Thank You, Master

Throughout millennia, the saints have laid great stress on humility. Their intent is surely not that we should let others walk all over us; rather, they lovingly explain that humility is a by-product of our love and devotion for the Lord. True humility comes when we are able to eliminate our ego and see the Lord within ourselves and in the whole creation.

The natural question is, how do we develop that humility within us? It is important to understand that humility, love, meditation and seva are all intertwined. On the path of the saints, many of us are fortunate to have the opportunity to do seva at our satsang centres. We often take to seva with great zeal and gusto but it is incumbent upon us to evaluate how seva can lead us towards becoming humble disciples.

Hazur Maharaj Ji used to tell us that if we do seva, humility will come automatically. In love, we do that which pleases the other person, not what pleases ourselves. Similarly, seva is done to please another person, not to please ourselves. And so, seen in this light, seva perhaps starts as a manifestation of the love we have for our Master; and if we want to please him, automatically we should perform our seva with humility.

It is important to note that the saints also tell us to broaden our horizons. Seva is not just helping at a satsang centre – it encompasses a much broader space. In fact, seva is an attitude, it is a distinct way of life where the self is always willing to give of itself anytime, anywhere and unconditionally, without expectation. Hazur Maharaj Ji once said to a questioner:

The greatest reward in seva is the contentment and happiness that we feel within, that we get an opportunity to serve someone. That is the greatest happiness one can ever get, to make someone happy. It doesn’t make you so happy if anybody makes you happy, but it definitely makes you very happy when you are in a position to make someone else happy, and that is real seva. Seva for any institution, seva for any individual, seva for the masses – in other words, a charitable attitude of helping other people – that is seva. The base of seva is love and devotion for the Father. Seva is not meant to make one a leader in the community, in the group, or to wield any authority – that is not seva.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III}

The Masters tell us that we don’t serve or help others in order to deepen our spiritual life: it is the other way around. The deepening of our meditation practice naturally develops in us the desire to be helpful to others. Nobody is being more helped than the one who does the service. The purpose of seva is to help us expand our love.

However, we are imperfect beings attempting to travel on the path of truth. At times, it is possible to get carried away. Egotism creeps in, we become critical and end up nullifying the entire purpose of seva. The question is, what should we do in such situations? A disciple once asked Hazur Maharaj Ji that if we notice that we are so full of pride that even our attempt at seva has a lot of ego attached to it, should we give up that seva until we become more detached? His answer was characteristically practical:

We should give up that ego rather than the seva. Seva will help you to create humility sooner or later. But give up the ego which you think is attached to your type of seva. By running away from the situation, we don’t solve any problem. We have to tackle the situation.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III}

So the question arises, in our weak moments, when our enthusiasm to do seva the ‘right way’ (which invariably means our way) overcomes us, how do we work towards building that humility and love which is the very purpose of seva?

At times like this it is important to remember that it is entirely by the Master’s grace that we get an opportunity to do seva. While many people may be anxious to do it, they may not get an opportunity – either due to their circumstances, their environment or their family commitments. It is by the grace of the Lord that we get this opportunity.

Not surprisingly, this approach of being grateful for what Master gives us permeates all aspects of the path, including meditation. Hazur once said:

Our approach to meditation should be that of gratitude. The Lord has given us the opportunity of this human form and then the environment in which to attend to meditation. So we should always approach meditation with gratitude.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III}

And so it comes down to gratitude. At every step, if we remember to thank the Master for all that he has given us – our environment, our seva, our love – that will remind us to be more humble.