Seva is the saviour

Think of serving, that is the right direction for every individual. Don’t worry about your needs. Your needs will be taken care of, even before the need arises in you.

First you should think, "What can I do for this world?" The people who only think, ‘What can I get from this world?’, become sad. If you want to reach somewhere but are going in the wrong direction, you won’t be able to reach there. If every member in a family, thinks, ‘What can I do for the other?’, then the family moves ahead. A family that doesn’t think that way will break. Don’t have any expectations from others. Fulfill the expectations of other people to the best of your ability.

But it is wrong to not do something that you are perfectly capable of. You are not required to do what you cannot. You will not be asked to give what you cannot give. Nothing is expected of you that you cannot do. Doing service involves only doing what you can do. However, good you are, society assumes you are better than your good qualities, and however, bad you may be, society assumes you are better than your worst qualities. This is the law of Nature. There are five types of seva.

The first type of seva is when you do not even know that you are doing seva. You do not recognise it as seva because it is your very nature - you cannot but do it! The second type of seva is what you do because it is needed in that situation. You do the third type of seva because it gives you joy. The fourth type is done out of your desire for merit - you do seva expecting some benefit in the future. And the fifth type is when you do seva just to show off, to improve your image and to gain social or political recognition. Such seva is simply exhausting, while the first type does not bring any tiredness at all!

The seva has rewarded you immediately. Its reward is for sure and is always more than your doing. Your expectation of reward for the seva turns the seva into labor. If you think you have done a lot, you will do very little; if you see you have done a little, then you will do more. Seva is even when you don't see an immediate reward there is no complaint. Be grateful for any opportunity to do seva.