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What is Seva?
Seva, or selfless service, is a sacred practice in Kundalini Yoga. It goes beyond volunteering—it’s an act of humility, compassion, and spiritual alignment. Through Seva, we transcend ego, uplift others, and honor the Divine within ourselves and those we serve. True Seva is giving with no agenda, only love.
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Seva
Seva, or selfless service, is a foundational principle in the teachings of Yogi Bhajan. As a master of Kundalini Yoga and a spiritual teacher, he emphasized that true spiritual growth begins not with isolation, but with active participation in the upliftment of others. Seva is not merely volunteer work—it is a sacred act of ego transcendence, a way to connect with the Infinite through humility, compassion, and action. He often said, “Seva is when your inside is aligned with your outside and you serve with no agenda but to uplift.” Through seva, the practitioner not only supports the community but purifies the self, aligning with the path of the saint-soldier and fulfilling their higher destiny.
The practice of Kundalini Yoga unlocks our inner power, vitality, and endurance, enabling us to share our strength, energy, time, love, and light with others. Through seva, we bow to the Divine in each heart, embracing a consciousness of humility.
Seva is infinite giving. Seva is not finite giving. If you do some service and say, ‘I served,’ then you have totally missed the point. Service is when you feel honored by doing something. You don’t feel honor in the company of many. You feel it within your own self. That is service – seva. Seva is when your inside is honored, when you honor yourself. When I am honored in my consciousness for doing something, it is seva. When I stand before my consciousness and feel good and say, ‘I am so blessed that I could do it.’ That’s seva.
~Yogi Bhajan, July 22, 1978
Yogi Bhajan Lectures about Seva, Serving, and Giving
Become a Giver
In this excerpt from a lecture given on September 4, 2001, in Espanola, New Mexico, by Yogi Bhajan, he talks about how to become a giver by letting go of our ‘couldn’t’.
You will never find a community leader who doesn’t know how to give, seva. Giving is the only way. Don’t only give to those who ask, give to those who don’t ask. Keep on giving, become a giver. Your faculty and God’s faculty will become the same. That’s divinity. That’s absolute divinity.
Dayndaa day lainday t’hak paa-eh. “You, Great Giver, keep giving to us and we grow tired of taking” (Japji Sahib by Guru Nanak, Third Pauree). You should be so conscious and so giving that people get tired of your hospitality. Giving is habit, character, consciousness, and self-projection.
How many people have you broken bread with out of joy? How many times have you had the guts to sit down with someone and share from one plate? We talk about God, divinity, yoga and all the yak, yak, yak… What have you learned? How many people have you hugged? How many children have you played with? You are looking for a romance, but you need romance with nature, the prakirti.[1]
In this life there are challenges. How much sweetness is in you and how much of that sweetness are you willing to share? How much? How many times have you become one with each other [in consciousness] in the name of God? How much closeness have you produced? How relaxed are you when somebody makes a mistake? Where is your kindness and compassion?
Creative supplement is required for life to grow in peace and tranquility. Consistent sense of radiance of the tenth body[2] is required to protect us. The subtle body must give us intuitive self so that we can understand what is coming on us. Every day we should socialize and be kind to each other to grow our ultimate aura. If somebody has fallen, we should raise them. If somebody is going down, we should lift them. If somebody is hungry, we should feed them. If somebody is unhappy, we should dance with them. There are things to do, and those things are part of us.
Life is like a beautiful, beautiful, marvelous horse and we get crippled riding it through unnecessary problems, unnecessary attachments, unnecessary things, but we believe God does everything. If God does everything, what is it that you are bothered about?
What we get out of our holiness is intuition. We can see in time what it shall be; the sequence has started, what shall be the consequence. But when we are not with the flow, we do not know.
Do you remember a day when you wanted to come into class and you couldn’t? It happens. It happens many times. It happens. When you want to get up in the morning and be with your God and Lord, you couldn’t. It happens. When you wanted to love somebody and serve somebody, you really wanted it, but you couldn’t. We want to get rid of this ‘couldn’t.’ We want to make our will so clean, so clear, so positive, that the ‘couldn’t’ doesn’t touch our shores. We have a very strong disease: ‘couldn’t.’ And ultimately this ‘couldn’t’ is like a cancer and eats our determination, our essence—because we ‘couldn’t.’
You know, all our problems on this planet come from this ‘couldn’t.’ This ‘couldn’t’ gives us a slip from our Dharma, from our duty.
When I came to the United States, I started teaching Kundalini Yoga. I knew that at least it’s a science which gives a person excellence. It will create excellent characters; it will take away from us ‘couldn’t.’ It will give us a pathway of an essential sacrifice which will give us maximum happiness.
Things shall not change if you don’t change them. What will change things in you is that you, the divine you, which is in you. It is the divinity in you which will allow you to sacrifice. It is the reality in you which will make you realize. Don’t take it personally. It is not personal. It is a general rule of prakirti. It is the law of the Lord. Purkha[3]and prakirti, it shall never change, you have to change with it. Because the only thing which dies is the physical body, but there are nine other bodies too. The total account is ten bodies. That’s the reality. You have to learn to love all the ten bodies, not the physical body only. Even if you don’t destroy the physical body, it is going to destroy itself. It’s the law of prakirti.
Jo upjo sobinsay. “One who is born has to die.” But the other bodies can help you to be young, fresh, and beautiful. This body is given to serve. Recognize there are nine others with it and that is called the path of Dharma. And it is up to you to follow it or deny it. Once your life gets subject to rhythm, ‘couldn’t’ will go away.
