Performing every activity as a service unto the Guru

1. Service

To awaken more and more spiritual emotion for God or the Guru through the medium of service, one has to make efforts on the following three planes - 1. Action, 2. Thought and 3. Attitude.

1.1 Action

A. An action can be done in any of the following four manners:

• Service: Rendering service merely with the gross body.

• Complete service: Carrying out actions with the help of the physical body, mind as well as intellect.

• Absolute service: Carrying out actions by surrendering the mind, intellect and ego at Guru’s feet, that is, not taking doership for one’s actions.

• Service of the Guru: Expressing gratitude after completion of service which is rendered by offering the mind, intellect and ego at Guru’s feet as per His expectations.

     How a service can be done in the above four manners will be understood from the example of making chapātis in the āshram’s (hermitage) kitchen.

• Service: Making chapātis

• Complete service: Making chapātis while repeating (chanting) God’s Name by using the mind and intellect.

• Absolute service: Harbouring the spiritual emotion (bhāv) that I am not making the chapātis but God / Guru is getting it done from me, when preparing chapātis.

• Service unto the Guru: Praying unto Guru ‘You get the chapātis made through me’ at the very commencement of service. Making the chapātis in a manner expected by the Guru along with repetition (chanting) of God’s Name. Expressing gratitude on completion of service.

     For every service to be carried out with spiritual emotion, it has to be done as service unto the Guru as explained above.

B. One should not act as if one is doing some work as it does not amount to rendering service unto the Guru nor does one experience Bliss (Ānand) from it. Rather, one should harbour the spiritual emotion that one is rendering service unto the Guru, e.g. if one is allotted the service of chopping onions and potatoes then one should harbour the spiritual emotion that one is doing this in order to make the Holy sacrament for God and cook for the Guru and seekers.

C. Generally, the more the thought about God is unclear and ill-defined, the lesser is the act likely to awaken spiritual emotion. As against this, the more clear and well-defined is the thought, the act is more likely to awaken spiritual emotion, e.g. carrying out an act as service unto God. Further if one carries out an act with the spiritual emotion that the Guru is actually standing in front of oneself and observing everything, it is even more beneficial. A disciple rendering service in this fashion is called an internal disciple.

D. One should associate the act, one is performing, rendered with spiritual emotion, e.g. if one has to render service of cleaning a room then it should be carried out harbouring the spiritual emotion that it is the temple at home itself.

E. Harbour the attitude that ‘I am a servitor’ : The following examples will illustrate how H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale (compiler) served his Guru, H.H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj in various ways.

• After arriving at the āshram (hermitage), he would offer obeisance to H.H. Maharaj and then proceed to clean the āshram.

• When seated near H.H. Maharaj, Doctor would press His feet. This he would do lovingly and gently.

• Doctor would constantly pay attention to every word that H.H. Maharaj said. If H.H. Maharaj asked anyone to fetch something then Doctor would immediately get up and bring it.

• When H.H. Maharaj would go to the toilet, Doctor would open the door for Him and before He returned, he would dust His seat and rearrange the pillow. He would wait to wipe H.H. Maharaj’s feet with a napkin after He returned from the bathroom and would sit only after Maharaj had assumed His seat.

• Whenever there was power failure in the hermitage (math), Doctor would fan H.H. Maharaj with a hand fan throughout the day.

• In the evening when H.H. Maharaj would get up to leave the hermitage, Doctor would keep His slipper ready before Him.

• In the night no matter how late it was, till H.H. Maharaj gave Doctor permission to leave he would neither budge from there nor ask whether he could leave. Only after H.H. Maharaj asked him to do so, would he leave.

• Doctor would familiarise himself with every item in the hermitage, e.g. the dustbin, broom, electrical switches and other items of daily use.

• Doctor would behave as if he were a part of the hermitage.

F. Harbour the spiritual emotion that every object used in service is a means to render service, e.g. the knife used to chop vegetables is a tool to render service.

G. Make complete use of the intellect when performing an action: One should use the intellect to the fullest extend to comprehend the importance of every act from the viewpoint of service, to understand the various aspects of service unto the Absolute Truth (satsēvā) and to perform a task with minimal errors within the shortest possible time span. ‘योग: कर्मसु कौशलम्‌ ।’, meaning undertaking any task with perfection (absoluteness) is Yoga and Yoga is blending of the embodied soul (jīva) with The Supreme God (Paramātmā).

