========================================== QUALIFICATIONS FOR SELFLESS SERVICE ========================================== Make service a part of your life. A part of you, as if it were your breath to live. A part of you, as if it was your food to nourish. A part of you, as if it was your daily hygiene. To cleanse you. A part of you, as if it were your rest, to relax you. Service is something not done for others. It is done primarily for your benefit, For your gain to experience the bliss of divinity. Serve selflessly, without a motive. Do not be dependent upon praise and awards. Do not look to see if others witness. Serve only with one intention, To give your love away to all those who need. You can serve giving a kind smile. You can serve by saying sweet words. It does not need to be physically strenuous. An act done with pure love, With no expectations in return, In the knowledge of My presence, Is Service ! Serve all and reach Me through others. From : Sai Darshan - Part II Awaken the Divine Consciousness within... Love All, Serve All Pure Heart ========================================== When you go into the qualifications needed for service,--you will know that pure heart uncontaminated by conceit,--greed ,--envy ,--hatred ,--or competition is essential,--also faith in God,--as the spring of vitality,--virtue,--and justice.---------Service is the worship you offer to the God in the heart of everyone.---------Do not ask for another which state he belongs to or which caste or creed he professes.---------See your favourite form of God in that other person;----as a matter of fact he is not-- other --at all.---------It is His image,--as much as are you are.---------You are not helping some--one individual--:----you are adoring Me ,--in him.---------I am before you in that form;----so what room is there for the ego in you to raise its hood ? Duty is God ; Work is worship.---------Even the tiniest work is a flower placed at the Feet of God.---------Approach the pilgrims who come here for the festival with a heart filled with the treasure of love. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. V111, Page. 1 ========================================== As a preliminary to service you have to win purity of heart. You must examine your motives and skills, your intentions and qualifications, and discover for yourself what you hope to achieve through the service. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. X Page.219 220 ========================================== Charity ========================================== Through sacrifice you will come to know that your real nature is charity. Charity does not mean that you have given some money to an individual or an organisation. The removal of all of the evil thoughts that are within you is true charity. Charity will , in turn confer purity upon you. Once you have purity, there will be unity. And once you have unity, you can reach Divinity. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Satya Sai News Letter (U.S.A), Volume 13, Number 4, page 20 ========================================== Let love be ever translated into service, into beneficial acts, sweet words of consolation, comfort, and courage, and thoughts of sympathy and compassion. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume VII Pages 15 16 ========================================== Love ========================================== The first prerequisite is the spirit of sacrifice. This can be developed only through love. The person filled with love is ready to make any sacrifice. The person without love will not be willing to make any sacrifice. God does not dwell in any particular place. You are God. When you get rid of the body-consciousness, you will realise your Divinity. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sanathana Sarathi, April, 1989. Page 283 284 ========================================== Remember, with each act of love and service, you are nearing the Divine Presence; with each act of hate and grab, you are moving farther and farther away. The ideal of service must inspire those in authority, those who possess riches, those who are endowed with skills and intelligence, leisure and health. Serve the community and the community will serve you. Exploit it and it will exterminate you. Put an end to laziness; bury your clamorous ego , bury the greed for power and pelf; then you have the qualifications needed for a member of the Seva Dal. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.IX Page 131 132 ========================================== Love is the solvent for the hardest of hearts. Without love, free, full and selfless, no spiritual sadhana can succeed. Without it, bhajan is a waste of breath, sathsang a waste of time, and meditation a self deception. Bhajan, sathsang and meditation done with a mind soaked in love can confer peace, joy, and wisdom. When the raindrop falls into the sea, it gets the name, form, and nature of the sea. So, too, when the individual merges in the vast concourse of humanity and feels one with it, he is endowed with the name, form , and nature of Divinity. Whatever you do as service, to whomsoever you offer the act, believe that it reaches the GOD in that person. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.X, Page 34 ========================================== The service that you render must reward you not only with your satisfaction, but with the satisfaction and relief of whom you serve. Money and materials are not essential for service: Money and materials are not essential for service, but a loving heart is. We should fill our hearts with love. In nature , consciousness is never wasted . When it is developed with ego, it generates bad deeds, but when it is associated with the Atma, it produces good deeds. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Satya Sai News Letter (U.S.A),volume 13, Number 3, p. 3 ========================================== It is only love that can successfully carry out schemes for service and uplift. Love creates sympathy; love will show the way where hatred can only confound. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume V, Pages 249 ========================================== The day when you resolve to practice My advice, to follow My directives, to translate My message into acts of service, and to engage in sadhana that day is My birthday for you. The 23rd day of November, which you now honor as the day on which I was born, is only like any other day if you celebrate it in a routine, ritual fashion. Adore man; the adoration reaches Me. Neglect man; you neglect Me. Of what avail is it to worship the Lord and to suppress man, His counterpart? Love for God must be manifested as love for man, and love must express itself as service. Through love alone love acquired through sadhana, and shared with all as sadhana can peace be attained, by the individual as well as by the nation. My Life is My Message and My Message is Love. That explains why you have gathered hither in hundreds of thousands. