An Enlightening Panel Discussion. Part One....Hands that Serve are Holier than Lips that Pray.

[Guest guest]

HANDS THAT SERVE ARE HOLIER THAN LIPS THAT PRAY” - An enlightening panel discussion, Part 1 "Hands that Serve are Holier than Lips that Pray”. Sounds very simple, isn’t it? Yes, it is straightforward to understand and talk about but the real issues arise when one tries to practice this every day, in every situation, in every moment of ones life. Because that’s when one encounters situations when one is unable to decide “to do or not to do”. Given the great significance of this Baba saying in one's daily life, especially for the youngsters, a panel discussion was held in the Brindavan campus of Swami’s Institute during the “Summer Course On Indian Culture and Spirituality” in May 2002. The discussion, paneled by very eminent guests and staff of the Institute, was a comprehensive elaboration on this subject. We have aired this panel discussion on Radio Sai on numerous occasions and many listeners have expressed their desire to have the text of the discussion emailed to them. For the benefit of those listeners and others who want guidance on this subject of “Service and Prayer”, we now bring the first part of this valuable discussion. The second part will be carried in the next issue of H2H on November 1st. The Panelists The moderator of the session was Prof. G. Venkataraman, eminent scientist and former Vice Chancellor of Swami’s Institute.

The panel members were - Prof. Anil Kumar, former principal of Brindavan Campus of the Institute and currently a Senior Faculty Member in the Prashanti Nilayam Campus. Prof. Ramamurthy, Assistant Dean of School of Business Management, Accounting and Finance, Prashanti Nilayam Campus. Sri Sanjay Sahani, formerly warden of Prasanthi Nilayam campus and currently the Principal of Brindavan campus of the Institute. The Moderator’s Opening Remarks Sai Ram. I extend a special welcome to our distinguished guests. You already heard about the theme of the panel discussion. It is bit of a tongue in cheek theme, if I might say so. First, let me describe the way the panel discussion will be conducted. There will be several rounds. In the opening round, the panelists will make a brief opening statement relevant to the topic under

discussion. After this I will ask the panelists specific questions in relation to the points they have made. This will then evolve into a dialogue followed by a general conversation. At that stage, I hope you will be sending us questions based on what you have heard; this is an important aspect of today’s exercise. We want you to ask questions. Write them down and they will be collected by volunteers and I will pose them to the panelists. At the end the panelists will make a one-minute summary statement and the discussion will be concluded with a brief summary by myself, the moderator. The Panel Discussion Begins… The theme for today is “Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray.” To use the words of the distinguished speaker who gave us a very stimulating address, service can be a very important aspect of the psycho-social evolution of mankind. Let me tell you a brief story, and then the objectives. The story is an incident that was narrated in the foyer of Prashanti Nilayam Campus by a teacher many years ago. It relates to Baba Amte, a well-known activist and social worker. In the early days of his life, he did a tremendous amount of work for the uplift of lepers. One day a person came and said, “You are doing so much for the lepers, you are such a good man. Why don’t you take five minutes off and go to the temple and offer prayers to Narayana?” Baba Amte replied, “Why do I have to go to a temple to worship Narayana when Narayana is coming to me all the time and asking me to serve Him?”

You may think it is a blasphemous remark, but I submit to you that it is a remark that ought to get us thinking. While the panel discussion is going on, I would like you to contemplate and ponder over the following questions. What really is service? When must service be done? How exactly must service be rendered? What are the different types of service that one could undertake? How must service benefit others? And last but not least, how must service benefit the doer? When Swami gave the inaugural address at the time of the Sathya Sai Educational Conference, he started with five or six questions. In the same way I have posed

before you the questions above. With these remarks, I now invite the panelists to make their opening statement concerning today’s topic with the request that they be brief. May I request each panelist take 2.5 to 3 minutes? I will start with our friend Sanjay Sahani, who has a unique experience. Why don’t you tell us something about the topic, Sanjay? Prayer and Service Sri Sanjay Sahani: Offering my loving pranams at Bhagavan’s Lotus Feet, respected fellow panel members, members of this august assembly. Prayer and service are integral aspects of both the Sri Sathya Sai Organization and the Sai Educational Institutions. It is not our objective to discount the

value of prayer, but to explore the significance of service. Then why this statement, “Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray.” In this context, I am reminded of a graphic description Bhagavan gives for certain kinds of devotees of modern times. Let me give a verbal description to you of the incident that occurred one morning. A man was in his puja room, meditating on God: “OM Namashivaya, OM Namashivaya, OM Namashivaya…..Mannu ki ma, dhobi aaya? [ Has the washerman come?] OM Namashivaya, OM Namashivaya OM Namashivaya, Mannu ki ma, breakfast thayar he? [is the breakfast ready?] OM Namashivaya, OM Namashivaya, OM Namashivaya.” It is a vivid description that shows for the vast majority of people it is not possible to concentrate on God even for a few minutes. For such people not to be wasting their time in apparent spiritual activities service is the prescription.

