Seva Motivations and Attitude
Seva is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘selfless service’ or ‘selfless action.’ As seekers on the path of Sant Mat, our primary seva is to serve the soul through our daily meditation practice. In Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III, Maharaj Charan Singh explains why meditation is regarded as seva both to one’s soul and the Lord:
Seva means to serve someone. So we are serving ourselves. It’s a service of the soul.…You see, now we do not realize that our real self is the soul. We think our real self is the ego, the body, the mind. To begin to realize that the reality is the soul, not the body or the ego, is also service.… Actually, it is a service to the soul. We are taking pity on ourselves, so to say – taking pity on the soul.
Since the soul ultimately has to become the Father, this service is known as service to the Father.
Just as serving the sangat through external seva is to serve the Master, serving our soul through meditation is to serve the Lord. When initiated, we promised to dedicate two and a half hours to meditation each day. This is a sacred vow the Master expects us to honour. If we are truly committed to the spiritual journey and to achieving eternal liberation from the cycle of birth and death, fulfilling this promise becomes non-negotiable. In fact, mystics have said that there is no greater expression of love for one’s master than daily meditation.
Even though meditation is the highest form of seva to the Master, mystics advise us not to go to extremes by attempting to meditate for long periods of the day. Instead, we can use our free time for physical seva, which, as noted in the following quotation, has the dual benefit of strengthening our love for the Master and improving the quality of our meditation:
The practical fact is that we can’t meditate all day, and even with our daily responsibilities we still have spare time. Seva, then, becomes an additional way for us to nurture that love, to remain in an atmosphere of love throughout the day. And this supports the next day’s meditation.
Seva
Our love for the Master and a desire to serve him inspire us to look for opportunities to perform physical seva. We might help prepare our local centre for weekly satsang by washing the floors, organising transport for the sangat so they can attend the Master’s annual satsang programme, or directing traffic. While love may motivate us to do seva, we should be careful not to develop a sense of pride in our role. For example, we may start to think that the sangat is benefiting because of our personal dedication and ability to do seva. An anecdote recounted in the book Seva aptly illustrates our insignificance. During the Master’s satsang programme, a sevadar was asked to leave his stewarding role and attend to another matter. He did so:
…all the while concerned that he was needed at his seva post. When he was finally done, he rushed back to the spot he had been asked to abandon. He found that a potted plant had been placed where he had been standing.… That’s when he realized his own importance: master could get his work done by a potted plant!
From such humbling incidents, we learn to surrender our sense of self-importance, recognizing that true seva flows from the Master’s will alone. In The Dawn of Light, Maharaj Sawan Singh encourages us to adopt the mindset that we are merely instruments of the Lord and that it is he – not us – who is accomplishing seva:
The more you help others, the better; but be on your guard that in doing this work there is an idea of service to the Master only, and not a shadow of pride crosses your mind. Think that whatever is being done, he is doing it and not we.
As Maharaj Sawan Singh suggests, seva is not about us, but about what the Master does. Yet while the purpose of seva is to eradicate one’s ego, ironically, it may have the opposite effect if we start believing that our seva is more important than someone else’s. The Master insists that all seva is of equal value; one type of seva is not more valuable than another. Therefore, one way of performing seva with humility is to remember the Master constantly, either by visualizing him or repeating simran.
Alongside the gradual dissolution of one’s ego, seva cultivates in us qualities that can only be developed through working with others: kindness, compassion, patience, and love. As the Persian poet Rumi reflects in the Masnavi, if every difficulty rubs us the wrong way with frustration, how will we ever polish our mirror? Likewise, we may approach seva with the misguided belief that the outcome is of utmost importance. Fixation on tasks can grow so intense that when things don’t go as we planned, we may become frustrated with other sevadars. However, no one should suffer in the name of our seva; if we cause hurt to others through words or actions, we fail to understand what seva truly is. By working alongside others, we slowly smooth out the rough edges of our ego – vanity, pride, and attachment – letting the mirror of our heart shine with love and compassion.
We began this article by stating that seva means ‘selfless service’ or ‘selfless action,’ and that in Sant Mat, our primary seva is to serve the soul through our daily meditation practice. While the sangat may benefit from our contributions through various forms of external seva, we are the main beneficiary. Seva gradually diminishes our sense of self as we learn to work alongside others without the need to be the best, to lead, or to impose our will on how to complete a task. This marks a complete 180-degree shift from our daily life in the world. As we engage in more seva with like-minded companions, we increasingly turn away from the material world. This captures our soul’s attention and helps us forget about our ‘self’. The more we perform seva without any expectations, the more we begin to truly enjoy it.
All types of motivations influence why we engage in physical seva. However, if we trace them back to their origin, there is one common reason that ultimately surpasses all obstacles and challenges: our love for the Master and a desire to serve him. To love the Master is to want to be with him and to surrender oneself to him. Therefore, in the words of Guru Amar Das in the Adi Granth (the Sikh scriptures):
Surrender body, mind, wealth,
and everything to the guru;
Obey his will, and you will find him.