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume X Pages 41 42 ========================================== Love grows through service; love is born in the womb of service. And God is love. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Satya Sai Speaks,Volume VII, pages 274 ========================================== Service, is worship; each act of service is a flower placed at the Feet of the Lord, and if the act is tainted with ego, it is as if the flower is infested with slimy insect pests. Who will contaminate the Feet with such foul offering? Have no egotism while you serve the people. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume VII Page 475 ========================================== Uproot all egoistic tendencies: Preliminary to any service, you have to uproot all egoistic tendencies, get rid of all sense of mine and thine and burn to ashes the pride that comes of the feeling that you are offering service to someone poorer and less fortunate. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.Y, Page 220 ========================================== Do not develop ego about your capacities while doing service. Be humble and think that God has given you an opportunity to do service. Whatever you do to others, your feeling must be that you are serving yourself. In fact and in truth, whatever service you are doing for others you are doing for yourself. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Summer Showers in Brindavan 1973, Page 85 ========================================== Never entertain selfish thoughts and perform self-beneficial acts in the name of service. It has become a fashion now to serve . Do not let pride and self boasting creep in. The world today is full of materialistic possessions and these possessions are frequently exhibited. This display of ego is the reason for change in the world today. The destructive effects of pompous pride and ego make selfless service an essential goal for the progress of humanity. Therefore , members of the Sai Organisation should be simple, selfless, and non egoistic. They should cultivate sacred love , the Divine spirit of sacrifice, patience, and compassion. These are the qualities of the truly service oriented members and officers. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== Selflessness ========================================== The fulfillment of human life consists in the service that man renders, without any thought of return, in an attitude of selflessness. Service rendered in this spirit sheds light in the dark interior of man. It widens the heart, purifies the impulses, and confers lasting ananda. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. VII, Page 382 ========================================== True service is the service rendered to ones fellowmen with kindness and selflessness. The right royal path to the home of peace is to perform service with a sense of affection and friendliness. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Discourses of Bhagvan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, November 19 24 ========================================== If we have filled ourselves with selfishness, jealousy, and such ill feelings, we will not be able to do any good service. If there is nothing in a vessel, it is possible to fill it with some good things. Therefore, in the very first instance, empty yourselves of all bad feelings and fill your hearts with love and selflessness. A heart soaked in love alone is a sacred heart. Whatever service we render should be done with a sense of self-lessness, and then we may reach the highest stage in life. The service done may be a small one , but when it is done with a large heart it can yield great results. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Advaitha Through Seva, Volume 1, Divine Discourses of Bliagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, November 19 24, 1987, Pages 4 ========================================== Do not crave publicity: Do not think of the fame or praise you win;, think of good that people derive. Do not crave publicity; crave the joy that shines in the faces of the people whom you help. Service brings you nearer to Me. The flower that is your heart gets fragrance by means of the service you do, and so it become more acceptable to Me. Love is the essence of that fragrance. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. X, Page 33 ========================================== While rendering service, there should not be any pomposity. Develop a broad heart and foster love in it. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== Attitude ========================================== Your service will be judged with reference to the mental attitude accompanying it. So whatever work is allocated, do it with fervor, understanding, and reverence. In service there can be no high or low, for Sai is in all. Sai receives your service, to whomever you may offer it. Do not be sad that you have been posted on some duty that keeps you far from Me. Know that I am nearest to him, who calls on Me and sees Me in all beings. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks Vol.X, Page 33 34 ========================================== It is the attitude that is essential. The particular item of service might be small. You may not get a chance to partake in some gigantic scheme of service through which millions may be benefited; you can lift a lame lamb over a stile or lead a blind child across a busy road. That too is an act of worship. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks VoI.Vlll, Page 2 ========================================== The best way to please Me is to see Me in all beings and serve them just as you would like to serve Me. That is the best form of worship, which will reach Me. The Lord may have two or two hundred vows , that is His will. But the devotee need have only one vow to save himself the vow of total surrender. If you have full faith in the Divinity of every being, the attitude of surrender will automatically be fixed in you. Do not treat them as nara (human); treat them as Narayana, the Lord Himself. You are not alleviating the distress of that other person; you are offering worship to the Lord, in that form, in that body. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume VI Page 273 274 ========================================== Intelligence and Character: Intelligence being the special mark humans , every effort must be made to amplify and sharpen it so that it may be a fit instrument for understanding the inner and the outer worlds. Along with intelligence, character, too, has to be cultivated in equal measure, for then alone can that intelligence be used to serve society. The readiness to renounce ones pleasure in order to relieve the burden of another is a prime virtue of character. Moksha means liberation; renunciation, too, involves giving up, or liberation. The secret of both is the same. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. X, Page 49 ========================================== Service must be done intelligently: The seva that is entrusted to you, you must do intelligently and to a successful finish. It does not matter if the recipient is not fully satisfied; you must have. done your best, without hesitation or favour. Nowadays service has become more talk and less deed. But, the lord cnnot be deceived. He is vigiliant and all knowing. Judgement: Do not judge others to decide whether they deserve your service. Find out only whether, they are distressed; that is enough credential. Do not examine how they behave towards others; they can be certainly transformed by love. Service is for you as sacred as a vow, a sadhana , a spiritual path. It is the very breath; it can end only when breath takes leave of you. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, VoLVII, Page 198 ========================================== Revere the Atma in everyone; it is the God residing in each. Why should you pay attention to his wrongs and vices? Your duty is to serve, not search for faults. Serve with all your heart, serve with pure undefiled love. Under My unseen supervision and guidance you have to serve them and relieve their pains and troubles. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI Sathya Sai Speaks, VoI.Vl, Page 10 ========================================== In rendering seva (selfless service),--one should not think that their services should be confined to the poor and the destitute.---------There is no need to make any artificial distinction between the rich and the poor in the sphere of service.---------What matters is the service done to a person who needs it.---------Your concern should only be with what kind of service is required,--when and where,--and not the status or position of the person concerned.---------The primary requisite is a genuine spirit of love and camaraderie.---------If there is no feeling of kindness and compassion,--whatever service that is done becomes an artificial exercise,--done for getting publicity or recognition.---------Ostentation in rendering service is harmful as it will only inflate the ego. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== Human body is meant to serve others,--not to indulge in selfish deeds.---------Due to selfishness,--one indulges in many sinful activities.---------Eschew selfishness,--take to selfless service.---------Give up attachment to the body.---------Become attached to the Self.---------Understand that the same Atma (Self) exists in everybody.---------Though you find myriad bulbs glowing,--the current that is passing through them is the same.---------Bodies are like bulbs,--the principle of the Atma is the current that is present in them.---------With such a feeling of oneness,--make efforts to alleviate the suffering of your fellowmen. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== The mind is but a pattern of desires,--a composite of the warp and woof of plans and resolutions.---------It has immense potentiality to create manifold images.---------Imagination hides the truth,--it fogs the intellect,--perverts the vision and deviates the aspirant from the spiritual path.---------Desire creates a mirage,--it imposes beauty and clothes things with desirability.---------To escape from the clutches of desire,--which gives birth to the brood of anger,--hatred,--malice,--greed,--envy,--faction,--falsehood,--etc.,----one has to cleanse his consciousness by prayer and Sathkarma (noble activity).---------SEVA--(--SELFLESS—SERVICE--)—IS—THE—BEST—SADHANA-- (--SPIRITUAL—ENDEAVOUR--)—FOR—ELIMINATING—THE—NEFARIOUS—PULL—OF—THE—MIND—TOWARDS--DESIRES. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== Spiritual life does--NOT--mean leaving the home and living in a solitary place.---------True spiritual life means looking upon the whole of mankind as one family and realising the unity in diversity and leading a life of selflessness and love.---------Consider spiritual life as sugar and worldly life as tasteless water in your daily life.---------Do not labour to amass wealth,--but instead—ENGAGE—YOURSELF—IN—SELFLESS—SERVICE—TO—EARN—CREDIT—IN—THE—BANK—OF--GOD. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== There is no discipline equal to service to smother the ego and to fill the heart with genuine joy.---------To condemn service as demeaning and inferior is to forego these benefits.---------If a wave of service sweeps over the land,--catching everyone in its enthusiasm,--it will be able to wipe off the mounds of hatred,--malice and greed that infest the world.---------Attune your hearts so that they vibrate in sympathy with the woes and joys of your fellowmen and fill the world with your love. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== Service is God.---------Why has God endowed man with a body,--a mind and an intellect?---------Feel and empathise with suffering through your mind,--plan using your intelligence and use the body to serve those are in need.---------Offer that act of service to God;----worship Him with that flower.---------Put into daily practice the ideals that Sai has been propagating and make them known all over the world by standing forth as living examples of their greatness. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== Service to man is more valuable than what you call service to God.---------God has no need of your service.---------Please man,--and you please God.---------The Vedas sing of God as having a thousand heads,--thousand eyes and thousand feet.---------That is to say,--all beings are He;----they are not distinct from Him.---------Note that it is not said that He has a thousand hearts,--for,--there is but one heart.---------EACH BEING IS A LIMB IN THE BODY OF GOD.---------WHEN—YOU—TEND—TO—THE--LIMB,----YOU—TEND—TO—THE--INDIVIDUAL;----SIMILARLY,----WHEN—YOU—SERVE--MAN,----YOU—SERVE--GOD. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ========================================== A Manishi (ordinary man) gets transformed into a Maharishi ( SAINT ) by engaging in selfless service.---------Truly speaking,--the merit that can be obtained from service cannot be acquired even by the practice of rigourous austerities.---------Service brings human beings closer to each other and promotes affection and friendship.---------Without this feeling of friendship and love towards ones fellowmen,--one cannot attain intimacy with the Lord.---------Install in your heart the feeling that the service you render to your fellowmen is service to God. = LORD SRI SATHYA SAI ==========================================
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 09:20:47 +0000
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