©The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan
Originally published in Aquarian Times, May/June 2006
Here is the full lecture video:
Prepare to Serve the Age of Aquarius
Yogi Bhajan Lecture: Prepare to Serve the Age of Aquarius
In these lecture excerpts given on December 20,1997 and June 21, 2001, Yogi Bhajan talks about serving from the heart to uplift humanity. Kindness knows no defeat. Caring has no end. And touching a person’s heart is the only language God knows.
The most veteran, courageous, and pious act of a human is to be with another human, because we are like stars in the sky, born at one time and space, to be ourselves. All we have to do is say, “I am with you.” When you start being one with everybody, then you are actually with God, because if you cannot see God in all, you cannot see God at all.
Touch a person, hold a person, and then carry a person. You can’t drag anybody. You can’t lean on anybody. Carry them, simply and truthfully. And what are the words that dignify the carrying? Can you repeat after me? “I am with you.” That’s all. One line, “I am with you.”
Forget who you are and help others. How beautiful will you be in the memory of another person if your very touch or presence or your few words can miraculously take care of the other person? Will he ever forget you? All you need to do is to forget who you are and help another person. Reach out. This is life.
“Hail Guru Ram Das and heal the world.” And remember when you heal somebody’s problem, your problem will disappear right under your own presence. You will love it. My problem, your problem, our problems are only there when we are not taking care of others. Do you understand? Marriages break, children go astray, neighbors fight. It doesn’t mean anything. The Age of Aquarius is taking care of others.
You are you. But when you deal outside, touch everybody with the longing of the soul. That enriches your soul.
The years before the Aquarian Age begins—these years are the years of challenge. And what is the challenge? You must come to embrace the truth. You must come and experience the truth. You must come and be the truth.
Keep Your Sadhana Together
Keep your sadhana regardless of how you feel about it. If you continue your sadhana, the end result will be that you will be needed by the Age of Aquarius. We are going through a change of age and we are participating in it. If you look at the evening news you will find that disasters are happening everywhere. But you are changing. You are changing to challenge the ultimate challenge—to help humanity through it.
When you don’t have patience, then you don’t have yourself. It’s a most cowardly act. When you lash out and flash out and do all that mischief, you are cheap and you are a creep. It’s not you. Hold your ground and behold. Every day is yours and yours alone. It is not anybody else’s. Behold, the breath of life is yours. This life is yours. You are yours. How many of you are yours? How many have given themselves to themselves? What kind of lover are you? What an idiotic thing to do—to love everybody, but not yourself.
People say to us, “You look beautiful. Help me.” They don’t want to tell you a story, they don’t want to take time. You have to help them. You can’t hide under this nonsense, under your neurotic life. “Oh, I am an attorney. I am a doctor. I am an executive. I am successful.” People won’t care who you are. People will mob you. They will ask for help. They will like your energy; they will want the touch. If you know how to touch the heart, you will be great.
What more I can tell you? It’s on us. It is coming. We have prepared ourselves for thirty years. Nobody can tell you what to do. You have to go sincerely inside your psyche and say, “I am radiant. I am a reality. I have my own reverence.” Let people know you are a graceful reality, with reverence of courage. You have to protect your own reverence. Nobody can protect it for you.
Now I have done my job. I am on my way out. I have given you all that you need. For your sake, practice it and experience it so you can share with people who will fall on you like hordes.
Thank you very much. May you all be blessed, blessed, blessed and may Guru Ram Das bless you forever. This is the time for you to declare yourself. You are teachers and even if you have been the most lazy, lousy, bedridden, nonsense, come out and just touch people. Leave the rest to God. Be kind, compassionate and caring. And just touch. Everybody has obnoxiousness and passion and everybody has compassion and grace equal to it.
Kindness knows no defeat. Caring has no end. And touching a person’s heart is the only language God knows. I hope God and Guru will bless you throughout this time, here and hereafter.
These lectures can be found in Success and the Spirit book.
Seva is the Food of the Soul
Yogi Bhajan Lecture: Seva is the Food of the Soul
In this lecture excerpt given in Espanola, NM on September 9, 1990, Yogi Bhajan explains how doing seva elevates your spirit.
Now, why are we not successful spiritually, and why are we suffering? That’s the point in question. Well, like a beautiful house, we collect dust. Like a beautiful mind, we collect dust. Like a beautiful lamp of light, we collect dust. After five, six months your bulb needs to be cleaned. You may not do it, but if you say it is not collecting dust, that is not true.
Soul is dormant; it needs to be cleansed so it can shine. Mind is super active; it needs to be held, it needs to be cleansed to act according to you and not according to it. Body is active; it needs a lot of rituals to renew it and you know all that. I have seen that people who do Sat Kriya regularly are very intuitive. People who don’t are not. I have seen that people who do meditation are very alert and can face problems better than those who don’t.
For the physical, cleansing and dusting out yourself is required, and for that I have told you what you can do. For mental cleansing and so you don’t blow it, you have to do sadhana. And for spiritual cleansing, you have to help somebody to be elevated—seva. That is spiritual food. Your spirit will die without it.
So these are the three processes in life that man has to regularly keep doing. Then man will have the bounty, the beauty, the bliss—three wonderful gifts which come to such a man. Those who don’t do it proportionately suffer; that is simple.
There is a secret I want to tell you, we call it ice block. Your personality in the subconscious gets into a refrigerator where the ice cubes are formed of your neurosis and you run around again with them. They are very subtle, they are in us, they constantly haunt us. The haunting thought is so powerful. You see people who do not serve others, who are very slow in spite of the intelligence. People who do not do sadhana are not very accommodating. People who do not take care of their physical way of cleansing are very avoiding; they are not very social. Or they are social, but in a very negative way.
Success in Life
In success in life, not only can you succeed with money, but you need two other things too. You need self-confidence and self-esteem. Those are two very definite ingredients which you need. Self-respect will come only to those who relate to their spirit, their soul. Self-esteem will come to those whose mind is under their control through the Shabad(2) of the Guru. Then comes your self-projection. Self-projection will come to those who keep their physical very, very fit.
