% with loving yourself (let’s say 44%) is what helps you reach the same vibratory level as loving yourself 95%.
It’s just a vibratory level that is reached by holding the feeling of love. Either love for yourself or love for all. But remember you are part of that all and to be STO is not to forgo your own needs and desires. This is what is meant by shadow work. You must love and forgive all aspects of yourself which in turn makes it easier to love and forgive all aspects of other selves.
Thank you for so patiently sharing your thoughts on this,
I have been pondering the subject with this additional context and now the idea of sts and sto feels more relatable to me.
I understand that verbal language is rather clunky and we apply it to the best of our ability in regards to referring to and describing reality.
a conceptual framework can be helpful to some degree, while there is the risks of misleading inaccuracy within any such framework
I think most people can relate to what is described in sts and sto, and I wonder if the titles can be tweaked for easier understanding of what they are pointing towards outside of the context of their descriptions, that is, being negative and positive
as I find that simply painting sts as inherently negative, is somewhat confusing, I would suggest a re-categorization of STO and STS as follows:
P-STS: Positive-Service To Self
win/win oriented(?)
Example: Self care can be of great service to others who care about you, hence positive-sts. win/win
and,
N-STS: Negative-Service To Self
win/lose oriented(?)
Example: Lifting myself up by pushing others down, Negative-sts
win/lose
If somebody cares about themselves without being a burden to others, it is STO then. One who is win-to-win oriented is STO type. STS in general is not about win-to-win, but one wins and others lose, or others win, but in a way defined by STS. STS determining what is meant to be winner in the case of others.
It is just STS, and I think it is not necessary to add “another negative” to what is negative. Negative STS would be something that is contrary to the “normal” STS, so it would give us STO ultimately.
BTW, I can share with you my perspective. I see it like that:
STO - balance between self and others. Individuals care about themselves and others in the same proportion. All the activity is focused on supporting others and on the self, but only if it is necessary to maintain the self to be continuously able to support others. This is extremely hard, and only the Creator can do it in a perfect, 100% way. We need a minimum of 51% to be harvested for the 4D. So 51% of our choices should involve thinking/acting on behalf of others or on behalf of ourselves in a way that it will ultimately allow us to further support others.
STS - luck of balance between self and others. Individuals care about themselves and don’t care about others or care about them in the way they perceive what they think will be helpful without caring about the will and perception of other individuals. Those who want to advance. They need to take care of themselves or others as they see fit, at least 95% of the time, such as determining what each person needs and getting them to make certain decisions.
No Polarization - luck of balance in the self and between self and others. Individuals don’t care about themselves and/or about others. Individuals maintain their survivability, but are unable to direct themselves properly or be helpful to others. The main reason is luck of possession and/or use of knowledge of spiritual, philosophical, psychological nature. Such people are unable to lead others, others escape their guidance. They are also unable to respond to requests and be a real support. To make matters worse, they are involved energetically and time-wise in things that do not develop them: they overdo it with drugs, alcohol, television, computer games. They do not work on themselves, they are not interested in personal development.
At the end I will add that it is impossible to express and describe fully how to understand these types of services and polarization. The most general description for STO is living in accordance with the Will of the Creator, which is like being included in the current of Love and Light that comes from the Creator. Being filled with it, acting in accordance with it and sharing it without expecting anything in return. And you have to Feel what it means… It is impossible to fully describe it in words.
STS, on the other hand, would be moving away from the intentions of the Creator, manipulating Love and Light, not sharing it or sharing it in the expectation of something in return. There is definitely more room for action here because the original thought of the Creator can be distorted in theoretically infinite ways and gives a huge room for exploration and use of free will, but this use is never optimal, full, perfect and highest. There’s always a price. The universe is all about balance.
Exactly, we are not defining reality here, we are defining a map and signposts, and in this thread there has been provided context where service to self falls under the category of service to others, I’m sure there can be context where service to others is done in a negative fashion,
So far I would say that sts and sto are neither positive nor negative without additional context, thus they are not very effective titles to point towards something that is inherently negative and positive.
