Satsang by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
Do as you would be done by. Do unto others as you wish others to do unto you. This is the great moral law. You are not born to solve the problems of the universe. You are born to find out what you have to do. This span of life is given to you for lofty duties, not for selfishness, not to be spent in eating, drinking and making merry, but to improve yourself, to cultivate positive qualities, to serve humanity selflessly and to attain God-realization. That is the purpose of your life on earth. Every moment is precious.
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Seva does not require wealth but a willing heart to serve humanity. Serve your parents, elders, teachers and guests. Serve the underprivileged in your neighbourhood. Feed the hungry, nurse the sick, comfort the afflicted and lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful. Clothe the naked. Educate the illiterate. Feed the poor. Raise the downtrodden.
Have a knowledge of homeopathy or Dr Schussler's Twelve Tissue Remedies. Now serve the sick and the needy. Learn first-aid and help in all cases of emergency. Get medicine from the hospital or the dispensary for your helpless and deserving neighbours. Visit a hospital daily, if you can, or weekly, and give your best attention to the non-paying wards. Distribute oranges, if you can. Sit by the side of the patient and speak a few encouraging words.
Smile awhile. Repeat, if you can, the names of the Lord or the like. Tell the person that you will visit tomorrow, and do so. Collect some old clothes and distribute them to the needy. Distribute a few coins to the lame, the blind, and to the hungry mouths as you walk along the street. Serve any social institution for one hour daily without any remuneration. A teacher can give free tuition to poor children and supply them with free books.
Meet your friends and members of your society in a common place once a week or a fortnight for satsang and kirtan. Develop an understanding heart. Help your younger brothers and sisters on the spiritual path. Lift them up. Throw light on their path. Do not expect perfection from them. Be kind to them. They are doing their best, as you are yourself are doing. You will grow by helping them.
Finally, think for yourself how best you can utilize your energy, your intellect, your education, your wealth, your strength, or anything you possess, for the betterment of others who are low-placed in life, and for society in general.
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If you want to truly serve others, you should try to please them in all respects. You should do such actions as can bring immense happiness. Never, never say, "I have helped this person." Feel, "That person has given me an opportunity to serve. This service has helped me to purify the mind. I am extremely grateful" This will constitute real service. But generally, under the camouflage of serving others, people try to please themselves only. This is a serious mistake.
One who gives the handle of a sharp knife to another to hold and holds the sharp blade himself does real seva. A real sevak rejoices in suffering. He takes on his shoulders the most responsible, difficult, arduous and uninteresting of works and kills his own little self. He willingly undergoes pain and suffering in order to serve and please others.
Just close your eyes and think of how many times a day you have allowed the fullest play for your selfishness. Make a note of this in your diary. You will be astounded at your own spiritual state. Searching analysis will reveal to you the subtle forms that selfishness assumes. Gradually endeavour to eradicate all these. Some people imagine that they have reached very near perfection. They feel that there is only a hair's breadth to the attainment of God- realization. They only close their eyes and dream, for in their everyday life you will find them full of selfishness, full of egoism and all the negative qualities.
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To stop the breath by means of kumbhaka for two hours, to twirl the beads for twenty-four hours, to sit in samadhi for forty days in an underground cellar without food, to stand up on one leg in the scorching heat of the summer sun, to do trataka on the sun at midday, to chant OM, OM, OM in silent and sequestered jungles, to shed an ocean of tears while doing sankirtan - all these are of no avail unless one combines burning love for God in all beings and a fiery spirit of service in serving Him in all beings. Many aspirants today are sadly lacking in these two indispensable qualifications. For this reason they do not make any headway at all in their meditation in solitude. They have not prepared the ground, the heart and mind, by protracted practice of love and seva in the beginning.
I have seen many bhaktas who wear half a dozen malas around their necks and wrists, and mutter 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna' day in and day out, with a long japa mala in their hands. These bhaktas will never approach a sick person even when he is in a dying condition and give him a drop of water or milk, and ask, "What do you want, brother? How can I serve you?" Out of curiosity they will just watch from a distance. Can you call these people true bhaktas? Can there be an iota of real benefit in their meditation or chanting?
A living God in the form of a sick patient is in a dying state, yet they have not got the heart to go and serve him or even to speak a few kind and encouraging words at a critical juncture, when his life is trembling in the balance! How can they expect to have darshan of that all-merciful God when they have hearts made of flint? How can they hope for God-realization when they do not have the eyes to see God in all beings and the spirit of seva to serve Him in all these forms?
