What is Spiritual Service or Seva?

As tiny fragments of the energy of God, we are constitutionally geared toward serving someone. Since endless lifetimes, we have become accustomed to serving our own selfish needs and desires and those of our loved ones. When we start to think about serving the Lord, the process of inner transformation begins. 

• First, the reversal in the thought process from self-service to serving God, allows us the opportunity to cleanse the dirty heart. 
• Second, anything offered in service to God, helps to break the cycle of worldly attachments. Over endless lifetimes, we have become exclusively attached to material objects and relatives. Such attachments come in the way of connecting with God and Guru. However, service to God helps us to detach from such temporary sources of pleasure and attach the mind to God, the source of permanent happiness.
• Third, as Maharshi Ved Vyas has said, service or seva to God is the best expression of devotion. We are tiny parts of the whole, thus, our constitutional nature is to serve our creator, the Supreme Lord.
• Fourth, Swamiji says that our soul is the body of God, thus, serving Him will provide the kind of fulfillment for which the soul is starving. 

Knowing the meaning of service to God, let us understand how to perform sevas.

Spiritual seva can be performed in three ways: (1) financial contributions (starting point); (2) physical effort or using one’s body in service (next level); and (3) atmasamarpan or offering one’s soul to God. This means to surrender one’s intellect and mind by dedicating all actions to God for His happiness, without any expectation of rewards or self-fulfilling desires (highest and most elevated level). 

As materially conditioned souls, the best way to start is bottom up. If most of our day is spent in work related to our employment, as per the Skandpuran, we should donate at least 10% of our honest earnings in charity as a service to God. This is the proper way to purify our wealth, so it is not lost in medical treatments and court cases. As we increase our charitable contributions, our consciousness also develops the sentiments that we are earning in service of God and Guru. Thus, even when we work, our mind starts to become attached to God. 

When we make financial contributions, we also desire to serve with our body (e.g., disseminating information about spiritual events, planting trees in the temple yard, cleaning the prayer hall, etc.). Such forms of seva provide an entry into the spiritual realm. When devotees continue to serve with their body, then their mind also starts becoming attached to God and Guru. Gradually, the process of intellectual surrender of the soul begins. As Shree Krishna tells Arjun:

अभ्यासेऽप्यसमर्थोऽसि मत्कर्मपरमो भव |
मदर्थमपि कर्माणि कुर्वन्सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि ||10||

abhyāse ’py asamartho ’si mat-karma-paramo bhava
mad-artham api karmāṇi kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi

If you cannot practice remembering Me with devotion, then just try to work for Me. Thus, performing devotional service to Me, you shall achieve the stage of perfection. [BG 12.10]

When we start engaging in seva, initially it will be because it makes us feel good to offer our services to the divine. It will take some practice to transition from seva for one’s own pleasure to selfless seva for the pleasure of God and Guru. 

How can we engage in Selfless Service?

Swamiji teaches us that to attract divine grace, our seva must be selfless. It means that we must develop sentiments of humility. There are four kinds of sentiments that will help us to be humble: 

• Everything that I possess, belongs to God. Nothing is mine to give away anyway. If I make any contribution, it is because God inspired me to do so. I have nothing that is worthy of offering to God. 
• God is the creator of the universe, lacks nothing, and does not need anything from me. I am fortunate to receive the opportunity for seva.
• I should make charitable contributions without any fanfare or expectations for public recognition. 
• Finally, I should not become attached to the fruits of my seva.

The Guru’s primary goal is to help his disciples reach God, and selfless seva is the path toward the goal. Through seva, the Guru helps us to develop detachment from the material world, cultivate attachment to God, practice humility, develop the attitude of servitude, detach from the outcomes of seva, and eventually proffer total surrender to God. As the beautiful sentiments in the lines of Shree Maharajji’s kirtan say:

नित सेवा मांगू श्यामा श्याम तेरी, ना भुक्ति नाहीं मुक्ति मांगू मैं।
बाढ़ें भक्ति निष्काम नित मेरी, ना भुक्ति नाहीं मुक्ति मांगू मैं॥

Nita seva mangun shyama shyam teri, na bhukti nahin mukti mangaun main
Barhai bhakti nishkam nita meri, na bhukti nahin mukti mangaun main

O Shyama-Shyam! I desire your eternal service, neither bhukti (material pleasures), nor mukti (liberation). Let my unselfish devotion to you ever increase. I desire neither material pleasures nor liberation.

Practicing these sentiments on a regular basis will expand the heart and provide the highest kind of benefit.

What are the Benefits of Selfless Spiritual Seva?

Swamiji says that nothing will cleanse the impure heart more quickly than selfless service. There are many enormous benefits of selfless seva. 

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् |
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्या: पार्थ सर्वश: ||11||

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāns tathaiva bhajāmyaham
mama vartmānuvartante manuṣhyāḥ pārtha sarvaśhaḥ

In whatever way people surrender unto me, I reciprocate with them accordingly. Everyone follows my path, knowingly or unknowingly, O son of Pritha. [BG 4.11]

If we are convinced by Lord Krishna’s vaani (i.e., words), we will all seek opportunities for seva. When souls surrender their intellect to God for His pleasure, then God showers divine grace in unthinkable ways. He destroys their accumulated karmas of endless lifetimes, cuts the bonds of Maya, removes the darkness of material existence, and bestows divine bliss, knowledge, and love. How much divine grace do we aspire for? That’s how much selfless seva we need to offer. The decision is up to us.