Question

an essay on seva a style or lifestyle

Answer 1

                                       Seva: A Style or Lifestyle

 

Seva (service) can be both style as well as lifestyle. In fact it is the highest and the noblest style and lifestyle. Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian philosopher, poet and thinker has wisely said, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” Service to mankind and the world in general is the highest ideal emphasized by all great personages of all times. Be it Buddha, Jesus, Guru Nanak, Zoroaster, Yogananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or any other great soul whom the world admires, all of them emphasized on service to humanity and all life forms.  

    

In St. Mathew’s Gospel chapter 23 verse 11, Jesus teaches his disciples: “The greatest among you will be your servant.” However, the bitter truth is no one is ready to serve; all are impatient to be served. All the ills in the world exist because of this lack of service to others. Wise people say the only difference between Heaven and Hell is service. In Heaven everyone is keen to serve others; and in Hell everyone wants to be served.

Someone has very poetically said:

                                                      'It is in serving, not being served
                                                       The heart finds its quest;
                                                        It is in giving, not in getting
                                                        Our lives are blest.'


Selfless service is the divinest sentiment humans can aspire. It is the only emotion that makes him a god. Selfless service is the quality of the angels. We can say people who have evolved to the highest level of existence, become selfless servants of mankind.

All great lovers of mankind have served mankind unselfishly, and they also gave everything they had to make this world a better place. Mother Teresa, Florence Nightingale, and many more who worked to preserve peace and lessen the pain and suffering of mankind in the world were selfless servants of mankind. And the world in return honored them with praise, awards, rewards, and recognition. Those who serve mankind truly, they are the most deserving role models of all round success. They become eternal in the memory of the mankind. The world remembers them because they by serving man somehow they served God.