Do not attempt to do sacred work beyond your own strength. A portion of whatever resources you have must be set apart with a view to do some service and give satisfaction to other needy jivas. (SSB 1974, p. 216)
Whenever you see a sick person, a dispirited, disconsolate, diseased person, there is your field of service. Every blood cell, every nerve, must tingle with love, with eagerness to share that Love with the forlorn. When Love has filled the heart, it has really transformed into Divinity, for God is Love and Love is God. (SSS Vol.8, p. 1)
You may not get a chance to partake in some gigantic scheme of service through which millions may be benefited, but you can lift a lame lamb over a stile, or lead a blind child across a busy road. That too, is an act of worship. (SSS Vol.8, p. 2)
Forget all else and stick to the orders that I give; I want only to initiate you into the spiritual path of Seva and Love. Do not be ashamed that you have been asked to watch a heap of sandals, or carry water to the thirsty, or stand at the gate. The privilege and pleasure consist in the use to which you put your skill and time for helping others. You long to serve Me; let me tell you, serving those who serve Me gives me as much satisfaction as if you were serving Me. Serving anyone is serving Me, for I am in all. (SSS Vol.8, p. 2)
God is Love and can be won only through the cultivation and exercise of Love. He cannot be trapped by any trick; He yields Grace only when His commands are followed - commands to love all, to serve all. When you love all and serve all, you are serving yourself most, yourself
whom you love most! (SSS Vol.7, p. 63)
No service is too low or mean. (SSS Vol.7, p. 480)
Service to the human community is the best offering you can make to the Sovereign Lord.
Service to man is service to God
Whatever talent a person has, should be dedicated to the service of the rest of humanity, indeed, of all living beings. Therein lies fulfilment. All men are kin, they are of the same likeness, the same build; moulded out of the same material, with the same Divine essence in each. Service to man will help your divinity to blossom, for, it will gladden your heart and make you feel that life has been worth-while. Service to man is service to God, for He is in every man and every living being and in every stone and stump. Offer your talents at the feet of God; let every act be a flower, free from creeping worms of envy and egoism, and full of the fragrance of Love and sacrifice. If you have the talent for acting dramatic roles, well, use it for the glorification of God, for the uplifting of man. (SSS Vol.4)
A person should strive to use every talent and skill they have, not only for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the whole world. Understand that society is the source of whatever pleasure one derives and whatever wealth one achieves in life. We owe everything to society and should be grateful to society for all that we receive from it. We have to repay this debt by helping at least as many people as we can. With a genuine keenness or readiness to serve others, one can attain happiness in any group or community, and the very eagerness to serve others will endow you with the power and skill necessary for the required service. Nowadays, we tend to regard it as derogatory to serve, but there is great worth in service. People have become so selfish that they no longer care for others, or anything other than their own welfare. When one constantly thinks only of one s own body, one s own family and one s own comfort, one is a truly selfish person. The only way to cleanse such hard-heartedness is through service to humanity. (Sens.SS, p. 28)
Service saves you from the agony you get when another suffers; it broadens your vision, widens your awareness, deepens your compassion. All waves are on the same sea from the same Sea and merge in the same sea. Seva teaches you to be firm in this knowledge. (SSS Vol.10)
A Manishi (ordinary man) gets transformed into Maharishi (sage) by engaging in Selfless service. Truly speaking, the merit that could be obtained from service cannot be acquired even from the practice of rigorous austerities. Service brings human beings closer to each other and promotes affection and friendship. Without this friendship and feeling of love for one’s fellowmen, one cannot attain intimacy with the Lord, which among the nine forms of devotion to God is next only to Atmanivedanam (complete surrender). (Sens.SS, p. 40)
You have to transform your life through service. You should give no room for arrogance or self-interest to the slightest extent in your service activities. Install in your heart the feeling that the service you render to anyone is service to God. Only then does service to man become service to Madhava (God). (SSS Vol.22)
Right from this day, our Organisation should expand and spread all over the world. We should forget individual differences; keep in view the welfare of the society. The welfare of the society is our welfare. Let it be in any village, region or country, we should participate in all activities in all areas, regions and countries.
Embodiments of Love! Participants from 175 countries have assembled here today. So many have congregated. What work are we doing now? We have to enquire clearly. Our quality lies in our work. There are bound to be poor people in your respective countries. They are the ‘Daridra Narayanas’ - God in the form of poor people. You serve that Narayana. What is the use of serving ‘Sriman Narayana’, God, who has everything? God has so many servants to serve Him. You don’t need to serve Him. There are the poor and the needy, who are the embodiments of God. Serve them. (DTB Vol.8, p. 10)
Service is the most difficult of the nine steps to Inner Reality... It is basically action arising out of the earning to win the grace of God...It is the most important step to erase he ego...Through service alone can man attain mastery of the senses, the passions and the predilections, and through that reach Divinity itself...I have come to teach you the proper attitude of service-for Love expresses as service, and God is Love...Service of man leads to the discovery of man as God.
