Seva—the First Step

I spent a certain amount of time reading through a book of poetry entitled, ‘The Mystic in Love’ in search of an appropriate poem with which to begin. At first sight, the poem I chose didn’t quite seem to ‘fit’, but on a closer reading I felt that it did, in fact, express something of what I was intending to say. Swami Vivekananda wrote the poem entitled: ‘The living God.’

He who is in you and outside you
Who works through all hands,
Who works on all feet,
Whose body are all ye,
Him worship and break all other idols!

He who is at once the high and low,
The sinner and the saint
Both God and worm,
Him worship—visible, knowable, real, omnipresent,
In whom is neither past life
Nor future birth nor death,
In whom we always have been
And always shall be one,
Him worship and break all other idols!

Ye fools! Who neglect the living God,
And His infinite reflections with which the world is full,
While ye run after imaginary shadows,
That lead alone to fights and quarrels,
Him worship, the only visible!
Break all other idols!

The pillars on which Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s missions are built are sathya, dharma, shanti, prema, and ahimsa—truth, right living, peace, love, and non‑violence. But there is another that Baba is stressing more and more these days—seva or service. At first it might seem that this is another dimension to add to the five, but, in fact, if one is attempting to incorporate these five into one’s life, it follows that the fruit of this attempt should be the desire to be engaged in seva. These five ‘pillars’ could also be looked at in another way—as the spokes of a wheel upon whose hub is inscribed ’seva’. All these aspects are interdependent and each in its way should inspire seva—or the desire to serve God before self.

Take any one of these, ahimsa, for instance, and this can be seen to be true. If we are to cultivate non‑violence, we must in the process recognize that God is in all beings, not only the human species; not in a particular being who might take our fancy either, but in all beings.

By practicing non‑violence we are serving God, this is seva. Many people in discussing the subject of seva claim that seva means being employed or involved in a situation that directly or concretely serves other people. I have no dispute with this except to say that it does not follow that just because you are not a doctor or a social worker you are not involved in seva. Or, on the contrary, that just because you are a doctor or social worker you are necessarily serving God.

The problem is deeper than that. Seva to me is as much, if not more, an inner activity as an outer one. Most of us through our training or lack of it will never be doctors or social workers or teachers—nor perhaps were we intended to be. We can, however, serve God and humanity with as much potency as those involved in these activities can.

It is a matter of awareness—or perhaps a better word might be awaken-ness. By engaging in sathya, dharma, prema, shanti, and ahimsa consciously, we should begin to see the true pattern of things—the presence of the spiritual dimension, and as we proceed, the compulsion to offer as much of ourselves as possible to expand this dimension. If we are moving forward and growing, however imperceptibly, we should begin to be detached enough to recognize our self-centeredness. This self‑centeredness or selfishness is the antithesis of seva. We must recognize the need to overcome our own selfishness. It cannot be done over-night. It is a slow, arduous process, like any process of growth. By doing this, by engaging ourselves in becoming aware or awake about our true natures, we are surely being engaged in seva. How can anyone claim to understand, let alone espouse, sathya or dharma, etc. without recognizing first his or her own adharma or ignorance?

It is not also correct to judge persons by what is apparently their outward activity. For all we know they may be far more rigorous and determined about their inner growth and expansion than ourselves.

It is logical to me that the result of the kind of inner exploration that Baba demands of us would be the desire to serve humanity—or God as humanity. Everyone has some talent, skill, or virtue that can be utilized. It is only in this crazy modern world of ours that we are led to believe that one occupation or activity is somehow better or of more value than another. Our ways of seeing these things have been incorrectly conditioned. We are trained always to see the outward appearance, the surface, the trappings, before we see the important thing, which is the heart.

All the great spiritual teachers have taught this point. It is the heart that counts. For me, personally, there is no greater truth than this. I am always having this revealed to me—the presence of the heart, of love, in the most unexpected places.

We must work on ourselves, we must be awake, and this then is the first step in seva. We must listen to the promptings of our own hearts, the clues, the signs are always there, sometimes obscured by the clamor of our minds, but always there.

~Tony Reeder, Sydney, Australia
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, Jan. 1986