Seva, Our Gluten-Free Dharma
“For the progress of humanity, work alone is not adequate, but the work should be associated with love, compassion, right conduct, truthfulness, and sympathy. Without the above qualities, selfless service cannot be performed.” –Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Before you start reading this article, you may ask yourself how you view our universe. If you see our universe as an adverse place and filled with evils, well, maybe this is not an article for you. Instead, if you see the universe as a benevolent entity, where life happens for us and not to us, then please continue reading.
What is Seva, and How Is It Important?
Without questioning, one the most important elements to be learned and exercised during our spiritual journey is the practice of Seva. Seva, or selfless service, is a practical way to eliminate some armors placed by the ego, which can create frictions and problems when we are trying to expand our field of consciousness, and reach Internal planes of existence that only the soul can access.
But Seva is much more than selfless service, or helping each other; Seva is the human translation of the abundant goodwill of the universe manifested through our intentions, hopes, and actions. The relation between Seva and your dharmic goal is one of supplemental acceleration, and said by many sages that can actually cancel karmic debts from our universal account. Seva is part of the bookkeeping of the Divine Providence.
Despite our intentions to become fully enlightened and spiritual, we shouldn’t look to heaven for a quick fix, because a spiritual path doesn’t always run straight forward. In fact, the things we must witness and do on our spiritual path may be far more complicated than anything we might encounter on an “ordinary” path.
The simple way to understand the words above is visualizing the journey. Karma is the car, dharma is the road, the driver is the soul, and the passenger is the ego. Especially when trailing the path of return, we may have many problems with our car and sometimes we will be forced off of our road. We may feel that we are wasting time on the side of the road, but most likely we will be receiving a lesson, or assimilating one.
Seva is the help that will be available for you when you need it, but like any other account, and any other action under the laws of karma, it is also ruled by the Law of the Seed. You will need to plant it first before you harvest. You can only withdraw money from your bank account when you have the equivalent value deposited there.
How Does this Selfless Service of Seva Work?
Now, you may be asking, so how does this work? Does everything work like that in this universe? Well, not necessarily; when exploring the realms of providence, we also have to consider the potential for the divine dispensation of grace.
There is a story about Buddha, which said that during many of his meditations contemplating the various dimensions of the realms of creation, he caught a movement in one of the unfortunate worlds of suffering, and he saw this man, asking for clemency and a dispensation of grace. The Buddha was moved by his appeal and decided to relieve him from his suffering conditions. With his mind, he manifested a rope and, promptly, he sent the rope to that man. The rope had not yet achieved the end of the pit and other individuals already had seen that divine grace was being performed.
The man saw the rope and immediately started his climbing up towards the Buddha, but it was not before long that he also started seeing many others also using his cord and following him up. The man lost his mind, this was his hope, his Grace, and his salvation, he would not let anyone ruin his journey of ascension. Without thinking twice, the man started fighting all those that were hanging on the rope, attacking them, hurting them, and sending them back to the pit.
The ageless bodhisattva only observed his actions without judgment. On his way of climbing the rope, the man noted that the cable was getting more and more fragile, and the disturbances created by him and others ended up tearing the cord, and this time, all of them fell at once again into that dimension. He was not ready.
One cannot expect mercy from above if one cannot show mercy for those below.
There are three essential elements for a total recommendation of Seva:
1. One must be willing to volunteer time
2. One must be willing to invest life energy
3. One must be willing to invest money.
Only through this triumvirate associated with the honest heart intention to help and make a difference, can we genuinely align ourselves with the frequencies similar of that of the Divine Providence and perform for others the miracles of divine grace on this plane of existence. The commitment to be part of one of many waves of support and universal abundance is serious business. Fortunately, the universe knows that we also need to invest in yourself, so spending ten percent of your awakening time each day for prayers and meditations, or volunteering of your gifts for others and yourself would take care of the flow. Supporting a cause, you are passionate about also is part of this same regimen.
However, service must be of one’s own ‘free will and accord,’ and not out of social compulsion or guilt. Guilt is the feeling of inadequacy for not participating in the manner that is expected by others. Seva is a call of the heart. Ultimately, it will manifest as a realization while you’re the part of the journey, where the car, the road, and the driver becomes one with All that is.
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About the Author
Liane Buck is editor-in-chief of OMTimes Magazine. www.omtimes.com