Here are some alternative title suggestions that more accurately reflect the nature of STS and STO:
For STO (Service to Others)
Path of Unity – Emphasizing interconnectedness and oneness.
Path of Compassion – Highlighting love, kindness, and support.
Harmonious Expansion – Reflecting a cooperative, uplifting evolution.
Good bullet points. And there are certainly more to discover when synthesizing and summarizing the channeled material.
What I can add is a reminder of the guidance from the Confederation, which emphasizes the individual importance of our subjective resonance in understanding who or what the Creator and STO are, as well as the individual lessons we’ve chosen for ourselves in this current incarnation.
We can uncover these lessons by examining our lives:
“Where would we discipline ourselves to adopt behavior that reflects love rather than a conditioned response? Where can we apply this discipline in our current environment, and what opportunities might await us as we move forward?”
Or, in reference to the Whole:
“What is the entirety of creation—the whole reality that constitutes the Creator—asking of me right now? What would it expect from me? What would help ensure its growth?”
By seeking this answer, we also pursue an understanding of what STO is. Our perception of love and the Creator, despite having a limited understanding and description of STO or how it compares to STS—how they relate to each other and their ultimate significance—is deepened through this exploration.
This is something I resonate with deeply, the notion of yin/yang feels appropriate,
During my NDE in 2005 I got a taste of the Unity of all experience, I felt like the ocean realizing itself in the drop, on the verge of reuniting with my/our original self,
Today I feel like I’m a sapling of that part of self, and my running theory is that this is a growing ground for us to mature towards being compatible company with our original self as individual’s, even after our physical “training wheels” are shed.
Not sure what level of accuracy that holds, but it gives me some peace of mind during challenging lessons of contrast.
this question is perceptive and touches at the very nature of the creator. all is one, so one must be all. this is the philosophy both the negative and the positive path attempt to use. since there really are no others, you have no ability to not serve the creator since all is the creator. the labels we put on these paths are insufficient but get fairly close as far as language allows. sts emphasizes separation, hierarchy, and control, while sto emphasizes unity, free will, and shared identity as the creator.
from the standpoint of absolute unity, yes separation is an illusion. but within third density, the illusion is very real for the purposes of learning. sts deepens that illusion, using others as means to serve the self. sto dissolves it, seeing others as self and acting from that truth. so while both paths are distortions, the positive path aligns more directly with the undistorted nature of the creator which is unconditional love and unity.
infinity is funny like that, even though separation doesn’t truly exist, it still explores it. the creator desires to know itself in every way, even through what is not. but since that infinity can only be described as unity, you can’t have parts of yourself that are denied or unacknowledged. so even though there’s only one being, the positive path resonates more clearly with the creator’s true vibration .
It’s easy really to understand these concepts
STO is like the sun. It gives. It is radiant. It expects nothing in return. STO is radiant, it radiates outwardly.
STS Takes. It is absorbent.
You can place these into human interactions and human situations. An STS action: Someone who steals from another. They take without consideration of the other person who they just stole from. (self love that is unbalanced) An STO action: loving someone inspite of their hate for you or others. (self care/love that is balanced)
Human beings are learning lessons in radiating outwardly and drawing back inwardly and how to balance the two.
Therefore, there are moments in which you may act absorbent because there is a need to or because you fell asleep and forgot.
Ok another example: you need rest so you turn off your devices and rest. While your devices are off someone may be trying to reach you but you rest instead (because you NEED rest). This is a sort of balancing the negative with the positive. Someone needs to talk to you but you are exercising self care. Only you can decide which is more important to you at that moment.
You could say this as well:
STO works from the green ray or heart center to start. As one goes along the STO will understand that all giving is taxing and can make a person unwell. He may seek how to balance his giving. This generally involves the blue ray or seeking wisdom to bring balance into his life. No one can just give and give and give without emptying themselves out like a vessel filled with water.
