What Is Physical Seva?
Everything we have, our time and talents, our energy and experience, our wealth and wisdom, our knowledge and influence, our life itself – is a loan given to us to be passed on to those whose need is greater than ours.
J. P. Vaswani40
Drawn by the spiritual fragrance of the saints, people flock to them in great numbers. Arrangements have to be made for those who come – to house them all, cook food for them, prepare and clean bathrooms, staff hospitals for those who get sick. As the crowd of seekers swells to hundreds of thousands, a myriad of details must be managed. Sevadars are the volunteers who assist the master in his divine mission by taking care of the seekers who come to his refuge.
How does one become a sevadar? All that is necessary is the desire to serve. We ask for seva with an attitude of openness and willingness to accept any task. We pick up a shovel or a rake, or sweep a room, or make some food – and we become a sevadar. But we don’t need to be at a satsang centre to be helpful; simply being a good, kind human being is a great service to humanity. Right where we are, doing whatever we are doing in life, there is always an opportunity to help someone. We only need to be aware and want to do it, and opportunities to serve will present themselves.
In fact, we serve others simply by living the four vows. First, by adopting a vegetarian diet, we spare animals tremendous pain and suffering. Second, under the influence of drugs and alcohol we can commit terrible acts and cause distress to others; so when we avoid these substances we are serving others by sparing them turmoil and pain. Third, when we lie, cheat or steal, or when we are unfaithful to our spouse, we hurt others; so our pledge to live an honest, moral life is a service to those around us. And finally, the vow to meditate every day fills us with love for the Lord and consequently with love and compassion for all living beings. Through these four vows we practise the doctrine of ahimsa, of non-violence towards others and towards ourselves as well. With these vows the master has woven the spirit of love and service into the very fabric of our life.
Seva is an attitude
When we become sevadars, it is good to be clear at the very outset
what seva is and what it is not. The master advises us not to define
seva in a narrow way. Hazur says that seva is love. Any action
done selflessly is seva. This means that anything we do – at home, at
work, for our children, for a stranger, or for fellow disciples – is
seva, provided it is done with love, with no ulterior motive, and with
no desire for reward or compensation.
So seva is not just an action, it is an attitude – an attitude of giving. Baba Ji once said that if you are given something, always give more in return, so you always give more than you receive. Great Master used to say that our hands should always be extended to give, rather than spread open to receive.41
A young woman once applied for seva at her local satsang centre. She was given occasional tasks but it was a small centre and there wasn’t enough seva to go around. This young woman had a strong instinct to serve. She was moved by the plight of the slum dwellers in her neighbourhood and wanted to do something to help them. So she involved her friends and created a non-profit organization. It started out small – serving people a hot meal once a week. Over time, as she got to know the residents better, she became more aware of their specific problems. Children needed textbooks and school uniforms; an old woman needed medicines; the bread-winner of a family needed heart surgery. Full of compassion, this young disciple and her friends spent several hours each week raising funds and helping the people in need. After some time she discontinued her seva at the satsang centre to devote more time to them.
At a meeting in the Dera someone asked the master if what she was doing would still count as seva. Baba Ji replied that we have a wrong concept that seva has to be associated with a religious institution. Seva is an attitude, he said. If any service is done with a selfless attitude, it is seva. When a mother serves her child without thought for herself, it is seva. He said that even when we work at an office where we get paid, to the extent that we go beyond the call of duty without expecting anything in return, it is seva.
Seva is selflessness
Mystics place the concept of serving with an attitude of selflessness
(nishkaam) as the very definition of seva. Nish means
‘without’ and kaam means ‘desire.’ So nishkaam means
to do seva with an attitude of service to others without any selfish
desire.
In ancient Indian literature it is said that Arjuna once asked Lord Krishna why he considered Karna to be such a generous donor.* What did Karna have that he, Arjuna, lacked? In response, Lord Krishna turned a mountain into gold. He told Arjuna that he wanted the gold to be distributed among the poor villagers who lived at the base of the mountain. Excited by the importance of the task, Arjuna began to dig up the mountain and distribute the gold. Initially he basked in the gratitude and praise showered on him by the villagers. But soon he realized that no matter how much he dug, the gold would never finish. Exhausted, he told Lord Krishna that he needed to rest.