H. When rendering service, one should make efforts to imbibe Divine qualities: If one wishes to merge into God then one can do so by blending with His varied Divine qualities, that is by imbibing them. To cite an example, one quality of God is thriftiness. H.H. Dr. Jayant Balaji Athavale (one of the compilers) utilises papers used on one side and even soiled ones instead of brand new ones for writing His Holy texts and preserves the brand new ones for other important tasks such as computer printouts. Thus He also prevents wastage of soiled papers. If one uses everything obtained by God’s grace thriftily then He assists the mission even more.

I. Generally in the initial stages, one should render service which is feasible and can be done properly. Then one derives the satisfaction that one has rendered service well and gets the inspiration to do service of the next stage.

J. Often one is unaware of one’s latent potential. Hence, one should render service a little beyond one’s capacity. Only then does one experience the energy that God endows to render that service to perfection.

K. Service rendered unto the Absolute Truth should be devoid of expectations.

L. One should constantly harbour the spiritual emotion (bhāv) that ‘I am a messenger of the Guru’ while preaching Spirituality and that I am delivering the message / teaching of the Guru to the audience.

1.2 Thinking

This is the inspiration behind an act, e.g. if thoughts are sāttvik (sattva predominant) then the actions resulting from them are sāttvik too. Efforts to be made to alter one's thinking pattern so that one is able to render service with spiritual emotion are given below.

A. From the viewpoint of awakening of spiritual emotion, service unto the Absolute Truth is 10% important while service unto the Guru is 50% important. It is not possible for each one to serve the manifest form of the Guru; so if the un-manifest form of the Guru, that is His principle is served considering it to be service unto the Guru then it assists in awakening spiritual emotion (bhāv) faster. To develop this when rendering any kind of service or helping seekers, one should think that ‘one is serving the Guru’. Some spiritual experiences listed below will highlight the importance of this.

• An appropriate thought from within eliminated my doubts about service and stopped the pain in my hand: In December 2001, one morning at 11 a.m. a seeker, Miss Jayashri Londhe (now Mrs. Jayashri Salokhe) was lying down as she was feeling unwell. As I rolled out chapātis with the rolling pin in the kitchen, my left arm started aching. The thought crossed my mind then was, ‘Jaya is sleeping. Why am I making chapātis alone?’ The next moment I realised that this thought was not mine, it was inserted in my mind by distressing energies. So I told my myself, ‘O mind, no matter how hard you try to create doubts in my mind I am aware that a part of my Guru exists in every seeker, so I will serve them’ No sooner did I get this thought my arm stopped aching. - Miss Mahananda Giridhar Patil, Sion centre of the Sanstha, Mumbai

• Experiencing Bliss instead of distress when washing clothes of a seeker afflicted with distressing energy because of spiritual emotion that the Guru’s clothes were being washed: Once while washing clothes of a seeker in whom a distressing energy had manifested itself, I prayed unto the Guru, ‘Get this task done from me as if I am washing Your clothes instead of those of the troubled seeker’ Consequently, while washing those clothes I did not experience any distress. On the contrary, I experienced so much Bliss which I had not experienced even while washing my own clothes. In fact, after the task I felt fresher than before. It seemed as if I had not done anything at all. - Miss Kanchan Gavkar, Dhamse āshram, Goa

• Getting the Holy vision (darshan) of H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale, while rendering service unto non-seekers, assuming it to be service unto the Guru: Hira asked me to serve two plates of food to labourers working on our property. When preparing the plates of food, the spiritual emotion that I harboured was that I was preparing the plates for the Guru. At that time, I could actually see H.H. Doctor in the plate and tears flowed from my eyes. - Miss Kanchan Gavkar, Dhamse āshram, Goa

B. When rendering service of any kind, one should constantly remember the Guru or God. The spiritual experiences cited below will prove the strength which lies in this.

• Constantly thinking that H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale was by my side was sufficient to help me get rid of my fear.

