Selfless Service: Encyclopedia - Selfless Service

Selfless Service

Selfless Service is a commonly used term in Sant Mat and Surat Shabd Yoga as well as other spiritual disciplines and in world religions such as Sikhism. The concept is similar to the Christian ideal of Charity as a form of love or devotion for one's fellow man. Because God is perceived as residing in the heart of others, serving other people (and in particular helping them to find God by way of a spiritual teacher) is considered an essential devotional practice. "Service before Self" was a motto by Sant Kirpal Singh which described this practice. Another name for a selfless service worker is a sevadar.

Selfless service is also similar conceptually to Karma Yoga. However, Karma Yoga applies to work in general, while selfless service relates specifically to serving the Guru's spiritual mission. Service has three forms, as in the Punjabi "Tan, Man, and Dhan" i.e., physical, mental, and financial forms of service. ^[1]

See also

• Seva

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Selfless Service", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki