The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
Mahatma Gandhi
Seva is a Sanskrit word meaning selfless service and is considered the most important part of any spiritual practice. It lies at the heart of the path of karma yoga—selfless action—and asks us to serve others with no expectation of outcome.
Selflessness, I’ve heard this word used often recently in stories I’m reading and its mentioned a lot on social media. It means a giving of yourself with out wanting recognition. Not sure if the use of the word in the stories is appropriate to create a likeable hero/heroine, but I understand why. Someone who cares for their friends, family and colleagues. Someone who is always available as a shoulder to cry on and gives back to the community. That image of selflessness
We all know of someone like that who has been of help to us and the death of Prince Phillip saw the outpouring of grief by a nation in every form of media. Many complained that the news channels were devoting too much time to the death of Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh. However, I want to point out that most people who lived in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries have known of him all of their lives. He lived to an incredible age, almost a century and I suspect it was the same illness that sent him into hospital that took him.
Prince Phillip supported over 900 charities throughout his lifetime. He was the first president of the World Wildlife Fund, WWF, its ethos conservation and reducing human impact. He started the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme for young people to get essential skills, experience, confidence and resilience no matter what their background. A true sevak who gave himself to the service of others. No matter what you think of the British royal family and the privilege that comes from their birthright. We have to admire the senior members of the family for the work they do in supporting worthy causes. I hope the tributes from ordinary people who met him, who gave anecdotal evidence of his sense of humour and his ability to listen, lessen the loss for the Queen.
According to Hinduism, seva can be given in three ways Tan, Mann and Dhan. Tan is physical service through work and strength. Mann through mind, counselling and listening. Dhan through sharing money, resources and material. Prince Phillip covered it all in his lifetime. You and I may not do all three. But a few changes would make a great deal of difference to others. Although what I write is coming from a Hindu perspective, we know all religions and none emphasize the giving up of your time and money for less fortunate than yourself. I mentioned seva - selflessness for all humankind and the resources we use. So it is fitting that his death was in the same month as Earth Day.
I watched BBC’s Ade on the Frontline slack jawed, a documentary about Bangladesh and Bhutan, how the water levels have risen beyond prediction. How the cyclones are more frequent and stronger. How land that was used by small farmers to sustain themselves and provide a living are now brackish. This land will never grow crops again. We need to listen to environmentalists and understand the reports, did you know that two-thirds of Bangladesh is less than five metres above sea level and according to the Environmental Justice Foundation, eleven percent of the countries people will be displaced because of rising water by 2050. Watch the documentary, go to the Earth Day website, even small change will make a difference
This week I visited a community centre run by London’s Community Kitchen, and met with a friend who is an associate at One Kind Act. The LCK are running food markets and distributing food parcels in London boroughs of Barnet, Harrow, Newham, Ealing & Brent. You probably saw the viral Facebook Live of people queuing on Ealing Road, Alperton. The team at LCK and OKA are true sevaks, not only do they provide food parcels, they run distribution hubs for the homeless, a programme of supplying food, clothing and essentials, but they also collect food that would have ended up in landfill sites from supermarkets. Support them by donating much needed funds at LCK Go Fund page or support OKA.
I was told when our son passed away that I was collecting punya for my soul. Punya in Hinduism means virtuous act, good deeds to help ease the pain of this life and take to my next. I was told that I was a good sevak to our son. I gave my physical strength to him as he grew inside me. I listened and looked for his every need, and used every resource at my disposal to keep him comfortable and safe. Those kind words made my loss bearable and I still remember them when I’m feeling down, that as a mother I was giving seva.
Image from Unsplash
Writing Life
I pitched my stand alone book to agents who might be interested in representing me. Little OLD me. And the time allocated for queries came and went. Some agents were great, a reply straight away, not the right fit, good luck in your endeavours, some completely ignored me. I understand they are busy people with tons and tons of queries landing in their inbox. I sigh. Is it from relief or is it a sigh of disappointment? I think I’m too impatient to ride it out and wait for the publishing industry to get back to me. I follow many author groups and hear of books and authors being rejected repeatedly by traditional publishing houses. But… there’s that word again, too niche which keeps buzzing like a mosquito in my ear. No one wants to read stories about people like me. So I’m going to embrace my self-publishing journey, no more submissions until I get a body of work finished. I’m done for now.
Self-publishing Life
There’s a process you need to follow to self-publish; it's often tedious, time-consuming and disheartening. The writing I’m okay with, the self editing can take a while and then there’s the formatting and marketing! I have a group of amazing friends who read my polished draft. I've found editors who hone my manuscript. I’m currently writing the second duet of my university series, featuring a British Asian like me in the 80s, finding love, identity and friendships. I’d set myself a target to finish my 4th draft of my first book in the series by now, but that hasn’t happened. It’s taken longer to read through the first draft, listen to it as my computer reads it out loud, finding all the mistakes in the writing, repeated words, long sentences that don’t make sense, descriptions that are too short or long, hearing the dialogue. So many things, and I’m still muddled about the middle. It will happen, but not as soon as I planned. Heh ho, writing life, I’m not going to stress the small stuff anymore.