I am sharing with you my technical knowledge; it is a seva—when you serve another person. Problem is when you serve somebody, you would rather take bad karma because when you serve somebody or you love somebody, you expect something at least equal—if not more, even if you want somebody to thank you. What a ridiculous thing this is.
You do good to somebody. It remains good if you do it in the name of your own God—that is a seva. If you do in the name of your own spirit, your own soul—that is seva. If you do something expecting something tomorrow, you better not do it. It is not worth it; it is not seva. Seva is a conscious and deliberate service to benefit another person even at your own cost. Whosoever does seva, God comes through.
Seva and Simran
Whosoever will do Simran(1) in the ambrosial hour will have clarity of intuition, and without intuition you are helpless, useless, and bogus. Have you seen that game you play—snake and ladder? You will get all the ladders, but when you reach 99 snakes, you will go back to the bottom. That is why Simran is essential. Seva to keep the soul alive, Simran to keep the mind alive and be intuitive. Without intuition you have nothing. Because when time hits you, then you are just going to fight it, but when the intuition hits you beforehand and tells you what you are going to fight for, you can avoid it, or at least you can be pre-prepared. That comes through sadhana.
Sometimes your body symptoms, your attitude and your manner does represent the handicap of the soul. But if you can keep your soul alive and feed it and nurture it by serving others and forgetting yourself, that is the principle. “I serve thee in the name of my lord and I ask the privilege to serve thee.” That is the mantra of seva. Then all in the world will come to you as happiness.
Seva gives you the radiance.
What I am saying to you is that any person who shall not develop the physical, mental, and spiritual capacity to serve flawlessly and serve through the greatest storm of insults, and who cannot still walk through the personal tragedies, shall not find himself very fit.
And you must have a grit beyond human, because one who comes to you and seeks help is God also. That person who comes to ask your counseling or advice or looks to you in anger and abuse or in grace or in sweetness—once he has come to you, the truth is, God has come to you. Serve that person not as a human but as a God.
If you do not have the eye to see God in another person and serve him as God, you are blind. If you don’t hear his complaint or complex as if God is speaking to you, you are deaf. If you don’t speak to him as you would speak to Almighty God, you are dumb.
My dear folks, time has come near, and let us be very clear with each other. Let us be sure that the future has to be endured. Let us call on our own God within, and let us remember the words of the Guru, and let us carry the mission and serve with the attitude and manners of its magnitude, to which we all belong. It’s the human thing to do. This Universe and this environment will come and serve you. You will be happy here and hereafter. You will be fulfilled here, blessed here, bountiful here and hereafter. Make a trail on which your generation can walk with pride, with excellence, and with success. May Guru bless you all for walking on this path. The very fact that you are here, that is success. Let us keep walking.
(1) Simran is meditation on the Infinite
(2) Shabad Guru is a collection of sacred writings meant to transform and elevate the spirit
©The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan
This lecture can be found on the Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings.
Expand – Now is the Time
Yogi Bhajan Lecture: Expand – Now is the Time
In this lecture excerpt from a Teachers Course in Santa Cruz, California, on March 23,1974, Yogi Bhajan says we are all responsible to serve and uplift those who need it.
You must have one door of your home open where people can call on you, people can trust you, people can get help from you, people can approach you. There are many reasons why people will need to relate to you. The coming times are going to be very hard on the society as a whole. There may be 10 casualties, 50 thefts, 20 robberies, 100 rapes—all that is going on in society. Do you know who is responsible for it? We all are.
All acts of insanity are the responsibility of the sane people, because the sane people are lazy and they could not spread the wisdom to the insane people, so that they could have some hope.
Society is feeling a great impact and requires comfort from anybody who can give it. The greatest thing on this Earth is to serve the people of God. That is the highest act a man can do for any other man, but it has to be positive—not that you go help somebody and drag yourself down and get into the pit yourself. You have to be very firm, very honest, very constant, very insistent, and very persuasive. And you have to be very sweet, very kind, very serviceful, and very righteous. These two things go together.
You are not on a trip to convert people. That is not your responsibility. But you want to be able to proudly say, “I have comforted 50 people.” Provide people comfort, go into the society, live for people. If God, out of His mercy, has pulled you out of that insanity, then is it not fair for you to serve those who are still suffering?
Try to understand that this is yet the time that you can hold the ground, you can still change the time on this planet. Five years ago I used to say that 1974 would be a lesson, and none of you perhaps believed it. See what 1974 brought for you? It has brought you gas at 69 cents[1], energy crisis, and every belt is tight, everybody is getting crazy. It is time to have courage, it is time to have will, it is time to have God-consciousness. Start making contact with people. Don’t sit around becoming gurus.
Give People Hope
You have to live like gods. You have to be universal. You have to give people hope! God will do the rest, I can assure you. They are lonely to their death and they have nobody to talk to. You should know who you are. The time is now. It will be too late later on. You’ll not be in a position to do anything. There will be so much insanity that you will be only there to save yourself. It is much better to save the humanity now.
Has anybody called the hospital and said, “We’ll come if we can be permitted, and we can go around and play music”? Have you gone to senior citizens centers where they are sick and lonely, to give them music and take them food?
Hope is brought to people by people who believe in God and experience God-consciousness. They are the image of hope and they go where there is darkness. One candle is enough to take away darkness from a huge area. I have done enough running around and now it is time for you to start doing it, and I am telling you because you call yourselves teachers. This is one of the responsibilities I want to share with you. I’m doing my bit, you have to do yours, and if we all get together, we can do a lot.
© The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan
[1] The price of gas before 1974 was about 25 cents a gallon!
