Selfless Action

Selfless service or seva is an important aspect of the spiritual teachings in Sant Mat. In fact, all spiritual paths encourage their disciples to render service of any kind to humanity. This service is entirely voluntary and can be performed according to one’s capability.

The principle that happiness lies in giving not in receiving is one which all great men and women have followed in their lives. To serve another being with an attitude of selflessness, without any thought of reward is what the Bhagavad Gita calls nishkaam karma or desireless action.

Master often tells us that everything in Sant Mat has a parallel. Satsang, seva, darshan – all these outer disciplines are there to finally lead us to the inner discipline. Besides meditation, outer seva is no doubt the most enriching and fulfilling act in a disciple’s spiritual journey, but it is just a means to the end.

What is real service to humanity?

To free the soul – which has been for ages subject to transmigration – from the cycle of births, and to raise it to the pure spiritual region from where it will never be sent back to undergo births and deaths. All other forms of service are merely temporary. Serve yourself first of all, then think of serving others. A prisoner cannot liberate another.
_{Maharaj Sawan Singh, Spiritual Gems}

Service rendered by body, wealth and mind is done to awaken the higher qualities in us. Each of these create humility in us and detach us from greed for possessions and pride of status, and help us control our wayward tendencies and desires. However, these are preparatory steps for the highest service for which a human being has evolved – the service of the soul.

The highest service or nishkaam karma for a human being is to bring our consciousness out of the nine doors of the body and collect it at the eye centre. Here the consciousness comes in contact with the Shabd, the ever-resounding music of the creation. This divine contact starts to pull the soul or the consciousness out of the illusion of the mind and body; from then on begins the real spiritual journey of the soul towards its home, its creator.

Only such a one is in a position to serve the Master as has abundant grace of the Lord, because this service is imprinted on the individual’s forehead and was preordained as the result of his actions or karmas in previous lives. He is fortunate indeed who devotes himself to the service to his Master, because the Lord himself is manifest in him.
_{Maharaj Sawan Singh, Philosophy of the Masters, Vol. 1}

Masters perform the greatest seva, nishkaam karma or selfless action. They impart the Word of God, which destroys the ego; that Word which makes the mind and body pure and enables one to unite with the Lord. A true saint or guru initiates and inspires the disciple into the spiritual practice or meditation which is the repetition and contemplation of the Word of God – the Lord’s Name or Nam.

Saints are steeped in love and devotion for the Lord; they have merged their consciousness with the divine Name; and now they carry out the mission of the Lord to bring more souls to render the highest service man can offer – the service of the soul.

Guru Arjun Dev says:

Service to a Saint lies in meditation on the Name.
_{Jap Ji}

The ultimate act of giving or selfless action lies in following the instructions of the guru implicitly and meditating on the Lord’s Name. Through this constant practice our consciousness merges into the ceaseless reverberating Shabd within.

Fruitful is service to the true guru
If one does it with a sincere mind.
The treasure of Nam is obtained
And the mind becomes free of anxiety.
_{Guru Amar Das, Adi Granth As quoted in Seva}