Mother Antonio, The Prison Angel
Two years ago, I consciously began walking the path of sacred service. I was a nun in a contemplative spiritual order for about 4 years when I had the opportunity to serve in a deeper way. Soon after I took my ordination vows and ‘took the veil’, I started working as a shelter administrator for an interfaith homeless shelter that served about 75 people a night during the first year and 85-100 per night in the second year. The shelter is the only one in the city that accepts people who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol as long as they can meet the minimal behavior standards. One night during the first week I was there, I was walking up and down the aisles of beds while people were sleeping. I stopped in the middle of the room and vowed to myself, my soul and the Divine that I would keep my heart open no matter what; that I wouldn’t shield or protect myself from the pain and suffering and that I wouldn’t run. I knew that in order to be a true channel for divine love within the world that my heart had to remain open. You can’t both protect your heart from pain and suffering while at the same time keeping it open to the source of love. It’s all or nothing. Although I had been involved in service as a volunteer for most of my life, this was the beginning of consciously walking the path of sacred service.
What I learned nearly immediately is that you can think all sorts of things about where you are at spiritually, but until you are tested in real life, it’s in your head. Sacred Service provides you with the best way to honestly evaluate where you’re at. Can you stay centered in love, in joy, in peace with your heart wide open while standing in the middle of pain and suffering? When do you shut down? How can you remain deeply connected to the Divine Source on a daily, even minute by minute basis? Walking this path of sacred service moved me from my head into my heart.
The first year at the shelter, I worked 7 nights a week – 80 hours a week. Every night I would return to the Monastery and review my experiences. How was I able to keep my heart open? When did I want to protect or shield myself? Was I able to stay centered? How was I successful? Where did I need work? Last November, I left the path of nun (e.g., of renunciation) to live in the world, with the world and for the world and continue my work of service with individuals who are homeless.
“A true Karma yogin is he whose heart has implicit faith in God, whose mind has a constant awareness of God and whose body has a genuine love for God in humanity. It is easy for a Bhakta to forget the world, and for a Jnani to ignore the world. But a Karma yogin’s destiny is otherwise. God wants him to live in the world, live with the world and live for the world.”- Sri Chinmoy
What is Sacred Service?
Sacred Service is about service as a spiritual practice. Interchangeable terms for this are ’seva’ or ‘karma yoga’.
Seva (say-va) is a spiritual practice of selfless service, springing from two forms of yoga, Karma Yoga which is the yoga of action, and Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of worship inspired by divine love. Seva should be done with no expectation of reward or even acknowledgment of the work that is done. We serve not to convert or save a soul, but simply to serve and for no other reason. No strings attached. No carrots. Make yourself invisible and do acts of kindness without expectation of return, coming from a place of love.
- Selfless Service – Siddha Yoga Path
- Siva – from Sikhi Wiki, an encyclopedia of the Sikhs
- Cultivating Seva: Selfless Service as Devotion – on Yoga.com
- What is Seva? – from Sevanti Ayurveda and Acupuncture
Karma Yoga is the path of selfless action. It is to renounce the fruits of one’s action and perform actions with pure intention, devoid of selfish motive.
- Karma Yoga – The Yoga of Awareness in Action
- Karma Yoga by Meher Baba
- Karma Yoga by Sri Chinmoy
- Karma Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda
5 Types of Service
Andrew Harvey, author and mystic, talks about 5 types of service:
- Service to the Divine through daily prayer. Get up early and spend an hour in a sacred practice. You must be fed by divine inspiration.
- Service to oneself, as a living instrument of the Divine in action, through the fostering of emotional, physical, and spiritual health.
- Service to all beings, including animals. Bring a consciousness of divine compassion to your daily encounters. Spread joy, honoring and cherishing everyone.
- Service to your local community. Identify the two or three worldwide concerns that most break your heart. Work on these issues in your local community; even a couple hours a week will add meaning to your life.
- Service to your global community. Americans, in particular, must accept the responsibility of being a global citizen, especially when it comes to choices with money and the resulting runaway consumption.
I would encourage you to take 10 minutes to watch this video by Andrew Harvey that goes into more depth on the first two types of service – it’s inspiring!
