Service (Seva)

Service

As the name ‘Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations’ implies, Seva or Selfless Service is one of the main objectives of the organization. In general terms, service implies service to the poor and needy. Some of these services include feeding the poor, distributing clothes and other basic accessories, free health camps etc. Other services also includes visiting senior homes, hospitals etc. All these service activities are already being undertaken by thousands of NGOs across the globe. Then the question remains “What is the difference between these NGOs and the Sathya Sai Organizations? The answer is very simple. At the Sathya Sai Organizations, we do SELFLESS service also known as Seva (a Sanskrit word).

Sathya Sai Baba draws an important distinction between conventional social service and selfless service. Any service becomes selfless service, a spiritual activity, when it is performed with the right attitude. This applies to selfless service performed on an individual basis, with another organization, or with a Sai centre. Baba says “The core of this spiritual discipline of selfless service is to see everyone as yourself and yourself in everyone.” He says that when we serve, we are not serving others, we are serving the God in us, the same God who is equally present in others. It is this attitude that changes our service into selfless service, making it a spiritual activity. God will not ask when and where you did service; he will ask what your motives and intentions were. “The real value of this service,” says Sathya Sai Baba, “is that it reforms us and reshapes us as we serve.”

Swami has given lots of importance to selfless service. His free schools, super specialty hospitals and water projects prove this fact. In His discourses, he stresses the importance of selfless service and encourages the members of the Organization to take up service activities in their respective centres. He says “The members of our Organization must be ready and eager to help students, the sick, and the poor. Feel that this is work that pleases Me. Spend your days and years in activities that help those in dire need, and thus make this human existence of yours worthwhile and fruitful.”

With the inspiration and guidance of Bhagawan Baba, the Sai Centres around the world take up service projects in their respective areas.

Benefits

• Seva removes the ego..

• Seva helps us to experience the unity of mankind and to control and purify the mind. This unity and purity will lead to divinity.

• By doing seva, we are placing a ceiling on our desires.

• Seva brings love and peace into our lives.

• Seva teaches us the lesson that the same God is present in all and we become aware of this fact by performing selfless service.

• Baba says “Service to Man is Service to God” and hence by serving mankind, we can win the Grace of God.

Service at Calgary Centre

The Calgary Sai Centre provides devotees with volunteer opportunities both within and outside the centre. These service activities can be a one-time activity or a repeated activity.

Weekly Service Activities:

• Setting up the Altar for Bhajans
• Cleaning the Centre after Bhajans