Seva (selfless service)

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring Seva (selfless service).

Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore

Of nicely-calculated less or more.       

                                      – William Wordsworth

This morning, when I was reading an important New York paper, I noticed an article on the dynamics of gift-giving. This article quoted a distinguished professor of sociology as saying that in every gift there is a reciprocal relationship, even if it is not conscious. In other words, when you are making a gift, you are expecting a gift in return.

Not only that, there are very subtle social gradations: gifts to longtime friends, to recent friends, to acquaintances, to possible benefactors. All these factors come into play when choosing the gift. No wonder shopping for gifts is so terribly time-consuming. No wonder people feel confused and inadequate about what to give.

But the spiritual approach is very simple. Whatever you give - it may be a check to a worthy cause, it may be clothes to a person who is cold, it may be food to the hungry, it may be medical help to the sick - do it without thinking of getting anything in return. Do it as a service to God, not reluctantly, but with joy.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to consider what it means to practice Seva (selfless service). From the Bhagavad Gita 3:19 "Therefore always perform unattached the deed to be done.  For the person who performs action without attachment obtains the Supreme." A simple way to practice Seva is to find something around your home or work that needs doing and to do it without fanfare.  Do not tell anyone that you are going to do it, and do not talk about it afterward.  Try to pick a “Seva project” every day or at least every week. If you regularly volunteer and feel burned out, maybe you need a break.  Take it.  Then reassess what is possible for you: How much?  And how often?

Excerpts paraphrased from “Living your Yoga, Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life”, by Judith Lasater.

Blessings,

paul cheek

Rushing Water Yoga

417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607

360.834.5994

www.rushingwateryoga.com

info@rushingwateryoga.com