• The simple thought that ‘the Guru will visit the āshram (hermitage) today’ is sufficient to spread Divine consciousness (Chaitanya) in the entire āshram. - Mrs. Mangala Pandurang Marathe, Subtle section, Goa

• Feeling afraid that a distressing energy is going to advance towards me and God giving me the foresight to offer obeisance to it while holding the japamālā (Hindu rosary) in my hand thus giving me courage: On the night of 18^th December 2002, before going to bed I closed my eyes to recite a prayer. At that time, I realised that there was a lady in the living room who was advancing towards me. This frightened me and I opened my eyes. The box with my japamālā was in front of me. At that moment I felt that I should offer obeisance to her along with my japamālā. As I did so, my fear vanished. It is God who inspired me to hold the mālā in the hand. Whenever I recollect this incident, it gives me courage. - Miss Mahananda Giridhar Patil, Sion centre of the Sanstha, Mumbai

     This demonstrates how remembering the Guru or God when rendering any kind of service proves beneficial. A seeker with this kind of spiritual emotion is blessed by God with a corresponding spiritual experience.

     Seekers severely afflicted with distressing energies being blessed with a vision of H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale, H.H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj and other Deities when they rendered service harbouring the spiritual emotion that H.H. Doctor was with them: several seekers in the Miraj āshram severely afflicted with distressing energies were allotted the task of cleaning the āshram. Since H.H. Doctor visits the āshram in the subtle form everyday, they harboured the feeling that H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale was with them when rendering service. This enhanced their spiritual emotion and they were able to pray time and again. Consequently everyday they began to see H.H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj, H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale and all the seven Deities in their subtle form bestowing blessings on them. Thus the belief that they would triumph over the distressing energies developed in them and they began repeating (chanting) God’s Name with perseverance and within two days the distressing energies in them left. - Dr. (Miss) Maya Patil, Subtle section, Miraj, Sangli district

     When rendering any form of service specially when propagating Spirituality, often merely thinking of the Guru eliminates the distress caused by distressing energies. This is precisely why before performing any task, one should contemplate on a Deity or Guru and then proceed.

C. When rendering service if one harbours the spiritual emotion that one is serving the manifest form of the Guru or God, God rewards one with a corresponding spiritual experience.

     Seekers severely afflicted with distressing energies getting varied spiritual experiences upon harbouring the spiritual emotion that the pictures of Deities were actually their Holy feet: Once in the Miraj āshram (hermitage) we were supposed to shift the meditation room. When shifting the pictures of Deities, the seekers severely afflicted with distressing energies were told to imagine that they were carrying the Holy feet of the Deities instead of their pictures and on complying they had spiritual experiences accordingly. Some experienced subtle fragrance, some felt the presence of H.H. Doctor with them while others felt the presence of deities in the meditation room. - Dr. (Miss) Maya Patil, Subtle section, Miraj, Sangli district

D. When rendering service one should not think that ‘I am rendering service’ but should constantly harbour the spiritual emotion that the Guru / God is getting service done from oneself.

E. Constant introspection on whether one has served so as to appease the Guru improves the quality of service.

F. If one contemplates on the Guru’s mission continuously then one’s actions occur as per His expectations.

G. The more sāttvik (Sattva predominant) one’s thoughts are, more is the divine consciousness (Chaitanya) in oneself and more sāttvik are the actions resulting from them. That is why one should constantly make efforts to harbour thoughts about the Absolute Truth (Sat). One also gets the benefit of internal satsang (Holy company) if one recollects the spiritual concepts taught by the Guru / other spiritual guides.

H. When rendering service, one should not allow wrong reactions or doubts about others to enter one’s mind because if one’s reactions hurt other seekers then the grace of the Guru is not bestowed upon oneself. That is why it is always advisable to practise devotion as a servitor (dāsyabhakti).

1.3 Attitude

Trying constantly through action and thinking to render service with spiritual emotion (bhāv) gradually makes service possible with spiritual emotion and it gets incorporated into one’s attitude. To inculcate this attitude in the self as soon as possible besides service unto the Guru and His mission, one should view everything that one does in day-to-day life as service and make an attempt to do it with spiritual emotion.

[The Holy text ‘Biography (Charitra) of Saint Bhaktaraj’ in Marathi published by Sanatan Sanstha gives examples of how H.H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj served His Guru with motivation and spiritual emotion. Details on service unto the Guru are given in ‘Science of Spirituality : Vol. 3 - The Disciple’.]

2. Holy company (satsang)

Satsang means ‘company of the Truth’. ‘Sat’ refers to Sattva predominance. Awakening of spiritual emotion occurs rapidly in a sāttvik environment. It is faster in the company of Saints than in that of seekers.

3. Sacrifice

Offering something to God or the Guru is sacrifice. A true disciple is one who sacrifices his body, mind, wealth and even his life for the sake of the Guru. Awakening of spiritual emotion occurs faster in such a seeker.

