On Seva

The Following article is an excerpt from the upcoming Book "The Mystical Aspects of Seva Shakti" by Yogacharya Gowrishankarananda.

Seva, begins where the concept of volunteerism in its most basic form evolves. At this beginning stage we help other human beings and find a way to make the world a better place. Often times as you may have seen or personally experienced, sometimes volunteerism develops a “I’m great because I volunteer ego”. Of course anything that develops the ego is not part of the spiritualized path classical Yoga aims to facilitate. This being said volunteerism still does great things for our world and thus has its place. Once Seva evolves past mere volunteerism we begin the very beautiful path of Karma Yoga.

Karma Yoga involves several concepts interwoven to help integrate our emotional natures with our higher spiritual natures. It is important to understand that Karma Yoga is often suggested as a separate or individual path or “type” of Yoga. Up until around 100 years ago Yoga was Yoga. We didn’t have sally sue yoga or Johnny “look at me” yoga; nor for that matter did we have Yogic concepts with Sanskrit words marketed as a complete path distinctive of and independent of all other paths. Let us be clear, for those of us who are interested in the spiritual aspects of yoga, all aspects of yoga are valuable for all of us. Yes, it is true that some of us are more in our minds so to speak in which case those individuals should pursue Jnana Yoga & meditational practices a bit more than other practices. Then there are those of us who are more emotional (most humans alive these days) who should spend more time focusing on Karma Yoga and Seva. Remember this is not to say that an emotional person should not practice meditation nor is it saying an intellectual should not practice Karma Yoga. In fact, everyone should practice all aspects of Yoga for different reasons; and of course at the right time, in the right way.

The main concepts involved in Karma Yoga are to develop good Karma, eliminate negative Karmas, cultivate awareness while performing our actions, and offering the fruits of our actions to our Ishta Devata (personal deity). Please understand that this is a very general description and in fact Karma Yoga is so expansive that it is an entire sub-science within Yoga that should never be left out of the teachings of Yoga otherwise it begins to fall apart and no longer resemble classical spiritually charged yoga at all. Often times Karma Yoga is offered in Yoga studios as a replacement for paying some or all of the fees. Similarly, Ashrams and many studios will require it as part of their daily program. While at one level this could loosely be called Karma Yoga it is often a free labour concept that benefits the facility rather than the student. In Karma Yoga specific attitudes must be cultivated and a spiritual experience is the goal. When we are trading time for money then there is no selfless component to it. Likewise, when we “have to” do our “gardening” duty because that is part of the program this too can be often left devoid of the appropriate mental/emotional attitude.

I have been to many different Yoga schools and a few ashrams, some don’t offer a Karma Yoga Program at all while some really are masters of facilitating the spiritual experience; most however offer Karma Yoga programs and leave/trust the spiritual experience up to the student. Before going any further let me explain that classically only the most deserving of us were ever accepted into discipleship and therefore Adhikarans, or the very best of students already had the right attitude anyways. So historically speaking in the classical context of a true Guru and a true devotee relationship, the teacher didn’t have to try and cultivate a devotional attitude within semi interested students.

In Seva we reach the highest level of Karma Yoga true selfless service. Seva happens when Bhakti (devotional) Yoga meets Karma Yoga. It is within the path of Seva that we can experience the highest spiritual experience. Yes, that is correct, through our Seva we can reach Moksha (spiritual liberation). In fact the path of Seva is the easiest path within Yoga and gives the most satisfaction along the way. Through Seva it is the person who is acting with true selflessness that is spiritually benefiting. In Seva we become so selfless in the performance of our service that we become merged with our highest Selves. Experiencing inwardly and manifesting outwardly our own divine Spiritual natures.