Seva

"The purpose of service is to fulfill your longing to merge with and into the Truth... If you get a chance to serve a Being of Light this is the highest.  Do not miss the opportunity." ~ Sai Maa

The beauty of Sai Maa's quote above is that She teaches that we are ALL Beings of Light.  Truly, when we serve each other, we serve the Highest in us, as us and through us.  The Highest in us rejoices when we serve others, simply because the Highest in me is the same as the Highest in you.  Whatever name you call it - Higher Self, Soul, I AM presence, Christ Self, the Bodhisattva inside, it is the same.  When we serve others without expectations of a reward of any type, this is seva, and in these actions, we are transformed. 

It's fascinating to take a deeper look at the practice of seva (selfless service) by looking at how we normally use the word "service."  In our commerce-driven society, usually service is defined as something that we exchange for money or some other physical object (e.g. "goods and services").  We have tacitly internalized this definition of service as "an act performed in exchange for something else."  

If we consciously examine our motives for most of our actions (and we are completely honest with ourselves), we find that usually we act expecting or desiring a certain result in exchange for or resulting from that action.  Sometimes this is subtle, yet there is still a desire for a certain outcome.  For instance:

• We work at our job expecting to receive money in exchange - if we don't get it, or not as much as we think we should get, we become unhappy
• We enter relationships expecting to receive love, attention, physical and/or emotional gratitifcation in exchange - when we don't receive that, or not as much as we think we should receive, we feel unloved or betrayed
• We act in a certain way to try to make someone think of us differently (e.g. working grueling hours hoping your boss will notice that you are a "hard worker" so you can get that promotion)
  

The common denominator of all of the above scenarios is the expectation that our action will yield a particular result, and if we don't get the result we want, we often become sad, angry frustrated or unhappy.  This is how we normally approach our actions, full of (sometimes very subtle) expectations, and then often becoming attached to getting a certain result from our actions ("if I do this, and (s)he doesn't react in a certain way or I don't get this in return, I'll be hurt").  This gives our own power away.  If our peace of mind depends on something outside of us turning out a certain way, we're in trouble, because often things turn out completely different than we could have imagined (especially on the spiritual path!).

Is there a way to act and remain peaceful no matter how the actions turn out?  Yes.  Sai Maa is constantly teaching us this different way of service.  On Her Aspects of One CD (Track 2), She says, "You get attached to this, to this, to anything.  You are putting yourself in a place where you are not free anymore, you create it....You create a house, then you get attached to the house.  Do anything you wish, create anything you wish, but do not get attached to it.  This is what makes you feel miserable.  You live in pain just because of this attachment.   When you believe in this attachment, you are not experiencing...what is being gifted to you each moment - each single moment.  The vastness of the Universes are right here in front of you, but because of lack of awareness you forget it, you don't see it." 
 

Act fully, but don't become attached to what your actions will or will not create. True seva is an action done fully, to the best of our ability, AND completing releasing the expectation and/or desire that the results of that action will create a particular result.  If you cannot let go of desiring a certain outcome in a situation, then you can offer up the results of your actions to God(dess)/the Universe/your I AM presence/Higher Self, "I have done my best, Lord, now I choose that Thy Will Be Done."  Let go of how you think it should be, and instead practice being completely open to the moment, embracing all. 

There is an ancient text called the Bhagavad Gita that explains this very succinctly and clearly in the statement, "Tyagac-chantir anantaram," - Peace immediately follows renunciation.   This does not mean you need to renounce the world to serve. On the contrary, in these times it is important that we remain active in the world, serving each other and the world.  Renunciation in this case means letting go of "the fruits of your actions" (the attachment, or expectations of having your action create a particular outcome).  As soon as you let go of these expectations, you are at peace, you are free, you are not dependent on having things go any particular way to be happy.  Since we can't control the result of our actions anyway, why not let God(dess) take care of it and trust that everything is happening for the best of everyone involved? 

So seva is a training ground for learning to act without desire for a particular result, which will keep us in a state of equaniminity inside, no matter what is happening around us.  And the beauty of seva is that we can serve others while we "learn on the job" how to keep this state of equanimity and expansion inside that our Sai Maa embodies and models for us.  The more seva we practice, the better we get at performing our routine daily actions without getting attached to what we create with those actions - it is truly giving with "no strings attached." 

Sai Maa strongly encourages us to offer seva.  This could be serving food at a homeless shelter, spending time at a retirement home to touch the hearts of the elderly, or volunteering our time and energy with a nonprofit organization, such as Humanity In Unity. 

"Selfless dedication will serve you.  Do not ever think you are performing seva for others. It is for you, for you!"           - Sai Maa

..................................................................................................................................................

HIU presently has many exciting seva opportunities.  Visit our seva opportunities page to find out how you can offer your seva.   

Read Sai Maa's writing:  The Glory of Seva