Seva - The Highest Spiritual Practice

Being of service is the best sadhana.

The purpose of sadhana – spiritual practice – is to acknowledge that which is higher – the Higher Self, the Divine.  When we are engaged in sadhana, we are not thinking of the small self, our worldly self, the self which is going through ups and downs, the story that we live.  When we are doing our sadhana, we go beyond this small self.

The same thing happens with seva. When we are engaged in seva, we are not thinking about ourselves, we are thinking about the other. And really, the other is not separate from the Divine. Being able to see that presence of the Divine in all is the highest achievement of spiritual life. Being of service to all while maintaining this bhav, this inner attitude, is the true experience of seva. This is the essence of Karma Yoga.

In this day and age, when there are so many kinds of spiritual practices, if our heart and mind cannot settle on one thing, at least it can settle on being in service to those in need.  This is where we start. From here, we work on being of service to all.

Living in the world every day with a focus on seva and the attitude of “what can I do for you” towards everyone we meet is the highest form of spiritual practice that we can do.


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