True Seva

Swami Satyananda Saraswati – Yoga-Vedanta, February 1956

To follow the dharma of seva, service, is so profound and intense that it is not easy to attain. Karma is not seva. True and pure emotions of the heart – to transform narrow selfishness into expansive selflessness, to be established in the feeling of love instead of hatred is called seva. Providing orphanages for orphans, food for the hungry – these are worldly acts of service for living beings, however only serving living beings cannot be truly called seva; true seva is atmaseva, service from the soul; it is the tearing away of the unclean veil of selfish desires which obscures the pure soul.