By Bhavin Pamnani
NHSF (UK) Sewa Team
The reality nowadays is that an act of service is temporary. How many of us have said at one point, “I went to volunteer last week” or “I will go and do some service this weekend at the temple” or “I will make a donation once I get my first pay cheque.” The need for service is always there, yet we only offer it in a period of time that is convenient for us.
The notion people have of service to others is misinterpreted; people serve to feel better about themselves, or it is a way to boost their image in front of society or it is an act for institutions to reward them when written on their Curriculum Vitae. But why is it like this? The answer is very simple. We do not see each other as one. Everyone has their own identification, which is limited to their own “I” and never crosses the boundaries beyond their family. In Hindu philosophy it is not said that the world is one, but that the entire Universe is one.
Our own body is a clear example of oneness: we have toes, which are different to our fingers; we have fingers, which are different to our nose, which is different to our ears and so on. But yet, don’t we see our body as one? Each part of the body has a completely different name, form and function, yet we see all these body parts as part of our own one body.
Now lets say the Supreme Court of Justice of the world has declared that you are guilty for a crime and your punishment is to receive a small poke of a needle on a body part of your choice. Which body part of yours will you choose? Are not all your body parts equally dear to you? Your answer would be “you can poke my neighbour!”
We must therefore cultivate this vision of oneness and then only will service be meaningful and not merely selfishness. If your knee itches, does your hand not immediately stretch down to relieve your knee without asking, ‘what will you do for me in return?’ or ‘what do I gain by scratching you?’ With this spirit we must live and serve all, along our way.