“Serve others and you will experience spiritual joy easily, quickly.” In our Indian culture it is said, Paropakararam idham shariram – The body is given to serve others. In the nine paths of devotion, Nava Vidha Bhakti, one of the forms of service is Pada Seva, worship of the Lotus Feet. What is Pada Seva? The Purusha Sooktham says, “Padosaya vishwa bhuthani, thripathasyam rythm dhivi”. One portion of the Lord’s splendor is this manifested universe and three portions of it is unmanifested, transcendental. The practical implication of worshipping the Feet is to serve mankind, to serve the world. Bhagavan says,

“Dil mey Ram Hath mey Kam” – “Lord in the heart, work through the hands.” There are so many organizations, so many individuals, who do service. What is unique about Sai Service? The uniqueness of Sai service is the spiritual attitude which we have to look at, sometime later. Sai Ram. Prof. GV: Thank you Sanjay for that good opening. The most important point he made is we are not easily geared to bhakti (or devotion) the way it should be practiced. To start with, he said, service is a good starting point; you can add bhakti later on like sugar as you go along. He made other important statements, which I hope you will remember. Now to the one and only Anil Kumar, you have only three minutes. Prof. Kumar: Sir, I make statements and I don’t dare to explain. Let me say what Bhagavan has to say on the matter. Here are three statements. Statement 1: Karmamuna puttunarudu – Man is born for actions Karmamuni vruddhichandi chanun – In the field of action he is totally involved during his life sojourn and ultimately ends his life. Karmame karanamu narunaruku sukha dhukhamulalo – Action is responsible both for bondage and liberation Statement 2: Karma margambu kali bata – The path of action is something like walking along the journey Gnana margambu vimana yanamu – The path of knowledge is something like traveling by flight from one area to another Bhakthi margambu bandi bata – The path of devotion is something like traveling in a bullock cart Yoga mana jaladhi pai odakkade – Traveling by ship is yoga. This is what Bhagavan has described. Statement 3: Prayer is the root, service is the fruit. Sai Ram. Service is Prayer in Action and Prayer is Communion with God Prof. GV: Now Professor, why don’t you increase our appetite with what you have to say? Prof. Ramamurthy: Pranams to the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan. Before I venture into this statement, there is an angle that has to be resolved. Service is prayer in action. Action is communion with God. In order that seva be properly done, it is essential that it should be done with love and humility. In-depth prayer and a constant prayerful attitude will fill you with love and humility and therefore for the service to be done properly, it must flow from God’s grace arising out of prayer. Only then will you be able to provide selfless, spontaneous service of the nature it deserves. Unless you have connection to the powerhouse, you can’t have the electric light. So prayer leads you to God almighty, from where you get the faith and love, and with that armor you can render effective, fruitful service. Man starts his spiritual life with an objective to see the external God in simple ways, at a primary level. Later on he tries to see God as Hrudayavasi, the Indweller, when he matures. And further on he sees God as pervading all, or omnipresence. At that stage he sees God in man. That is when service to man becomes service to God. Mother Theresa has what she calls a business card which she gives to those who come to her: 'The fruit of faith is prayer. The fruit of prayer is love.The fruit of love is service.' Swami has also mentioned that Lord Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita, any devotee has got

to have these three attributes together. Tan mana – they always perceive the Lord and enjoy the bliss in His presence ever and keep Him in their mind; Tathbhakthi – intense devotion to the Lord; and Thathchidhi – you are willing to give dedicated selfless service. Prayer, bhakti and devotion have to be combined. They are not mutually exclusive. Depending upon the nature of the individual and his temperament, the degree to which each can access one or the other will vary, but these options are available to all, and depending upon situations, they have to make the choice. Prof. GV: Thank you, Prof. Ramamurthy. Just to remind everyone, service is prayer in action and prayer is communion with God. And if they go hand in hand, you can see God within you when you pray. You can see God in the outside world and you can see God inside when you pray. You have had three gems from our

panelists. This is more than I bargained for. The Bliss of Service Here is a question: Sanjay, using an example, you said service helps us focus more easily on God than sitting in the puja room. Can you give me an example of how service helps you focus better on God, from your own example as a teacher and as a student? Sri Sanjay Sahani: Who is God? God defined is God defied. One of the descriptions of God is Satchitananda [God is Bliss]. Service is a means to that bliss. You asked me to narrate a personal experience. In this context I am reminded of the first gram seva [service to villagers] we had two years ago. In the course of gram seva, teachers were assigned duties to go one day earlier to the villages, survey the villages, and decide on the logistics and come back with suggestions. We went in search of a particular village near Puttaparthy and in the course of our exploration we discovered a small settlement of about 30 to 35 houses which was not even slated for our visit. We came back and reported to our elders. On that particular instance, we had planned to distribute clothes to the villages in accordance with the names given to us by the government officials, and this village was not even in the government roles. We requested them, “If you can give us 35 saris and dhotis we can distribute them to the poor villagers.” They agreed. On that day, one of my teacher brothers requested of me, “Why don’t you personally distribute these clothes to the

villagers?” Normally elders would do it, but he requested me to do it. So we called them from their huts and they were seated together, One by one, with innocence and humility, they received the clothes from us. At that point in time I had a strange experience. It was like being uplifted from the ground floor of a building to the 25th floor. The joy that I experienced at that time cannot be explained by words. It is much more than a thousand rasagullas [a sweet delicacy] that we can have. That is experience. It was not even the clothes that we were distributing. Swami gave us all the material, but just by handing it over to those villagers, on that occasion, my mind was refusing to come down from the supernatural heights it had attained. When you experience that bliss, you know what God is, what Divinity is. Thank you, sir. Prof. GV: Thank you Sanjay. You brought up an important

point. Ultimately, what we have to do is experience bliss. When you experience bliss, you have experienced God. Service offers an easy and a simple way of experiencing bliss. Experiencing bliss from meditation is more difficult and the point that Sanjay mentioned is that you can experience bliss through service. I can corroborate and verify the statement; I have seen thousands of our students experiencing this bliss. Part-oneRam ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp