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Jai Maa Vedika Mitras,
I was inspired by Swami Bodhananda’s talks the past few weeks, our wonderful Mitra meeting last Saturday, and 11-11-11, which also happened to be Veteran’s Day. All of this coalesced together in a way that beckoned me to contemplate the theme of “service,” particularly in lieu of Swami Bodhananda’s recent talks and the Mitra Committee.
In reflecting upon what makes Veteran’s Day special, it is the value of service (although usually here in the US that is thought of solely in terms of service to one’s country via the military). As I was contemplating service, I delved into one of my favorite book of quotations and compiled a list of inspirational quotes on service (attached -- for your reading pleasure, and contemplation).
Vedika is in a unique position to offer service not just to the USA or India, but to the entire world in the form of the authentic teachings of ayurveda. We are at the forefront of a movement which was described recently by Shunyaji as “creating an army of ayurvedic practitioners.” If we are to transform ourselves and the world though ayurveda, we must learn how to perform seva (selfless service).
In his “Gita and Management” presentation on Sunday 11/6 in Fremont, Swamiji Bodhananda spoke eloquently about several shlokas from the Bhagavad Gita, which he said are related to spiritual intelligence. Two of them in particular caught my attention:
Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam (2.50): I had always seen this transliterated as “Yoga is skill in action,” and interestingly enough, Swamiji transliterated it as “yoga is dexterity / efficiency in action.” The way I interpret that is doing our absolute best, but doing it in such a way that does not further bind us to this world.
Samatyam Yoga Uchyate (2.48). I had seen this before as “evenness of mind is yoga,” and Swamji brought out the quality of “effectiveness in action is yoga.” I understand that to mean that we release the result or fruit of the action to God(dess), as opposed to performing the action with a particular outcome (and the desire for that outcome) in mind. By giving the fruits of the action to God(dess) and releasing our desires for a particular outcome, we are not crestfallen and our minds are not disturbed if it does not turn out as we hope or expect.
How interesting to think about our actions in terms of using our "spiritual IQs" to create efficiency and effectiveness in action though the lens of the Gita! (Along these lines, I can’t resist sharing a few phrases which Swamiji uttered -- what I would call “Swami one-liners” or “Swami Sutras” which are fit for additional contemplation: “Do for nothing, or do nothing.” “Not ‘not doing,’ but doing for nothing.”)
How can we, as the Mitra Committee, follow the wisdom of these teachings as we perform our seva, or selfless service?
When we serve each other, we serve the Highest in us, as us and through us. When we serve others without expectations of a reward of any type, this is seva, and in these actions, we are transformed.
Seva is a training ground for learning to act without desire for a particular result, which will keep us in a state of equanimity inside, no matter what is happening around us. The more seva we practice, the better we get at performing our routine daily actions without getting attached to what we create with those actions - it is truly giving with "no strings attached," which is something Nipun Mehta of Service Space modeled so beautifully for us in his talk at Vedika earlier this Autumn.
There are several other related shlokas from the Gita which I think are also worth contemplating as we reflect upon selfless service:
· Yam samnyaasam iti prahur, yogam tam viddha (6.2): “Yoga is renunciation (letting go while in the midst of activity)”
· Tyagac chantir anantaram, Krishna uvacha (12.12): “Peace immediately follows renunciation (letting go of the results of the action), Krishna said”
How do we perform our seva optimally? We practice acting efficiently, effectively and in alignment with our soul, but most importantly, releasing our desire for any fruits of those actions or particular outcomes. It goes against our how society tells us /conditions us to act (for self-interest), but is quietly intuitive.
In addition to performing actions in the service of getting the word out about Vedika, we must continually engage in svadhyaya, self-study, to look closely at the motives of our actions, the “why” we engage in a particular action. We also want to look at the “how” -- how we are performing the actions? The 4 W’s: who, what, when, and where, will change depending on the circumstances of our life, but in learning to cultivate a new “why” and a new “how,” all our actions (regardless of who, what, when and where) have the potential to be transformed into sacred offerings to God(dess).
The blessing is that many of our ayurveda practices we have been doing daily are already helping us to get this on an experiential level. For example, we receive guidance on how to perform action from the morning shlokas given to us from Shunyaji: “Karagre Vasate Lakshmi, Kara Madhye Saraswathihi, Kara MuleTu Govindah, Prabate Kar Darshanam - Kara means the palm of the hand and it stands for the five karmendriyas, or the organs of action. While looking at the palm, one invokes the Lord in the form of various deities, thus sanctifying all the actions that will be done during the day. By acknowledging the Lord as the giver of the capacity to perform actions, one sanctifies the actions. Thus, one prays in the morning to
reinforce the attitude that all actions are performed as a service to the Lord.”
So, in addition to a wonderful incubator of creative ideas on the “who, what, when & where,” if we look a little deeper and (“linger a little longer”) the Mitra Committee (and all our seva with Vedika) is an exceptionally experiential (or experientially exceptional!) training ground for “on the job training” in how and why to perform our actions. Our actions support Vedika’s mission, but we are also experientially learning to act in such a way that will not take us on detours (in the form of creating more karma) while travelling on the spiritual journey.
All of this can be eloquently summed up by what I would call a “Shunyaji Sutra,” which she actually wrote to the Mitra Committee some time ago, “Gayatri Blessings of Selfless Service and Excellence in Action to all of us.” | 