4. Spiritual love (love without expectation)

Love being an emotion, is not a part of spiritual emotion. Spiritual love, love without expectation (prīti) however is a component of spiritual emotion. The basic difference between love and spiritual love is the presence and absence of expectation. Generally in worldly life, one expects something or the other from the person one loves. Spiritual love on the other hand is loving each creation of God, without any expectation. Spiritual practice helps in the generation of spiritual love. To augment spiritual love one should practise the following.

A. Constant concern for others: The more one thinks about others, the less is the attachment for the self and more expansive the mind becomes. Expansiveness of the mind is feeling spiritual love for others. Some examples in this context are given below.

• Mrs. Mangala Marathe (compiler) had to constantly give spiritual treatment to seekers afflicted with distressing energies. She would contemplate on how to devote twenty-four hours of the day to this service and in this process could not even sleep.

• I was smearing the courtyard with cow dung. When Krushnadada saw me doing this, though he too was working in the hot sun he gave his cap to me. - Mr. Vadangekar, Satara

• Every morning in the āshram (hermitage) I pray thus, ‘May all of us seekers working in the kitchen progress spiritually. Since I constantly feel for others, even if the Holy sacrament (Prasād or food) gets over before I eat, I do not get upset; on the contrary, I feel happy seeing other seekers enjoy it. If at times it does not suffice for the seekers then I feel that I lack in rendering service unto the Guru appropriately and that I am not worthy of rendering service and I surrender unto the Guru. In my prayer I say, ‘I have made a major mistake. Please forgive me. Please prevent me from making this mistake again’ - Miss Kanchan Gavkar, Dhamse āshram, Goa

B. Sacrificing oneself for others: One should perpetually try to find an opportunity to serve the seekers with whom one lives.

C. Preventing generation of reactions about other seekers in the mind: Maximum obstacles in spiritual practice arise from generation of reactions about others. At times, expression hurts the sentiments of other seekers. Reactions are bound to occur in the human mind but with spiritual progress, the number of reactions generated in the mind decreases. Even if they do arise, instead of falling prey to them one can control them. If anything is occurring against one’s wish, to reduce the intensity of the reaction, one should analyse the event or action as given below. If a reaction is not allowed to generate at all then love for seekers develops faster.

Suitation: Task of setting up a bookstall of the publications of Sanatan Sanstha
Incident: A chief seeker feeling that seeker ‘A’ did not come to render this service despite being called.
Reaction in the mind of the chief seeker: Seeker ‘A’ is irresponsible, is not motivated to render service, etc.
Actual situation: When scheduled to leave to set up the bookstall, seeker ‘A’ had unexpected guests from another town. His relatives (who usually are co-operative and allow him to render service) on that day forced him to remain with the guests saying that otherwise henceforth they would stop him from rendering service. Since the telephones in his area were out of order he could not communicate this to the other seekers.
Frame of mind of seeker ‘A’: A feeling of guilt in the seeker’s mind as he lost the opportunity to serve the Guru’s mission.
Effects of expressing the reaction: Later when the chief seeker met seeker ‘A’ and expressed his reaction, the latter was even more discouraged and due to the depression many days of spiritual practice were wasted.
Introspection required when a reaction arises: The chief seeker should have thought thus - Is this seeker always irresponsible ? Is he really lacking in the service attitude ? Does he pose as an obstacle in the propagation of the Guru’s mission ? Does he have any worldly problem which prevents him from rendering service ?, etc. These thoughts help in controlling reactions.

D. Since the Guru / God exists in each one of us, if we hurt someone we are actually hurting the Guru / God, is the awareness we should harbour.

E. If a seeker commits a mistake, he should be made aware of it and at the same time he should be loved as much as the other seekers.

F. Often one tends to pay attention to the defects and not the virtues of a seeker. Ignoring the defects, one should appreciate the good qualities of a seeker and should make an attempt to inculcate them in oneself.

G. Seeing the presence of a Guru in others, we should love them just as we love the Guru.

H. Just as Saint Eknath quenched the thirst of a donkey by offering the Holy water of the Ganges which He had fetched from Kashi, so also one should learn to love animals, plants and non-living creation.

