Expressing Mindful Love Through Service
silence. After an hour of meditating, her devotees entered the room with several boxes of varied tasty, sweet and spicy foods. Her instructions were to go to a nearby leper colony and feed each leper with my hands placing the food into their mouths. Fear, disgust, anger, angst broke through propelling me into the greatest spiritual lesson and teaching of my life. The deep realization was discovering that it wasn’t about me but instead a greater view of all creation. Love is feeding and serving other beings with compassion, kindness and a deep and abiding sense of giving and from this space arises a profound sense of love, respect and admiration for oneself. This mother saint taught that through love and Seva is true realization.
Now you don’t have to feed the lepers, join the Peace Corps or work with the destitute to express mindful love although those who do this are to be greatly admired. It can be as simple as sitting with a friend who is going through a difficult time, cleaning out your closet and giving what you haven’t worn in a year to the homeless, volunteering at a local hospital or hospice, or visiting the elderly in a retirement home. If you don’t have time for this then make a donation to a charity or organization that speaks to you, such as Humanity Healing International. The amount isn’t as important as the feelings of love and kindness behind it. When the right energy is sent with the gift the Universe can multiply it tenfold. Remember to be a mindful gardener when it’s time to love and to give.
I also see an increased interest in the concept of Seva in my Leadership Workshops, where I focus on teaching businessmen and women to be more mindful. They learn that through these principals not only can they make more money and have successful companies, but over time awaken their consciousness so they can use the business game in a similar way that Bill and Melinda Gates did when he gave
over $23 billion of his earnings to his foundation. Through this example they start to see that the game is not just about the acquisition of money, but what they can contribute to creatively changing the world. In our own way we can all participate in a global transformation through one small gesture or helping hand.
In the spirit of hope and goodness I encourage you to embrace the message of Seva and use it as a springboard to act upon generous thoughts that arise spontaneously from your heart throughout the year so that every conversation you have—the guy at the car wash, the person at the dry cleaners—are all opportunities to be a bodhisattva (enlightened or wisdom-being). Just notice what happens as kindness ripples out!
