What is a ‘seva’?
Seva is a Sanskrit word that means selfless service, giving without thinking of results. I’ve been doing seva for the last three years for the members of Carewell Foundation, who are cancer survivors or undergoing treatment or in remission.
I feel that I am drawn to help cancer survivors in particular because I have family members and very close friends who have been diagnosed with cancer. Some have already gone and others are in remission including my older sister (lung) in 2013 and two years ago, my 89-year old mom.
With Martha Collard, January 2016 (Hong Kong)
I started my seva with Carewell after I learned how to play the gong in January 2016 with Martha Collard of Red Doors in Aberdeen, Hong Kong. I had met a lady there who was undergoing lupus treatment, and she was always late for class because she lived in the New Territories, which was far from where the gong center is located. She told me that she never fails to attend the teacher’s gong class and the culminating all night gong puja. The all-night gong puja is especially helpful for her since she doesn’t have to do dialysis treatment for at least two weeks. That’s how powerful the gong is.
When I got back to Manila, the first thing I did was to contact Carewell and offer my services every other Wednesday. Since then, the members have been attending regularly. They have shared that the fortnight gong sessions relax them, and they look forward to it.
You don’t have to be a Mother Teresa to do seva.
It can be as simple as helping someone cross the street or carry heavy stuff. I’ve met really nice people who have helped me carry my gong. Simple random acts of kindness like picking up trash on the street, adopting a pet or maybe as extensive as volunteering for disaster relief or help in a soup kitchen.
As you become comfortable with giving openly with no expectation of reward, Yogi Bhajan has said, “It makes you a leader whether you think you are one or not, whether you deserve to be one or not. It brings you opportunities, prosperity, and all the good things of the universe.”
My sister comes to mind as a perfect example of living the life of service. She’s a born-again Christian who tithes most of her salary and is still able to travel. She turned a family-owned vocational school outside Manila into a College and regularly shares her devotion to the students, teachers, staff and even to the most cynical school officials in the area. I can learn a lot from her charisma and full trust that God will provide no matter what.
I was asked what my seva is. What and where will your seva be? Would it be wonderful if we all worked together to do our part to heal and serve others?
In loving service,
Rosan