Next, Lord Krishna assigned the same task to Karna. Karna called the villagers and told them the gold was a gift from Lord Krishna, and they could take as much as they wanted. He had his soldiers facilitate the process and they helped the villagers take the gold away in an orderly manner.42
In this story both Arjuna and Karna were given the same seva task, but Karna approached it with no desire. He didn’t care about the value of the gold. He had no desire to be perceived as a great giver in the eyes of the villagers. He did only what he was told to do, then walked away when the service was done – with no calculation or attachment. In Arjuna’s case, when he was assigned the seva, he got bogged down with the task of personally and visibly distributing the gold, because he desired the praise and importance that came with it. His service was not selfless.
One of the most significant lessons Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna in the Indian scripture Bhagavad Gita is to perform actions without being motivated by the result – the fruit – of the actions:
You have the right to work,
but never to the fruit of work.
You should never engage in action
for the sake of reward,
nor should you long for inaction.
Bhagavad Gita 2:4743
Nishkaam seva has two facets – selflessness and detachment. A spirit of selflessness is at the very heart of seva. If we have any expectation of reward when we serve, or if we put conditions on the act of giving, then we are not giving; we are taking. The whole point of service is to put the ego aside and to give selflessly.
But saints urge us to take it a step further – to serve not just with selflessness, but also with detachment. This may seem counter-intuitive. Shouldn’t we be deeply involved and empathetic when we serve? What is the need to be detached in seva? Maharaj Jagat Singh gives us the first reason. He says that any attachment – even to good causes – can distract us from our primary seva, the work of going within:
To be helpful and selfless is certainly good, but we should not identify ourselves with such work. We should help in a detached spirit and to the extent that it does not constitute a burden on our minds. Perform your social duties and discharge your obligations, but do not neglect your own proper work which is that of going ‘in.’44
The second reason for detachment in seva is that attachments bind us to the creation. If we devote our entire lives to helping others but there is some calculation or attachment embedded in those actions, we will enmesh ourselves more fully in this world. On the other hand, if we do the same good deeds without any personal desire, motive, or expectation, they will carry no burden. In short, normal actions occur in the realm of cause and effect, action and reaction, motive and expectation; selfless actions do not, because they are free from desire:
Good actions should be performed disinterestedly, without any desire to secure and enjoy their fruit. If actions are done in this way, they will bear no fruit, even as roasted seeds do not sprout. If good actions are performed with longing for their fruit, rebirth is inevitable, to enjoy the fruit of such karma.
Maharaj Charan Singh45
Selfless service to the general community is certainly seva. This book, however, focuses on selfless seva under the guidance of a living spiritual master.
Seva can be done through service to our spiritual community (the sangat) or to our community in general. The advantage of serving our spiritual community is that it puts us under the direct guidance of our master. Such service develops the relationship of disciple and master – a discipline that is key to the transformative process of the spiritual path.
Living Meditation46
In such seva, a person’s primary motivation to serve is love for the master. Unlike other types of service, where individuals often choose whom they want to serve and how they want to serve, sevadars are generally happy to accept whatever seva is offered to them. Whether the master tells them to sweep a hall or serve in a hospital or build homes for earthquake victims, they will gladly do so. Although they may feel deep compassion for their fellow beings, it doesn’t matter to them how and where that compassion manifests. The responsibility for the service is now the master’s, and the results are also in his hands.
The master teaches that true selflessness cannot be achieved through outer work alone. For satsangis, the advantage of selfless seva done under the guidance of the master is that it leads us to meditation. This inner work deepens the relationship between master and disciple. And where our love is, there we will go.
The guru is free from all ties and attachments. He is an ocean full of the surging waves of love. By serving him we become free from ties and attachments to the ephemeral world. Then intense love of God is awakened in us.
Maharaj Sawan Singh47
Seva is not compulsory
Physical seva is not included in the four vows taken at the time of
initiation. It is entirely voluntary. It is possible to live a life of
devoted service to others without ever doing physical seva in a satsang
centre.
For an initiate, the vows must always take precedence over physical seva. Following the vows is our most important work. Physical seva has enormous benefits, but it is something additional we do to foster our spiritual life.