Pioneers in the Age of Aquarius
Yogi Bhajan Lecture: Pioneers in the Age of Aquarius
In this lecture excerpt from Summer Solstice, Guru Ram Das Puri, New Mexico, on June 20, 1993, Yogi Bhajan inspires us to keep up and serve humanity with love and compassion.
You have come here from all the lands, and you will keep on coming here from all the lands for centuries to come. This land has its karma, and this land has its dharma to enrich you whenever you come here, as it has done for centuries. It has a practice, it has a habit, and it has blessings. It is the dwelling place of the guardian souls of this planet.
This path belongs to those who are not cold, whose hearts have not become stone, and whose heads have not become so swollen that they can’t hear the voice of the soul. This path will belong to those who, with all their strengths and weaknesses, will still serve others. And I promise you that those who shall serve others, the Almighty God shall have no power but to serve them, that is the only way. Your power is not in your strength and weakness, in your show and your capacity, in your titles and your achievements, in your money, and in your playing games. Your power is to uplift others. Those who uplift others, God shall uplift them, because it is God’s Will to uplift everybody. When you live in your Godliness, He will not let you fall.
We are all pioneers in the Age of Aquarius. No man can give a man anything other than love. No man can give a man anything other than hope. No man can give a man anything but service. The only thing you can do is act like a forklift—go into the dirt and lift the other person and put him on track, so he can proceed. You will ask me the question, “If I start doing that all the time, what will happen to me?” Then the big forklift called God will come, and He will go into the dirt and lift you up. Is there a better deal than that?
Please remember, we are here to start an era, to start an Age, to celebrate the transition from the Piscean Age into the Aquarian Age. We are here to celebrate that. We are the pioneers. We are the pioneers of the Dharma. Let’s bow our heads in prayer and let us open our hearts. Let us walk on this blessed land for a few days in spirit. With these words, with your likes and dislikes, your loves and hatreds, your affection and understanding, I hope you will carry the Guru’s words to all the lands, cross the boundaries which have never been crossed, touch the boundaries which have never been touched, walk into hearts which have never been open, shake hands which hate to be shaken, go and bring people out of their holes so they can be holy, and pull people out of their heights so that they can save their height in the eyes of God.
You should be smart, learn the art, and go across the world and heal God’s creation. This is your job, and what you are actually going to say is, “Hail, hail Guru Ram Das and heal the world.” Your job is to heal the world and elevate and uplift everybody. Everybody shall be healed. Take a person from his lower self, from his ditch, and raise the pitch so he can be uplifted. The mantra of the Age of Aquarius is “Keep Up.” Help keep everybody up. When you never let yourself down and never let anybody else down, God shall serve you. He shall never let you down.
May God guide you on this path. May you understand that you are blessed children and you have a job to do. May you know in your heart that God belongs to you always, within and without. May your sorrows never touch your tomorrow, may your blessings be for all, may your happiness be shared, and may your smiles give hope to others.
©The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan
This lecture can be found on the Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings
Yogi Bhajan Quotes on Giving and Seva
Yogi Bhajan talked and taught about what it means to serve selflessly, to do seva, and to give from the heart, in many, many lectures over the years. Here we have gathered some of his many quotes.
If you do not do seva—selfless service, you have just let your soul go hungry. Selfless service to others is the food of the soul.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 16, 1990
Inhale deep and just pray on this breath that it should give you right consciousness, righteousness in living, and selfless service towards all living beings. Exhale.
~Yogi Bhajan, May 7, 1974
When you do selfless service, you will be liberated. What is the biggest thing you can give? Ego.
~Yogi Bhajan, March 2, 1973
Don’t just talk to a person, don’t just befriend a person, don’t just shake hands with a person. Serve that person. Elevate them.
~Yogi Bhajan, April 4, 1974
The act of kindness is such a powerful weapon that it is endless in its scope. You can never run out of kindness. Kindness is the supreme gift of the elevated person. It is the beauty of the beauty of the beauty.
~Yogi Bhajan, January 19, 1976
Everybody can’t serve every part of everybody. I can serve some parts, someone else can serve some parts, and it’s all seva. That is love. Love is a very realistic service we render to each other.
No man can give a man anything other than love. No man can give a man anything other than hope. No man can give a man anything but service. The only thing you can do is act like a forklift—go into the dirt and lift the other person and put him on track, so he can proceed.
~Yogi Bhajan, June 20, 1993
Seva is selfless service and you are spiritual people. Serve the spirit of others. You will be bountiful, blissful and bright.
~Yogi Bhajan, January 17, 1993
Live like a God. Give like an angel. Be a bright, beautiful, bountiful human being.
~Yogi Bhajan, July 4, 1995
Don’t heal yourself. Don’t waste a minute; don’t discuss your problems. See the problems of others and uplift them and solve them. You will be shocked when you come back home—your problems will already be solved. That is the way of the Age of Aquarius. Seva will work it out.
~Yogi Bhajan, January 17, 1993
This path will belong to those who, with all their strengths and weaknesses, will still serve others.
~Yogi Bhajan, June 20, 1993
Seva requires love, intelligence, courage, tolerance, and giving; and that is what love is all about, and that is seva, selfless service. It gives you friendship forever. It extends you.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 5, 1981
Forget who you are and help others. Nanak will take care of it in your life, in your family life, in your surroundings, in anything.
~Yogi Bhajan, as shared in the book, Success and the Spirit.
If we rise for tomorrow, make ourselves valuable, help others, serve others, talk to others, open people’s minds and hearts, share their dreams, and serve them in one way or the other as we can—that will be very pleasant to everybody’s soul.
~Yogi Bhajan, December 29, 2002
For spiritual cleansing you have to help somebody to be elevated—seva. That is spiritual food. Your spirit will die without it.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 9, 1990
Provide people comfort, go into the society, live for people. If God, out of His mercy, has pulled you out of that insanity, then is it not fair for you to serve those who are still suffering?