5. Learning

H.H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj has said, “Only the curious one is deserving of knowledge”. One should constantly learn to generate spiritual emotion in oneself. One can learn to enhance spiritual emotion through study, spiritual experiences obtained by oneself and others, from other seekers having spiritual emotion and Saints. It is more beneficial to learn it from seekers having spiritual emotion and Saints. Since it is not possible for everyone to learn this from Saints, it is more feasible to learn it from seekers having spiritual emotion. If one is motivated to learn then God too teaches through different media. This Holy text gives examples at various junctures about how one can learn from seekers and spiritual experiences.

Commencement of awakening of spiritual emotion from the grief of being unable to attend a workshop on awakening spiritual emotion: After hearing about the spiritual experiences of seekers with respect to awakening of spiritual emotion, I too intensely felt that such spiritual emotion should develop within me. On 14^th October 2002, I asked Mrs. Mangala Marathe for an appointment in Dhamse āshram (hermitage) so that I could discuss this with her. She said I could visit her between 17^th and 20^th October. On 17^th October when I asked her again as to whom I should meet there, she said that since H.H. Raghuvir Maharaj was at the āshram for the next two days and she would be leaving for Karnataka thereafter, I could talk to her only later. I felt very upset because I could not go to Dhamse to develop my spiritual emotion. Later Mrs. Marathe told me that she had spoken to H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale about what I felt and He had said, “Good, spiritual emotion within him has been awakened !” She also added that this would last for 9 to 10 days. Ever since, my spiritual practice with respect to spiritual emotion acquired a different perspective. - Mr. Manoj Gavkar, Dhamse, Goa

6. Attempts to awaken spiritual emotion when performing worldly tasks besides spiritual practice

Worldly actions, the attitude towards the results obtained from them and the experiences obtained when performing these actions prove useful from the viewpoint of awakening spiritual emotion. In the beginning, there is a qualitative difference between actions done as spiritual practice and those done in worldly life. So at first it is easier to awaken spiritual emotion through actions done with respect to spiritual practice like ritualistic worship (pūjā), singing hymns (Āratī), repetition (chanting) of God’s Name, rendering service unto the Absolute Truth (satsēvā), etc. Will even a seeker who is indulging in full time spiritual practice be able to do these tasks continuously throughout the day ? Certainly not, because in day-to-day life he has to do personal tasks such as bathing, taking treatment for an illness, doing household chores, caring for ill family members, etc. These restrict his actions pertaining to spiritual practice, and so if attempts to awaken spiritual emotion only during actions related to spiritual practice are made then it poses a restriction to awakening of spiritual emotion. Hence one should perform every task as spiritual practice or with the spiritual emotion that ‘I am the servitor of the Guru’, then the entire process of awakening spiritual emotion is enhanced. Some examples cited below will show how a seeker staying at home can make efforts from this viewpoint.

• Instead of sticking to the concept of ‘me and my family’ one should become expansive and harbour the spiritual emotion that one’s home is the Guru’s āshram. If one behaves as if the Guru is living in the home (āshram), one can actually feel His presence there. Besides, more thoughts about the Absolute Truth (Sat) are generated. This helps in creation of sāttvik (Sattva predominant) frequencies in the house.

  Feeling enthusiastic upon tidying the home with the spiritual emotion (bhāv) that it is the Guru’s āshram and absence of exhaustion after doing it: When I had gone home for Gaṇēsh Chaturthī celebrations I decided to clean my house. Before beginning, I recited a prayer unto the Guru thus, ‘Let me clean my house harbouring the spiritual emotion that this is Your āshram (hermitage). Please get this service done from me’ That day despite cleaning up the entire house I did not feel tired. On the contrary, I felt happy doing the service and fresh as ever thereafter. - Miss Kanchan Gavkar, Dhamse āshram, Goa

• One should mentally offer one’s home to the Guru and then look after it with the spiritual emotion (bhāv) that one is its trustee.

• One should perform all household tasks as service unto the Guru, e.g. cooking, washing clothes, tidying rooms, etc.

• If one uses every object in the house as a belonging of the Guru, then one handles it with care, besides because of this, the presence of the Guru is felt.

• One should remember the Guru while eating and harbour the spiritual emotion that the meal is the Holy sacrament (prasād) of the Guru and water is the holy water (Tirtha) from His feet.

7. Comparative importance of actions

(Divine Knowledge received in the meditative state by H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale)

Reference:

‘Spiritual Practice For Awakening Spiritual Emotion’, published by Sanatan Sanstha.

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