The True Purpose of Seva
Imagine this: All our lives we work hard and deposit money in an account so that we can use it when we retire or really need it. That day comes and we go to the bank, and we’re told that we deposited our money in the wrong account. We discover that we have nothing – what we deposited now belongs to someone else.
That would be devastating. And that is exactly our situation. Every day, day after day, we work hard taking care of family, house, job, employees, employers, kids, parents, and so on. But the sum total of all that work cannot go with us, and we cannot use it for our ultimate benefit.
On the other hand, if we live our lives dedicated to the Lord and our Master, our whole life becomes seva, and every moment, every bit of our effort is deposited in our account and will uplift us spiritually, emotionally, and in every other way.
We are told that selfless service performed anywhere, anytime is seva. It does not have to be at satsang or a particular institution. The key ingredient is selflessness. When a service is performed without calculation, remuneration, expectation, or even a desire for praise or appreciation, it becomes seva. It is a voluntary form of giving that becomes a way of life.
Kabir Sahib says:
Give, give, O friend, and then give again
as long as you are alive.
You may not get this human body again,
so while in this body give!
For who will ask you to give anything
When your body has crumbled to ash?
Kabir the Great Mystic
Love is in giving not taking, losing not gaining. We hope to lose our ego in the process of doing seva. First, we think seva needs our services, but the more we do it, the more we realize that we are the ones who need the seva. Master is creating so many buildings, publishing so many books, implementing so many projects and opportunities for seva throughout the world. They are all an excuse for us to be given something to do selflessly to please the Lord.
There are two distinct forms of seva: outer seva, which is the means, and inner seva, which is the end. Saints teach us that the highest form of selfless seva is meditation – the withdrawal of our consciousness to the eye centre and attaching it to the divine light and melody within. That is the real seva, the highest form of service to the Master. All other sevas are just means toward that end.
The purpose of seva is to bend the mind Godward. This requires a complete transformation and shift from the outside to the inside. Seva helps the mind execute that crucial U-turn. It slowly saturates the mind with love for God, cleanses and purifies the mind, and makes it worthy of connecting with the divine Shabd. That is why Kabir Sahib says:
Give me the gift
of devotion and love,
O master, Lord of all gods;
Nothing else do I ask
but to serve you every day.
Kabir: The Weaver of God’s Name
In the video “Seva of Love” on the RSSB website, several sevadars were asked what seva meant to them. They all expressed variations on the same theme: seva is the cornerstone of their life, an anchor. Seva reminds them that their Master is always with them; it holds them steady through the ups and downs of their lives. Seva connects us to the Master and our true self, if we do it with the right attitude, and it conditions our mind so that it becomes less of an obstacle in the meditation.
Our masters have told us that we are all links in a chain, that we are all equally important. The kitchen worker is as crucial as the project manager. There are no high or low sevadars, no high or low sevas. Each task, each person is an indispensable link in the human chain called seva. While the people participating in the chain can be replaced, the chain itself remains permanent and interconnected. It is said that we do not do seva but that seva gets done through us.
Most of all, seva is an expression of love – ours for the Master and the Master’s love for us. When the satsanghar at the Dera was being built in the 1930s, a well-known wealthy contractor in Delhi asked to be given the seva of constructing the entire building. Great Master replied:
I want every satsangi, even the poorest of the poor, to be given an opportunity to offer something in seva, even if it is only a rupee or half a rupee. I would also like every satsangi, rich and poor, young and old, to participate in the construction, even if they carry only a handful of sand or a few bricks. Their smallest effort is precious to me, every drop of perspiration shed by them is valuable. This is seva of love and devotion.
Treasure Beyond Measure
It has been said that a good sevadar is one who can work with everyone. Seva is not mechanically working with hands or minds; it is our intention to please another person, to make that person happy. When we make the other person happy, we make Master happy, and in this positive atmosphere we can sit for our meditation with a relaxed mind, feeling saturated with his presence. As Dadu Dayal says: “He is always with me, sometimes ahead of me and sometimes behind me, and he himself carries my burden.”