~Yogi Bhajan at the 1974 Teacher’s Course in Santa Cruz, CA
If you do seva in the name of your own God—that is a seva. If you do seva in the name of your own spirit, your own soul—that is seva. If you do something expecting something tomorrow, you better not do it. It is not worth it; it is not seva.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 9, 1990
Seva means selfless service. It’s the character of Santa Claus, giving gifts without asking for anything.
~Yogi Bhajan, December 25, 1992
That person who comes to ask your counseling or advice or looks to you in anger and abuse or in grace or in sweetness—once he has come to you, the truth is, God has come to you. Serve that person not as a human but as a God.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 9, 199
There’s only one thing which will bring happiness to you. When you humble yourself and serve others, then God will fill in the gap and shall serve you.
All relations are nurtured by selfless service. All selfless service comes from wisdom.
~Yogi Bhajan, October 27, 1996
Simran gives the power of seva. People who do not do Simran cannot do seva, selfless service. Selfless service is a constant giving that makes you a giver, and God’s real form is a giver.
~Yogi Bhajan, April 26, 1976
Seva gives you radiance.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 9, 1990
Serve people. Don’t expect results. Don’t put your harpoon into another person. Just serve. It will be an everlasting friendship.
How much sweetness is in you and how much of that sweetness are you willing to share? How much? How many times have you become one with each other in the name of God? How much closeness have you produced? How relaxed are you when somebody makes a mistake? Where is your kindness and compassion?
~Yogi Bhajan, September 4, 2001
We are on this planet to love each other, to serve each other, and to uplift each other. We have come to this Earth to give, not to take. Don’t take pride in taking. Give. Give, and there will be virtue in what you will be given. And that will give you God.
Seva is a conscious and deliberate service to benefit another person even at your own cost.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 9, 1990
Your normal process of life is to not give; not giving yourself a chance, not giving to others. You do not believe in creating a vacuum. When there is a vacuum, God must fill it.
~Yogi Bhajan, June 21, 1996
Any person who shall not develop the physical, mental, spiritual capacity to serve flawlessly and serve through the greatest storm of insults and who cannot still walk through the personal tragedies, shall not find himself very fit. ~Yogi Bhajan, September 9, 1990
There’s no other way on the planet to free your soul unto the destiny and unto God but by serving those who need a hand—smiling at them, wiping away their tears, forgiving them.
~Yogi Bhajan, December 12, 1988
Touch a person, hold a person and then carry a person. You can’t drag anybody. You can’t lean on anybody. Carry them, simply and truthfully. And what are the words that dignify the carrying? Can you repeat after me? “I am with you.” That’s all. One line, “I am with you.”
~Yogi Bhajan, December 20, 1997
Seva, a service of giving without thinking of result, is a very simple thing. It makes you a leader whether you are or not—whether you deserve to be or not. And it brings you opportunities, prosperity, and all the goods, God, and goodies of the Universe.
~Yogi Bhajan, April 20, 1989
Seva and simran are the two legs on which God walks. If you have come here, do seva. Do the Karma Yoga. Do it with your hands, and your mind, and your soul, and your money. Do it with your Self and your Self will be exalted.
~Yogi Bhajan, as shared on page 132 in the book, I Am a Woman.
Seva is to earn first and then to share. That is seva. Exploitation and getting exploited are not seva. Seva is very misunderstood. Seva is when you have something to share and you can give. It is not seva when you have nothing to share. I do not know what kind of seva that is. That is called pushing too much.
You should be so conscious and so giving that people get tired of your hospitality. Giving is habit, character, consciousness, and self-projection.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 4, 2001
Your power is to uplift others. Those who uplift others, God shall uplift them, because it is God’s Will to uplift everybody. When you live in your Godliness, He will not let you fall.
~Yogi Bhajan, June 20, 1993
Take a person from his lower self, from his ditch, and raise the pitch so he can be uplifted. The mantra of the Age of Aquarius is “Keep Up.” Help keep everybody up. When you never let yourself down and never let anybody else down, God shall serve you. He shall never let you down.
~Yogi Bhajan, June 20, 1993
There’s only one thing which will bring happiness to the life of a man in abundance—when you put yourself on the side and serve others, then God will fill in the gap and shall serve you.
~Yogi Bhajan, December 12, 1988
Seva is a win/win, the total source of victory. The moment you serve with heart and head, and without grinding any ax, you win the person forever. You deliver another person facing difficulty to their own strength. You save the person in the face of calamity. You protect him in the face of non-reality and bring home the reality. In any form, shape, or projection, if you can elevate a person’s consciousness, his spirit, his self, his environments, his life, then it is seva.
~Yogi Bhajan, July 23, 1991
You are here to serve, here to lift, here to grace, here to give hope and action, to give the very deep love of your soul to all those who are in need.
~Yogi Bhajan, April 10, 1998
If you do not make some space and do not empty something, where can you put the other thing? The problem is you all get drowned because you take and take and take and you have no place to go. You don’t have the capacity to take. First create the capacity to take, then take. The law of the capacity to take is to first give, because the law of the vacuum is that there’s no vacuum; when you create a vacuum, things will come in.
~Yogi Bhajan, June 25, 1987
You will never find a community leader who doesn’t know how to give—Seva. Giving is the only way. Don’t give only to those who ask. Give to those who don’t ask. Keep on giving. Become a giver. Your faculty and God’s faculty will become the same. That’s absolute divinity.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 4, 2001
If you serve, you shall win the hearts of others. If you humble yourself, you shall not only win their hearts, but you will win their souls. If you serve, God will come through for you. Seva is a very wonderful cause, it is the real thing. Service is not what serves you; it is when you enrich another person.
