Seva

[Guest guest]

If it is indeed seva, and not just a redirected urge to instruct.

Seva, as I have come to understand, and occasionally, very

occasionally actually experience it, is defined as "selfless

service." Usually this means a person is doing an activity that will

benefit another or others in some way and is doing it with no thought

of reward, no thought of doing it to be "good," ect., but one becomes

the doing. I experienced this occasionally in my various jobs in the

nonprofit sector (which, of course, is a notorious place for die-hard

do-gooders to end up), and when I did, it was that kind of wordless

experience that one can only point to and say nothing. Again, I

experienced it when I worked with my sister and some others getting a

small (used to be) groundskeeper's quarters-become-temple ready for a

visit by Karunamayi. I was a little grumbly at first. I hate picking

weeds and cleaning up places that have become spiderweb infested. But

soon we were just the doing. Of course knowing we were readying the

place for someone considered to be a sage didn't hurt in my

transformation from grumblyness to being/doingness. Another time was

when I helped make Amma's little bed in her "backstage" resting

quarters. That was/is an experience I cannot begin to describe.

Anyway...as I understand it, seva has nothing to do with instructing

anyone else; it is just very simple (not!) Shanti ~ Linda