Seva the platform for self-dissolution

One of the first commands I obeyed was to take responsibility for the water in a jungle base camp’s kitchen. To make sure all the people at the dwelling had water 24 hours a day. This may sound like a simple thing to do. However, when water is running free in the river and it needs to be boiled for human consumption, then the task was not only physically demanding, but required stamina and dedication. My only consolation for the work was in satisfying the thirst of the people that were staying in the hut for healing, to see them feeling better, and to go to my hammock in the evening. I did not foresee that in three months of that activity I was building my spine, my neck, and internal position of standing erect and tall.

The sevas changed over time, especially in territories that I had no experience at all. It expanded my comfort zones over and over.

The real depths of the sevas came into fruition a year later. I was passing through the dissolution of my identity. It was at the level of the consecration body, where all my activities and sense of self lost it importance; where certain confusion, depression, and fears were at play. It was in the moment of dissolution, in the moment of crossing the consecration body, where everything started dissolving and I had nothing to grasp onto. Whatever importance I gave to my process was pointless because it wasn’t anymore about me, and the me had disappeared. Seva, however, became my comfort zone, my refuge. It was the only thing I could hold into, because it was not about my personal identity or me. Seva was a platform to jump from for the final crossing to enlightenment.

I felt at that moment, an immense gratitude for the ones that had a partnership with me in the process of serving. I acknowledged that I had always had something to serve directly or indirectly– that unshakable commitment had given me bravery, fearlessness, patience, and a quiet magnetic vibration in my energy field.

It is quiet because I did not need to make big announcements that I am serving. It was more about the direction of my mental thoughts. I was putting the need and pain of others before my personal interest and gains. I had at that time no more pains; my life was fulfilled and complete. I was not making laboratory experiments with my mind or my emotions. I abandoned that dance, and was more interested in transmitting support and light to the process of others. I chose to think, “what can I do to facilitate sharing sacred knowledge to others?”

Seva was not only serving me as a platform to my own enlightenment but became the celebration of my heart. I was already surrendered by practicing seva, so when the big test of non-self came into play, it was otherwise easier. The shift was not a problem. The compassion, the patience, the curiosity and the creativity where all allies in the process of non-identification. I felt protected from my own ego. I felt that my muscles where already stretched by the celebration of giving and by the qualities of seva. The unknown territory, the void, and the realization that I was the celebrated, the celebration, and the giver of celebration was easy to understand and realize.

I must say that seva had destroyed me, in the sense of taking away from me my comfort zones, and my narrow mind, my sense of self, and, on the other hand, had given me Life itself. I celebrate seva, and seva celebrates me.

So, please understand: I will never put you in sevas where you already know the skills. When you practice something you don’t know, it is in that stretch that you find you are fearless. You find your capacity to say “yes I can do it, yes I can go”. You become fearless, you become assertive, and you confront what sabotages your inner destruction.

At this point I want to clarify that seva is not necessarily about serving others in a context that agrees with people’s own ego, or making things personal. Seva is really an attitude that makes you think in terms of solutions for the betterment of others. You don’t need even to know them.

Seva, is an innate frequency within you. It is an inevitable partnership. A child, early in life, feels very proud when able to help. Unfortunately, excess demands from parents and teachers spoil the frequency of seva. I often find students being resentful when I put sevas. This is a normal process as you adjust your ego and prioritize what is important for your development.

3 minute meditation to enhance seva.

1.     Make your inhalation completely charged with celebration, and make your out-breath charged with surrendering.

2.     Acknowledge in each in-breath Life celebrating you.

3.     In each out-breath celebrate surrendering towards life. You serve Life.

4.     Make your out-breath and your in-breath an intimate love affair with Life.

5.     Relax your face and smile.

6.     Relax more and do nothing.

7.     Relax more.

8.     Relax more into the breath, acknowledging life celebrating you, and in the out-breath relax to Life.

9.     Recognize you are the celebration of Life, the pure flower expression of your  humanness. The ultimate expression of Life is this present moment. Charge it with your presence. It is through the in-breath and out-breath that you have the willingness to serve.

10.  Take a deep breath in, exhale, and slowly gradually open your eyes.