What difference does it make if you are poor or you are rich if you have not tried to help somebody? If you do not develop the habit of being a forklift, you are worse than any fool on this planet. Be like a forklift. Lift somebody up—anybody—with no obligation. Put somebody on the trail. Let somebody move. Let things move. Feel happy about it. That is your happiness.
~Yogi Bhajan, November 10, 2001
Love is seva. It’s offering yourself and helping to increase the vitality, the surroundings of somebody, giving somebody grace.
~Yogi Bhajan, July 10, 1995
Simran will shape your consciousness, it will raise you to be more aware, that is all. It will widen your horizon and you will see better, you will see more. Then what will you do? You’ll serve—Seva. As you go to the top of the mountain, somehow you reach it and you see the beauty around and you want to share. A man cannot be without sharing himself.
~Yogi Bhajan, as shared in the “Simran and Seva” section of the Summer 1975 Beads of Truth.
The only power of a human being on the other human being is how much one can serve the other.
~Yogi Bhajan, as shared in the “Simran and Seva” section of the Summer 1975 Beads of Truth.
Every day we should socialize and be kind to each other to grow our ultimate aura. If somebody has fallen, we should raise that person up. If somebody is going down, we should lift him. If somebody is hungry, we should feed him. If somebody is unhappy, we should dance with him. There are things to do and those things are part of us.
~Yogi Bhajan, September 4, 2001
Once Brahma gathered demons and invited them to eat. The only rule was they couldn’t bend their elbows. They got food everywhere except their mouths, they could not enjoy it. Then he gave a feast for angels. They knew they could not bend their elbows so they sat down and fed each other and had fun with it. Being for each other is the ecstasy, the divinity.
~Yogi Bhajan, November 21, 2000
You cannot give to anybody if you don’t have. You cannot give anybody satisfaction if you don’t have it. Suppose this glass has nothing in it—it can’t give anything. All it can give me is it’s ‘glasshood’; but if this glass has water in it, then this glass can give itself to me with water which I can take. You all want to take everything. Remember this law: you cannot take, until you give. If you do not know how to give, you will never be in a position to take.
~Yogi Bhajan, June 25, 1987
You have to project your purity and piety to uplift and raise people’s consciousness. Reach out. Give them the spirit. Show them there’s a better thing than maya. It’s time for you to serve people, humanity. Our main job is to be together and inspire each other to reach for the golden light. Let us be one in the oneness of each other; love and reach out, make life happy. I hope you will live this day with these words deep in your heart.
~Yogi Bhajan, April 18, 2002
By giving from the heart, we reconnect to that source, elevating our soul and fulfilling our destiny. The psyche of giving is very simple but difficult to understand.
Blessed are those who overpower their passion by compassion, their character by grace, their identity with virtues and values and serve those who are in need, as a call of duty. May these beings be blessed forever and their families and their life be blessed with prosperity and virtues. May we all understand there is one God; in His oneness He has given us one strength of breath of life. May we expand it to be pure, powerful and project to serve all human beings and life on this Earth, for the sake of goodness, so we may create an impact of good living, goodwill and good manners. Sat Nam.
~Yogi Bhajan, October 7, 1999
Kriyas to Support Your Seva Practice
Remember to tune in with the Adi Mantra: “Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo” before any Kundalini Yoga and Meditation practice.
Guru Kriya – Touch Every Heart
Guru Kriya – Touch Every Heart
Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan on May 2, 2000.
Guru Kriya gives us the capacity to uplift and touch every heart.
“Give because God gives to you. Love because that is your purpose in life. Shine because it is important. Share because it is demanded of you. How can you do it? In Japji, Guru Nanak gave you guidance, telling you the way he found liberation: ‘In the ambrosial hour, meditate on the True Identity. Your karma will be covered and you will see the door of liberation.’
“Rise up and praise your conception, your reality, your identity and soul. Understand your Creator—examine it. Make your heart flow like a river—all your difficulties will wash away. The ambrosial hour is the time to get ready to go to the Universe; it is the hour of your life. Do you want to be happy, prosperous, gracious? Do you want to know everything? Do you want to have things come to you? If you cover a magnet with rubber it will not attract anything. Realize that this time is given to you to be pure and to live in piety, with a burning fire of compassion, touching every heart.”
~Yogi Bhajan 5/2/2000, Espanola, NM
Kriya for Becoming Like Angels
Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan on March 30, 1993.
To become like angels, we need the inner strength to be secure, to give to all, to be consumed in the service of life and destiny. This set, done properly, is said to give you health and inner energy to live from your angelic nature.
Listen to the full lecture given by Yogi Bhajan, where he teaches this kriya:
Kriya for Energy and Rejuvenation
Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan (This kriya can be found in the manual, Transformation vol. 1, pg. 131.)
Kriya for Energy & Rejuvenation
As we transition to the Aquarian Age, the ability to surrender to the flow will make or break our capacity to respond effectively, because the pressures will only continue to increase. We all need to be as vital as we can possibly be in order to serve and uplift ourselves and everyone around us.
This kriya addresses issues specifically related to strengthening one’s capacity to endure. It builds stamina, courage, and strength physically, mentally, and spiritually so that you can meet the challenges of the new Age with grace and vitality.
Vitality depends on a strong Navel Point; the ability to absorb and use prana—in your breath, your food and your environments; efficient metabolism, digestion and elimination; a strong and flexible spine; and the capacity to relax and restore.
Kriya for Inner Vitality and Stamina
Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan in the Spring of 1992.
This kriya unleashes the energy that is within you. It begins by stimulating the Navel Point energy and releasing the reserve energy that is stored there. It brings that energy to all the meridians in the body.
Then the exercises systematically awaken the same flow of energy from the solar plexus up to the throat. The kriya then guides the energy to the higher centers and glands.
