Sewa... an amazing concept....

Mankind throughout the ages has helped one another to go through problems and difficulties without accepting anything in return. It is one of the reasons we are here today.

What is sewa? It is the selfless service of others without expecting anything in return and to put the needs of others before yourself. Our Guru’s have made it one of the fundamental basis of Sikhi.

Three quotes from Guru Granth Sahibji Maharaj signifying the importance of sewa:

Do seva, selfless service, for the Holy Saints, and the noose of Death shall be cut away. 1
SGGSji pg 24 line 7

Whoever has good destiny inscribed on his forehead, applies himself to seva - selfless service.
SGGSji pg 1142 line 4

you shall find peace, doing seva (selfless service).
SGGSji pg 25 line 19


We have a great opportunity to do sewa, we can do it at home for or family, our parents, this often gets overlooked and confused with work, so we tend to avoid sewa in the home as its far easier and more fun to watch Prison Break on TV then it is to throw out the rubbish. We can do sewa for or community in the Gurdwara, we can do other types of sewa too for example helping old people cross the road or volunteering for charity work which benefits others.

Although we have the opportunity to do sewa everyday why don’t we do it? Is it because we don’t have the time, and sewa can be like doing work, for doing work we expect money which is a tangible reward so we would rather do work for money then sewa for seemingly no money.

The mindset one should have when doing sewa is the want for nothing, absolutely nothing in return, that includes going to wash dishes at the Gurdwara with the mindset that you want to win the lottery… ‘God, I will wash 6 dishes today if you give me the 6 numbers, wink wink’!

Bhai Khanaya Singh giving water to a moghul soldier, an example of selfless service.

If you do sewa and want nothing then your guru will have to give you something, what guru will give you is something far more valuable then the material things we ask for, guru will give you what you need the most but you may not even realise it because you are too busy wanting the winning lottery ticket.

We all need to be better Sikhs and unconditionally help our fellow man in whatever way we can.


Some further reading:
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Sewa