Service is twice blessed, making both the giver and the receiver happy. Service serves two purposes - the extinction of ego and the attainment of ananda. Service to humanity is service to Divinity. (Uniq, p. 156)
Service as Sadhana (discipline) teaches Sahana (patience). (Uniq, p. 177)
Good actions are far more important than physical strength. A body that is not being used to serve others is nothing but a dead body. Use your body in the service of mankind, not just the purpose of catering to your own selfish needs. (ML, p. 279)
Service without the idea of self is the very first step in the spiritual progress of man. (SSS Vol.26, p. 173)
Man’s foremost duty is to serve his fellowmen and make them happy. Your life will be redeemed only when you involve yourself serving the society. The highest Sadhana is to transform love into service. That is true devotion. (SSS Vol.32 Part II, p. 128)
Service is the best way to understand your innate divinity. Service should be for self-satisfaction, not for name and fame. Before serving others, serve yourself by making your mind broad and pure. (SSS Vol.32 Part II, p. 132)
We should render service. What is service? Is it the timely help rendered to others in times of need? That is not service. You have to forego the ego and the possessive instincts. You have to express compassion and then participate in service. Do you have the feeling that you are serving others? No. You are developing your own good quality within. You are fostering your own good nature, not removing others difficulties. What is the result of such service activity?
Service is very sacred. Na Tapamsi, Na Tirtanam, Na Shastranam, Japa Nahi. Samsara Sagarotare, Sajjanam Sevanam. Maharshis did penance. What do you mean by penance? The inner meaning of penance is to forget the worldly attachments and to awaken the divinity within. Penance is to awaken the divinity within us. When will it be awakened? It will be awakened when these three basic attributes within us are unified. We will be awakened from darkness. It has three attributes. What are they? They are Sattva, Rajo and Tamo gunas. They are not merely qualities; they can be bad qualities. What is present within us? Mind, word and body - Mana, Vak and Kaya. The one who unifies these three is a true man. It is said that the proper study of mankind is man. (DTB Vol.3, pp. 2-3)
You should all encourage service in villages and backward areas. Some brought some jewels, for decoration. What is precious jewel to God? Bliss is His jewel. Love is His jewel. He Himself is the very embodiment of beauty. Then why do you bring all these jewels and hide that real beauty? A beautiful idol is made by a sculptor. How beautiful it is to look at the idol! You go on decorating, garlanding and hide the very beauty of the idol. These are all artificial. The natural form is the bliss. Never bring such things. Do not entertain such thoughts. So, those who have given, don’t feel. What Swami has told the Central Trust is that all the jewels that have been brought here will be auctioned right now and the money realised utilised in the best possible manner for water supply. Prasanthi Nilayam will not accept anything. Swami will be happy only if you serve in any other way. Spend your money for service. Where there is water shortage, try to solve that problem. Where health care, education and medicines are required, participate in that activity. Do everything for society and not for the individual. (DTB Vol.8, p. 8)
Remember Swami’s words whenever you participate in service activities. Some rich people feel that they are unable to enter the society and participate in service activities. Service does not mean the help done by hands alone. Talk softly and sweetly. Speak good words. That is also a form of service. Give food and money to the needy and work for their redemption. That is also a form of service. If you find a child crying in the mother’s arms, try to help her in pacifying the child. This is also a great service. It may look small in terms of quantity, but it is very big in terms of quality. Cleaning of streets or serving the patients is not only means of service. But those who get the opportunity can certainly do it as per their capacity. The other day, the Anantapur College Girls came to Me and said, ‘Swami, boys are going to each and every house in villages distributing the food, we have no other work. Please give us some work. I told them to go to villages; clean the temples and white wash them. Body itself is temple of God. When you whitewash the temples outside, think that you are painting the temple of the body with love. That is service. Never use harsh words. You cannot always oblige, but you can speak obligingly. Bandaging and using proper medicines can heal bodily wounds. But the wound inflicted on the heart can never be healed. That is why I repeatedly tell you to cultivate love and talk with love. I never use harsh words even when appear to be angry. I always speak lovingly. You too will become Divine when you cultivate such Divine Love. (SSS Vol.33, p. 316)
Serving One’s People Is Mundane;
Serving The Known People Is Humane;
Serving the unknown people is divine.
(NNSG Vol.2, p. 35)
What is purpose of being a man? It is not for leading an animal existence. Man exists for service. Every man has to return to society by way of service what he has received from it. That service should be rendered selflessly in a spirit of sacrifice. Service is thereby converted to spirituality. Service brings out all that is great in man. It broadens the heart and widens one’s vision. It fills one with joy. It promotes unity. It proclaims the truth of the Spirit. It drives out all the evil qualities in a man. It must be regarded as a great spiritual discipline. You are born to serve, not to dominate. Everyone in the world is a servant and not a master. All relationships – of husband and wife, mother and child, employer and employee – are based on mutual service. The world is progressing because of mutual service. If the principle of service did not operate, the world would come to halt. Do you regard an officer as a superior? It is not so. Even he is a servant. It is only when man is filled with the spirit of service that his Divine nature is revealed. He then experiences the peace that passeth understanding.