Finally, it opens the energy superhighway of the sushmuna and the spine. The kriya ends with a short navel meditation for healing that creates the effect of Ang Sang Wahe Guru in every cell of your body.
This kriya is shared in the book: Physical Wisdom: Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan – 3HO International
Kriya for Keep Up Spirit
Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan on November 2, 1983.
The Kriya for Keep Up Spirit is for joy, tranquility, peace, and the power to serve and uplift all those who need you.
Blessed God, Beloved God, give us the best of life, the best of health. Give us priority over property and punctuality in life so that we may work out our karma and understand the depths of dharma (righteous living), the Guru’s words. Give us joy. Give us tranquility. Give us peace. Give us the power to serve and uplift all those who need us. May we be healthy, happy and holy. Sat Naam.
~Yogi Bhajan November 2, 1983
Meditations to Support Your Seva Practice
Meditation to Become a Channel to Uplift Others in the Aquarian Age
Meditation for Becoming a Channel to Uplift Others in the Aquarian Age
Kundalini Yoga meditation as taught by Yogi Bhajan at Khalsa Council in Los Angeles on April 10, 1998.
You have guilt. You’re not going to get rid of it today. So just say to yourself, “I am the worst, but right now I am the best because God has made me to flow through His energy.”
And then expand yourself to the Tenth Radiant Body and see 30 trillion microcells dancing from you and going into the Universe. All you have to tell them is, “Touch the heart of the one who needs Guru’s help.” Thereafter it’s Guru’s problem, not yours. Stick Guru in and walk out.
You are for tomorrow. You are for that tomorrow when the world shall come to you. People will come and ask to be blessed. Bless those who are coming to you, each one of you. Guru’s words never go untrue.
~ Yogi Bhajan, April 10, 1998.
In this video, starting at 31:44, the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan shares a story and then teaches the meditation:
Meditation for Royalty in Service to the Divine
Meditation for Royalty in Service to the Divine
This Kundalini Yoga meditation is one of three meditations for the heart center taught by Yogi Bhajan on April 4, 1972.
There is a universal force that keeps the Creation in motion: the force of love, the force of service. When we flow with love and service in our hearts, it gives us a royal projection on the Earth. Then, the most divine opportunities in alignment with our highest good come to us. This meditation allows the mind to surrender to the heart and accept the gifts of the Creator. By opening our hearts, our royalty shines through.
Meditation to Arouse Mercy and Compassion
This Kundalini Yoga meditation was taught by Yogi Bhajan on January 31, 1977, and can be found in KRIYA: Yoga Sets, Meditations, and Classic Kriyas.
Read and listen to the full lecture given by Yogi Bhajan here.
“Lord God it is our privilege it’s a human privilege you have blessed us and instructed us to come to the house of Guru Ram Das to meditate talk about thee, to listen about thee, if that has been your mercy and it is true as you are the truthful God of all human beings and creative consciousness of all creatures bless us to be happy, healthy, and holy. Take away our neurosis and sorrows and give us the caliber to become graceful, human being compassionate, to live in love, faith and joy. May our this humble prayer which is all given by their pranic energy you have given take us into ecstasy of God.”
Meditation for Burn-Out
This meditation was taught by Yogi Bhajan on March 22, 1979.
This is the best thing to do when you think you are getting burned out. The mudra is a dormant state of energy. We totally zero our authoritative magnetic field.
Practice this meditation only when there is time to remain still and relaxed upon completion
This meditation can be found in KRIYA: Yoga Sets, Meditations, and Classic Kriyas.
Sangat Blog Posts about Seva
Service with a Smile
Even as a waitress with grouchy customers, Shakti Parwha Kaur learned to appreciate the blessing of serving others.
“If a customer is rude to you, and you talk back, you may get even; but if you don’t say anything, you get ahead of him!” I’ve never forgotten these words of Mr. Hudacek, Manager at Van de Camps, where I worked as a waitress for three years, so my then-husband could go to art school.
In 1952, Van de Camps, “the largest coffee shop on the West Coast,” was located on the famous “Miracle Mile” on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. We were expected to smile—all the time. If you weren’t smiling, the hostess would come over and remind you. It didn’t matter if you had a stomach ache, your marriage was falling apart, your dog just died, or you had a sick child at home; when you were serving the public, you had to smile.
One afternoon, waiting on a customer, I was called aside and handed a subpoena. My soon-to-be ex-husband was claiming child custody. I almost lost it! I got into a heated argument with the customer over whether he had ordered his English muffin buttered or not. I knew I was right; he had asked for it buttered! Fortunately, I caught myself mid-argument and apologized. Then the man also apologized and told me he had just been in an auto accident. No wonder we were both upset.
Now, whenever I have to deal with someone who is angry and unreasonable, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt—who knows what may have just happened in their lives?
When the Beverly Hilton Hotel opened in 1955, they hired more than 50 waitresses. In a few weeks, they started weeding out. In my interview (Yes, I abandoned Van de Camps for the upscale Hilton), I was told that they wanted to keep me because I was so pleasant to the customers. (I definitely smiled a lot.)
I didn’t last long in the prestigious dining room overlooking the pool. Clumsy at carrying heavy trays, I spilled wild mountain blackberry syrup all over a South American gentleman’s white Panama suit. I was quickly transferred to work the counter in the coffee shop. No trays. Safer for all concerned. And I kept smiling.
As a waitress, I learned psychology, patience, perhaps even humility—swallowing my “pride” to apologize no matter what—and what to say to keep the customer happy: “I’m so sorry,” “I’ll be right with you,” “Is everything all right?” ‘Kill ‘em with kindness’ works.