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There is no superior or inferior seva. There is no superiority or inferiority among those who do selfless service. In a machine, the smallest bolt or spring is as essential to its smooth running as the mighty wheel. Similarly, in an organized effort, the person who does even the least work, or attends to an insignificant detail, contributes as much to the success of the endeavour as the chief organizer. For if there is some defect in even a small detail, perfect success cannot be achieved.
Many aspirants prefer to do some pleasant work - some writing, collecting flowers for pooja, arranging books in the library, some typewriting, some kind of supervision and management work, etc. They dislike work such as drawing water and hewing wood, cleaning dirty utensils, washing clothes, sweeping, cooking, cleaning bed-pans and nursing the sick. They consider these works as menial. They have not tried to understand the real spirit of seva.
If you create interest in work which the mind revolts against, later you will like to do any kind of work. The aspirant who always takes immense delight in doing work which others consider as menial, and who always does such acts willingly will be absolutely free from conceit and egoism. Real spiritual progress starts with seva.
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Learn the lessons of divine life from everyone. Examine your heart. Does your heart melt at the suffering of others? Merely sitting in a corner and practising yogic kriyas will not help you. Psychic powers only fatten the ego and move you further away from God. They are hindrances on the spiritual path. Consider yourself to be a blade of grass. Develop humility, patience, perseverance and love.
I have never longed for liberation. I have never aspired for God-realization. I shall go on serving everyone. I shall go on purifying my heart through selfless service. I shall always try to see God in everyone. God Himself should take pity on me and give me liberation. Otherwise I shall take birth again and again and go on serving till God Himself voluntarily offers me liberation. My nature is to work. My goal is to serve. This spirit of service has been in me since childhood. Even if this organization collapses, I will sit in a hut, serve a few patients, print some leaflets and thus serve humanity.
The world is burning with misery and suffering. Wake up! Serve! Serve with love. Serve untiringly and attain eternal peace.
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Do not do any work in haste or in a careless, half-hearted manner. You cannot evolve with this attitude. Half-hearted service is no service at all. Give your whole heart, mind and soul when you serve. This is very important when you practise selfless service. Some people have their hands at the work, the mind at the market, the intellect in the office and the soul upon their family. That is the reason why they do not make any substantial progress on the path. Do all work efficiently and perfectly. The motto should be: One thing at a time and that done well is a very good rule.
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Study the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. He never made any difference between menial seva and dignified work. Scavenging and cleaning the toilets was the highest yoga and highest worship for him. He had annihilated this illusory little 'I' through seva of all sorts.
Many highly educated people joined his ashram to learn yoga under him. They thought that Gandhiji would teach them yoga in some mysterious manner in a private room, and would give lessons in pranayama, meditation, abstraction, awakening of kundalini, etc. They were disappointed when they were asked to clean the toilet at first. They left the ashram immediately.
Gandhiji himself repaired his own shoes. He used to grind flour and also used to take upon his shoulders the grinding work of others when they were unable to do their allotted portion of work for the day in the ashram. When an educated person, a new ashramite, felt shy about doing grinding work, Gandhiji himself would do his work in front of him, and then the person would do the work himself from the next day willingly.
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Many of your actions may be selfish in the beginning. It does not matter. You should not be discouraged on this score. Slowly, when you grow in purity, some of your actions will turn out to be unselfish. In the long run all your actions will be unselfish. If you work hard in the field of seva for two years, then five actions out of a hundred will be unselfish and ninety-five will be selfish. After some years of incessant struggle, fifty actions out of a hundred will be unselfish. A good time will come and all your actions will be unselfish and pure. Keep the ideal in front of you daily.
Work patiently with indefatigable energy. You have to destroy your old mind full of selfishness and build a new mind of selflessness. This is doubtless uphill work. It demands struggle and constant effort with assiduous patience and iron determination. Serve, love, give. Live to serve others.
Look at the stupendous and magnanimous work turned out by Buddha, Shankara and others. Can you attribute an iota of selfish motive to their actions? They lived to serve others. Think: 'The whole universe is my home. I will utilize my mind, senses, prana and body as instruments for the well-being of the world.
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To feel much for others and little of ourselves, to restrain our selfish nature, constitutes the perfection of human nature. No one in this world is perfectly independent. We are all in need of the assistance of others. You are placed in society to receive and confer reciprocal help and mutual obligations. Your food, your clothes, your health, your protection from injuries, your enjoyment of the comforts and pleasures of life - all these you owe to the assistance of others. Therefore, be benevolent. Be a friend to mankind. A benevolent person rejoices in the happiness and prosperity of his neighbour and all other people. Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good actions. Try to utilize ordinary situations.