You should believe that service is a path to God – realisation. Service activities are to be undertaken not for the sake of the Sathya Sai Organisation nor for the sake of society. They are purely and essentially for your own sake – to transform your own lives and redeem yourselves.
Service to man will help your divinity to blossom, for it will gladden your heart and make you feel that life has been worthwhile. Service to man is service to God, for God is in every man and every being and every stone and stump.
But do not believe that you can by means of seva (service) reform or reshape the world. You may or you may not. That does not matter. The real value of Seva, its most visible result, is that it reforms you, reshapes you. Do Seva as Sadhana; then you will be humble and happy.
Selfless service is a more exalted means of spiritual progress than such other ways as meditation, bhajan, and yoga. This is so because when we undertake meditation, japa (repetition of the name of God), or yoga, we do so for our own benefit and not for the good of others. These are aimed at fulfilling one’s individual desires and securing happiness for oneself. What we should aspire for is the attainment of the good of others without any desire for personal gain.
You must have not merely enthusiasm to serve, but the intelligence and the skill; then only can you be efficient and useful. Enthusiasm without efficiency is often a source of loss and grief.
When judging the service done by a member, it is not the quantity or the number of individual instances that matter; they do not count at all. Judge rather the motive that led him to serve, the genuineness of the love and compassion with which the seva was saturated. The explanation that appeals to Swami is that you did the seva with no taint of ego, and that you derived unsurpassed ananda (joy) as a result.
One cannot cross the ocean of this cycle of births and deaths by visiting many sacred places, nor can one do it by performing Japa and studying Shastras (holy books). It is only possible to do so by performing seva or service. (NNSG Vol.2, pp. 40-44)
You are not doing service for others. You are doing it always for yourselves to the God in you, the God who is equally present in others. (Tapovanam, p. 28)
Service is best built on the strong foundation of ‘Tat tvam asi’. That and This are the same: That is This; This is That. There is no Other, there is only One. Kites fly high; but all are lifted and kept high by the same air, the same wind. The kites have no separate wills. The pots of water in which the Sun is reflected may be many, but, the Sun is One and unaffected, when the pots break or the water is dried up. All help is given is therefore help given to yourself; all service is to the Self alone. When another is poor, you cannot be rich; when another is in distress, you cannot have joy. The same current runs through and activates all. Ishavasyam idam sarvam (Isha Upanishad); all is God; vasudevah sarvam iti; all this is Vasudeva, nothing more, nothing less.
This is the lesson that Bharat has been teaching her children, since ages. The Vedas say, Matrudevo Bhava; revere your mother as God. This applies to the country, which gave birth to you, also. So, you must revere the country and follow its culture. You must also revere your mother who has brought you up with love, care and sacrifice. However famous you may be, if he does not revere his mother, he does not deserve respect. A person whose heart is hard and does not melt at the pleadings of the mother deserve nothing but ridicule. (SSS Vol.5, pp. 146-147)
Through service you realize that all beings are waves of the Ocean of Divinity. No other spiritual practice can bring you into the incessant contemplation of the Oneness of all living beings. You feel another’s pain as your own; you share another’s success as your own. To see everyone else as yourself and yourself in every one is the core of spiritual practice. This spirit makes you humble before the suffering of others. When you rush to render help, you do not calculate how high or low one’s social or economic status is. Thus, the hardest heart is slowly softened into sweetness by the opportunities of service. (SSS Vol.13)
Plunge into service with a feeling, ‘Service is God; Service is my life.’ Service should not be undertaken with an expectation of remuneration. (SSS Vol.42, p. 167)
The parrot talk, ‘Service to Man is Service to God’ (Manava seva is Madhava seva) does not extend to all men; those who reel off this axiom do not inquire who are the men to be served. They are eager only to fill their mental horizons to the uplift of their own people. Do not think that Vedas lay down a bundle of rules and regulations and laws. Every one of them has been laid down by the Lord, as a law- giver. All elements in the Cosmos, every particle everywhere are acting every moment as ordered by Him. That is what Vedas inform us. No worship can be higher and more beneficial than serving such a Lord. One has to offer Love to Him, more love than one bears to anybody else in this world and the next. He must be loved as the One and Only. He has to be remembered adoringly with such Love, That is the fruit that real education must result in.
Thus, they lay waste the valuable education they have received. Man forgets the fact that God is in perceptible form in all beings. Service rendered to any being is service offered to God. This has to be the chief goal of the educated. (V Vahini, pp. 69-70)
Every man should recognise that the body has been given to him to render service to others. You must use the body for promoting the welfare of society. Of what use is the endless study of books if you do not use your knowledge for the good of others? A mind that is not utilized for imparting joy to others or a body that is not used for the service of others is totally useless. The way to love God is to love all and serve all. Students should imbibe this ideal. (SSS Vol.30)