Meanwhile, I was studying astrology and reading books on metaphysics, trying to understand why my life was so hard—divorced at 22, raising a son alone. I discovered The Power of Positive Thinking(1). There was a tall, fiery red-haired waitress at the Hilton who gave me a really hard time. Every day, driving to work and dreading my next encounter with her, I repeated over and over, “God bless Diane for her kindness and sweetness.” It worked! Soon her attitude softened; she actually became friendly. Hooray for positive affirmation!
When I met Yogi Bhajan, I thought surely I could quit working as a waitress and be his full-time secretary. No way. He told me, “You’re not there for the money.” He said, “Even if we have to pay them for you to be there…” When I accepted the fact that it was a karmic necessity, an opportunity for my spiritual growth, I stopped resenting the job. It took five years before my waitress days were over and I could serve Yogi Bhajan full-time as his Executive Secretary.
For over 35 years I had the privilege of observing his living example of selfless service. Yogi Bhajan gave time, money, energy, encouragement, and guidance wherever it was needed, with no concern for what he might get in return. He never reacted; he always acted, in service. When he smiled, it opened our hearts; when he spoke, he touched our souls; and wherever he looked, his gaze brought Light. His very existence was a service to the evolution of this planet.
(1) Best seller by Dr. Normal Vincent Peale
The Path of the Giver
Kirpal Singh shares his experience that through giving, slowly and imperceptibly, your commitment will deepen, you will grow stronger, more self-assured, and happier than you have ever been.
Yogi Bhajan continually taught the fundamental spiritual truth that the more you give, the more you receive. At Summer Solstice 1996, he said that giving invokes the wealth of the Universe.
“When there is a vacuum, God must fill it. I’m not saying that you are poor. But you could have more. Giving is the way of the rich—giving services, giving expertise, giving work, giving something for prayer, giving to the needy.”
~Yogi Bhajan
It may seem counterintuitive, but giving is the key to prosperity. Yogi Bhajan lived the example. He arrived in the West literally penniless. He gave of his time, energy, and earnings to serve humanity. His earnings supported the 3HO Foundation for many years. While giving more than anyone could expect, he lived like a king, rich and wealthy in all aspects of his life, demonstrating that spirituality and prosperity are in harmony.
But giving is not just a means to get rich. It is a path to enlightenment and liberation. From his earliest days in the west, Yogiji taught that there were three paths to enlightenment: the path of the saint, the path of the hero, and the path of the giver. The path of the giver is the simplest: to be like God, give like God. After all, what is God but the Great Giver?
“God gives like God. Giving makes God THE God. And giving shall only make you experience God. Give like God. Give like God is giving in the Name of God; give in the feeling of God. Give in the experience of God. Give in the understanding of God. Give as just a way to give. And the best concept of giving is, “Give for the giving’s sake and then feel grateful that you got an opportunity that you could give.”
~Yogi Bhajan
In the 3rd pauree of Japji Sahib, Guru Nanak describes God the Great Giver:
“Daindaa de lainde thak paaeh. Jugaa jugantar khaahee khaaeh.”
Translation:
The Giver gives and those who take get tired of receiving, and from time immemorial to time immemorial, He is the Giver.
Karma Yoga
Giving yourself to others is God. Otherwise, there is no God. In the ashram in New Mexico we practice Karma Yoga. It is the yoga of selfless service without thought of personal reward. Quite simply, it is giving of yourself, your time, your energy, and your love. It is a way of burning off lifetimes of past karma and a recognized and honored path to union with God. It is humble and menial work: cleaning the temple, cooking and serving food, working in the garden, helping those who are sick, and so many other ways of giving. It is an opportunity to serve the land, Yogiji’s mission, the people who live here, and the community. There is a great joy in serving the ashram and in this way serving God.
The beauty of karma yoga is that it takes you out of you. Often, we try to get high through our yoga practice. Then it is all about you. When you serve the ashram, it is all about something greater than you. A second beauty of karma yoga is that it develops humility. The antidote to spiritual ego is humility, especially for a teacher. Karma Yoga is also called seva, selfless service. It is a foundation pillar of the spiritual lifestyle.
“Seva is in the name of God. Now you are doing a service, not as you now. You are doing seva in the name of God. That’s the beauty of seva. In seva, never ask for gratification here and now. Let God come through. Give God a chance. Therefore, do it in His name.”
~Yogi Bhajan
Serving people opens the heart and brings so many blessings.
“Love is something in which you nurture… in which you serve. If you serve each other rather than control each other, rather than be at each other, the whole world will be a heaven, and it’s all seva. That is love.”
~Yogi Bhajan
And the blessings come. Through giving, slowly and imperceptibly your commitment will deepen, you will grow stronger, more self-assured and happier than you have ever been in your life. Karma Yoga opens the door. You will look for opportunities to give and to serve, and they will come. Make giving your way of life. It will open every door to spiritual fulfillment.
Conclusion
In the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, seva is a divine duty and a path to liberation. It cultivates grace, discipline, and neutrality, dissolving the ego and awakening the soul’s purpose. Seva teaches us that the highest service is not about recognition but about radiance—how we can be a healing presence in the world. As Yogi Bhajan taught, “When you serve others, God serves you.” In practicing seva, we step into our highest identity and become a light for others—living embodiments of love in action.
Tap into the cosmic power of the Kundalini and become a channel to serve others. Use your energy, creativity, and compassion to give without asking, serve without reward, and uplift everyone you encounter.
Next Steps:
1) Share your SEVA with the World
If you regularly serve your community, please consider adding your projects to our “Community Causes” page. The purpose of this page is to share inspiration with others which may encourage them in their efforts to serve as well. Also, you could potentially be a resource for someone looking to do similar work and wondering how to get started; or can possibly network with each other to make your projects more impactful.
Your experience is important!
Share your wisdom with others like you. Leave your comment below