Seva comes from the heart. It is not a compulsion for anybody – it’s not that you have to do it, but you want to do it. It must come from within, and there must be love in doing seva. There should be no feelings of obligation that we have to do it.
Maharaj Charan Singh48
Seva is not a job
Although the tasks we do in seva may be very similar to those we do
in a job where we are employed, there are distinct differences between
the two. A job lies firmly in the domain of reciprocity and reward. We
receive a remuneration for the work we do, and if we work hard and
produce results, we are more likely to get a raise and move up the
ladder. But in seva we earn no salary and there are no measurable
rewards. We could spend a lifetime doing seva and have nothing to show
for it outwardly. We do seva purely out of love.
In a professional job, we often polish and augment our résumé. Being visible, showing others what we’ve accomplished, and being appreciated are considered to be important. We look for praise. But in seva the goal is to eliminate the ego, so we don’t call attention to our accomplishments.
In a profession, ambition is normal. We are motivated by a desire to move up the hierarchy, and if we don’t, we are afraid of stagnating. As a result, competition between colleagues is common. But competition and ambition should have no place in seva. We should be willing to take on any task we are asked to do. We should be indifferent to our position in the organization because all seva roles in the eyes of the master are equal.
When we are employed, expectations and demands are normal. For example, when we reach a certain level of seniority in a company, we may expect to get certain visible acknowledgement or recognition, like the corner office or the prime parking space. If we don’t get what we expect, we can choose to accept the decision or walk out and work elsewhere. But in seva we don’t expect or demand privileges. We don’t demand a particular seva and refuse to accept any other. If we make such demands, or threaten to walk out when they are not met, it’s not seva.
Certain kinds of professions are focused on outcomes and numbers: quantities produced, revenues, profits, sales targets, incentives, and market share. But in seva we are not in the numbers game. The master doesn’t want us to try to increase the number of disciples or be ambitious about opening more and more centres. He doesn’t want us to compete with each other on who is accomplishing more. His only focus is on ensuring that we serve the sangat in the best way possible.
In a profession, a high degree of value is placed on skills, qualifications, and experience, and a lot of effort is made to match the right skills with the right job. In seva, this is true some of the time: software has to be written by someone who is skilled at it, and a professional doctor is needed to deal with medical emergencies. However, in many seva projects, people’s skills do not match the task. Our challenge then is to work with each other’s inexperience, strengths, and weaknesses with patience, mutual respect, and love.
In a profession, we tend to get attached, and this brings a host of emotions – we hate the job, we love the job, we associate ourselves with a certain status or position, we get hurt by people, we get elated when praised and stressed when criticized. But in seva, the master teaches us to be detached – to do the work but leave the results in the hands of the one we serve.
In a job, we seldom feel great affection for our bosses and seniors. Selflessness, obedience, and surrender are not words typically used to describe our relationship with them. But seva comes from the heart. We love the master and want to serve him with body, mind, and soul.
The point is: outwardly a task may look the same when performed in a job or profession as in seva, but our approach to the task and our goal are different. Many of us come to physical seva directly from a work environment, so it is important to be aware of these distinctions. If we behave as if we are working in a company and approach our seva as a job, we will often make choices that don’t belong in seva. We might be possessive about domains and departments. We might demand our rights. We might show off our achievements. We might compete with each other. We might be focused on being right rather than doing what is right. We might be ambitious about getting a bigger and bigger ‘chair.’ Our focus will be on ourselves rather than on serving others and pleasing the master.
Seva is love
If seva is love, as Hazur says, then no limitations can be placed on
it, because love has no limits. This perspective completely opens up the
meaning of seva.
First and foremost, if seva is love, it means that everyone can serve. We can never tell people that they are not fit to serve, for are we not all fit for love? If a particular department requires very specific skills that a candidate does not have, then space can be found for that person in another department. Seva should always be inclusive.
By the same token, for those of us who want to serve, this means that we cannot define seva in a limited way and seek only that seva which is attached to a badge, designation, or some form of outward recognition or prestige.
