Seva

(“service”) Actions springing from an
attitude of loving devotion, manifested
as attendance on and service to a deity,
religious teacher (guru), or any superior
person. The notion of seva is particularly
important in the relationship between
religious teacher and disciple. The
teacher’s task is to further the disciple’s
spiritual development, which may
sometimes entail harsh criticism to
reform some of the disciple’s faults. The
ideal disciple will accept such direction
in a spirit of self-effacement and carry
out the teacher’s instructions faithfully
and without protest, as a sign of submission and service. Such arrangements are
often necessary for spiritual growth, and
a teacher can often give a much more
objective assessment of the disciple’s
true spiritual state and what must be
done for advancement. Still, when one
of the parties is not sincere, this model
has great potential for abuse. In such
circumstances the teacher’s call for obedience and service—in which any “resistance” to the teacher’s demands can be
cited as a sign of spiritual immaturity—
can be a way to take advantage of a
devotee (bhakta).