The STS individual may be seen as narcissistic (clinical), sociopathic, psychopathic. One who seeks to absorb other peoples resources for their personal gain and doing this at any cost to its victim. They simply do not care because they do not seek to love or to care. Now they may have some low levels of love when it comes to others such as loving a child but this would be a shallow love or a limited love. They may even use the child to gain something for themselves.
STS love themselves the most. And to graduate I think they need to have self love to a degree of 95%. So they must love themselves consciously 95% of the time that they are here, incarnated upon the earth. That is a lot of selfishness.
Does this help at all?
|*** I am a positive entity. I love others a lot and will do a lot to help those in need but I use discernment when giving help to others and I recognize my need to care for myself when I need it. I am learning how to balance the actions of positive and negative desires.
I do not believe this is a balanced way to understand the people who have not chosen a pole.
I believe these people to be highly unconscious for the most part. They neither harm nor help anyone including themselves. It is as if they are in a coma, asleep, permanent daydreaming.
“luck of balance” → lack of balance - this is how it should be.
I saw an interesting fragment from Q’uo’s session when I was browsing Jim’s blog (The Camelot Journal). It was relatively recent, about 2-3 weeks ago (I think so, I may be wrong). That was probably the first time I encountered such a presentation of the meaning of being depolarized, but when I thought about it, it made sense.
However, to sum up at the beginning, STO is, of course, service to others without expecting anything in return. Example: a teacher who devotes himself to teaching and educating, even though he is not particularly rewarded or appreciated, but he doesn’t expect anything special in return.
STS is active work for own benefit, including involving others in this. When there are more involved, that one at the top has a higher level of energy. Example: a political leader who leads others and cares for them like his sheep, he is the shepherd; he rules over the flock; when he tells them “do this,” they will do it.
Depolarization, and that’s where it got interesting because there it was presented in such a way that the depolarized person simply expects to be served, just like that. He doesn’t lift a finger to be the leader at the top and gather the surrounding sheep that he will control. Such a person does not work towards his own goals, but only makes claims on the world around him. Of course, helping others without any self-interest, for a depolarized entity, is also out of the question, that’s clear. So I started to imagine that since this is someone who believes that others should serve just like that, he can force them to do so. And then, because of the force, a violation of free will occurs, and, even though the behavior was negative due to the violation of free will, depolarization occurs.
This of course is not exhaustive and one should study the entire channeled material thoroughly. Then one can actually get closer to grasping the best possible meaning.
Or I’m the one who confused because I didn’t use the same terms.
Generally, to be clear, when I write about lack of polarization/ depolarization/ depolarized/ unpolarized/ non-polarized/ non-polarization/ no polarization in general, or regarding hypothetical individuals, I meant the same thing, and it’s the first 1) of the categories.
The next two categories are, of course, 2) positive polarization, being positively polarized, STO, service to others and 3) negative polarization, being negatively polarized, STS, service to self.
I see that I participated in this thread some time ago. Anyway, I think everything is enough clear, and we can understand each other. Best regards.
Oh ok I see…maybe mercury is in retrograde and our talking points sound like the Peanuts parent and teacher characters??? Yup. I do not use those terms interchangeably.
So I getcha now.
I do not know if others see the way I see polarization in my mind when I think about it. So to me, to be (un) would be to my personal understanding, would read “not yet polarized”.
To (de) in my wording would be to lose polarization whether it be positive or negative. To polarize would be to choose to be on the path of obtainment for the will to do good or the will to do harm.
But I honor your way of thinking as well I am only sharing what my thoughts are here.
Personally, I have a problem with the mantras: “all is one”, “we’re all the same”, and “we’re all just having an experience” etc. I find it nauseating and solipsistic. I find it meaningful and rewarding to have relationships with others. Reducing everyone to aspects of self feels very nihilistic to me.
Human beings tend to collapse things into a “this” or a “that” in order to try to understand them. Perhaps this is a simplification for our benefit? Perhaps the reality is something else? Perhaps something with qualities of “self” and “other”?
PS. Have always wondered why it is exactly 51%, and not say, 50.0001% or 50.3142, or something?
“luck of balance” → lack of balance - this is how it should be.
Best regards.