In one centre, a woman in her late sixties complained that it was unfair that she was not given seva because of her advanced age. But at the same centre, a man in his late eighties, stooped with age, would come early for satsang every Sunday. He had no assigned seva but he would diligently wipe down every chair in the satsang hall with great love and then move them forward or back by a few inches to make sure they were in neat, straight rows. In Hazur’s time, during mitti seva, a blind woman who could not walk the terrain safely took care of the sangat’s shoes and extra clothes. And an old man acted as a human ‘keep left’ sign between people with full baskets and people with empty ones. Seva is everywhere!
Love is universal. If seva is love, it cannot be confined within the narrow boundaries of serving only our fellow disciples. When the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, was waging a war against the Mughals, one of his disciples, Bhai Kanhayya, was tasked with serving water to the wounded soldiers. Soon the guru began to get complaints that Bhai Kanhayya was serving water not just to their own soldiers but also to the enemy soldiers. When he was brought before the guru and asked about his actions, Bhai Kanhayya said, “My Lord, I am unable to distinguish enemies from friends. I see you in all of them – how can I refuse you a drink?” Hearing this, the guru said that Bhai Kanhayya had correctly understood his teachings and he commented, “A person who has shed the veil of ignorance from his heart will treat everyone the same, whether Hindus or Turks.”49
If we love the Lord, we love his creation, and we also want to serve his creation because we see the Lord in everyone that he has created.
Maharaj Charan Singh50
If seva is love, then no seva is more or less important than any other. Love doesn’t make distinctions. In the Indian epic Ramayana, when Lord Rama’s wife was abducted by Ravana, the king of Lanka, a bridge had to be built from the mainland to the island to rescue her. Rama’s army of monkeys got busy placing large boulders in the water. Overwhelmed by the urge to serve the Lord, a little squirrel started picking up pebbles and placing them alongside the boulders. She kept contributing in her own little way with utmost devotion. The monkeys scoffed at her meagre efforts. But when the disheartened squirrel was taken to Lord Rama, he blessed her for the dedication and devotion with which she had performed her service.
We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
Mother Teresa51
Can we measure love? Someone may be a secretary, representative, or chairperson of a board, but in the master’s eyes that sevadar is no more important than the traffic sevadar on the street standing for hours under the blazing sun, exposed to exhaust fumes while guiding the sangat into the centre. Baba Ji says that we are all links in a chain, and each link is essential to the whole chain. Hazur Maharaj Ji used to emphasize that seva is seva, and no seva is big or small.
Once a foreign sevadar was sitting next to Hazur during mitti seva. In those days four to five million cubic feet of earth was moved every year to level ravines and gullies, so that space could be created for satsang, the langar grounds, and more buildings. All this work was not being done by machines, but by sevadars picking up baskets of earth at one place, carrying them on their heads, and dropping them off at another place. After observing the seva for a while, the foreign sevadar asked Hazur: “Some people carry tremendous loads while others have hardly a handful in their basket. What is the use of their seva when they carry so little?” Hazur replied, “It is not how much is carried that is important, but the love and devotion with which the seva is done.”52
If seva is love, then it follows that even if we are given a seemingly impossible challenge we can surmount it, because love can achieve anything. Baba Ji once gave someone the responsibility of managing a very large department. She was overwhelmed. “I don’t have the skills needed!” she exclaimed. ,“I will have to go back to school!” The master smilingly asked where she thought she could go to learn how to love. The master is telling us that our greatest strength is love. It is the primary skill we need to bring to the task.
Does God want our work? Or does he want our love? He wants that we should work for him in love.
J. P. Vaswani53
Once, a young sevadar finished her seva at her local centre and walked over to her car. She passed a group of women sevadars trimming the lawn near the parking lot, happily chatting as they worked. Suddenly it began to drizzle. The women made a dash for the shelter of a shed nearby, but one old woman kept doing her seva.
The young sevadar left her car and walked over to her. ,“Sister,” she said, “why don’t you too take shelter in the shed until it stops raining? You will catch a cold.”
The older sevadar smiled and said: “If it begins to pour I’ll go in. But right now it is just drizzling. Let me do my seva, child. This is my satguru’s amrit (nectar).”
Seva is love. Words cannot describe seva or its effect on us. It is a unique and personal journey for every disciple. To truly understand seva we have to experience it – both the chaos and the joy of it.