Why We Have Forgotten the Fruits of Selfless Service

There is no one who can claim that he has never faced difficulties in life. Those, who combat difficulties with a smile on their faces, emerge to be the true heroes. Look back at the course of history and you’ll realize that all the great souls who we admire or worship have been through a lot of adversities. In order to lead a happy life one should always remember that life is a journey with many ups and downs. If you are combating a setback at the moment, you shouldn’t get disheartened. Just remind yourself that once the darkness of the nightfall ends, you’ll be greeted by the warmth of the sunshine.
The 3 Mantras of Life
• Not everyone can end up becoming a visionary, philosopher, poet, great writer or a guru. If everyone will become an industrialist or a politician, the world will become a very difficult place to live in. Hence, one should appreciate what he has, instead of cribbing about what he couldn’t achieve.
• Use all your mental as well as physical capacities to maximize your performance in whatever endeavour you’ve pledged to accomplish.
• Collect the goodwill, punya of service by helping others and by fulfilling your responsibilities with utmost devotion.
Doing Seva without Expecting Anything in Return
We humans are busy in arranging a comfortable life for ourselves. All our actions and plans are focused to gather materialistic gains. Indian culture puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of doing seva (selfless service), which we seem to have forgotten. Our culture teaches us to serve our guests, neighbours, elders, relatives and gurus with all our heart, without expecting anything in return. But since today’s environment has become too competitive and we have become too self-centred, nobody tries to serve others without being selfish.
Instead of showing concern and compassion, we want to show-off how much money, fame or power we have. Instead of giving someone a shoulder to cry on, we give them a handkerchief made out of gold. We should remember that only service begets service. One doesn’t need to search for opportunities to serve the others or the world. We can serve the humanity by considering each and every member of the universe with love and compassion. When we feel the need to connect with the almighty, we simply go to a temple, mosque, church or a gurudwara and donate money. That’s not seva!
Trust Your Karma
By selflessly serving someone, you will not only gather their countless blessings, but also you’ll gather a fortune of good karma. Charity of service always bears fruit, its rewards may arrive from somewhere unexpected, but they will arrive eventually! After all, “What goes around, comes around.”