Non-duality of Sevā
Problem
It makes sense that we do not call sevā when we are serving ourselves, when we are fulfilling our own needs or when there is nobody but ourselves benefitting from it. But this raises a question, can we perform sevā recognizing non-duality? How can a liberated person who does not recognize the other as the other still serve the other?
Duality within non-duality
The premise that sevā rests on duality is a huge misconception. First, it assumes that someone liberated and who has recognized oneness among all does not see the other as the other and therefore cannot serve the other. This is like saying, a billionaire cannot have in change. This is not the singularity that erases plurality. But rather, this singularity subsumes all the singularities. If a forest were to cognize itself as a forest, it still would know its individuality of being particular trees. When I recognize my body as my body, I still recognize my fingers as my fingers.(5)
kRShNa
Krishna says, if I were to not commit myself to act, people would follow my example and would be spoiled. How does Krishna act? Krishna is both an individual and the totality. When he acts on behalf of others, he maintains his difference. But when he reflects back or sits in his singularity, he recognizes all the events happening within his being. There is one story in the Mahabharata. When Durvasa appears in front of Draupadi and asks for food, she has nothing to offer to all his students. And Krishna appears to assist her. He eats the leftover and says, I am satisfied. And with this, all the Rishis find themselves completely full. Krishna can act as the collective but this does not mean that he always eats for all or that he lacks individuation. He maintains both the identities as an individual and as the collective. This is an imagery of a liberated being who has recognized non-duality.
Depth of non-dual seva
But service or sevā in the parameters of non-duality goes deeper than this. There is more reflection needed. The service we do by recognizing the otherliness of the other is a limited service, confined within the ego.
Ego
When you give money to a bagger, he is always inferior to you. You cannot erase your ego-centrality while helping others. Look at the civilizations grounded on this dichotomy. Just try to fathom their arrogance. All those who receive help are still the proverbial “burden” for the elites. If the sense of continuum, the sense of singularity were to be injected, this sevā would reduce self-centrality.
Expectation
The service we do for others always gives us anticipations. We intend some reward, even if just a few words of thank you. But when we are approaching the other recognizing the singularity of the other in the broader paradigm of existence, we are not guided by expecting something other than the satisfaction of the other, for the other satisfaction becomes a part of our own fulfillment.
Mirror neurons
When we approach to the other, we are guided by how our brain interacts with the environment. When we see others suffering, our mirror neurons reflect the suffering and that gives us the sense of suffering within is. We mirror other’s pain and we react to reduce this pain. When we see others happy, our mirror neurons reflect the happiness on the others. And we are happy. Meaning, even in the most uneducated level, we are serving the others to reduce our own pain and making others happy and that is making us happy. Our intersubjectivity itself is grounded thus on our non-duality. The other becomes a part within my being and the happiness or suffering of the other becomes integral to my own happiness or suffering.
Hatred
But the real reason why I think sevā in its full sense cannot ever be performed within the parameters of dualism comes from the genesis of hatred. Hatred is the mother of violence. Not the violence that we see in nature. A tiger does not kill its pray out of hatred.
विश्वास-टिप्पनी
सिंह-कुक्कुरादि-प्राणिनः शरीरात्मवादितमाः। नास्ति तेषां प्रायेण लेशमात्रम् अपि ब्रह्मज्ञानम् - विचाराभाव एव व्यावर्तको भाति मनुष्येभ्यः। शुनकेषु जाति-द्वेषोऽपि दृश्यत इति प्रत्यक्षसिद्धम्। न च ते बुभुक्षामात्रेण परान् हन्ति - चापलेनालम्।
But the hatred that we see in human societies. The service we provide for others comes in two colors: one to erase our difference, in whatever the subtle levels it is possible, and two, to affirm our difference. And when we serve the others in order to ground our difference, we are setting up the parameters to separate us apart. There is no other emotion as powerful as hatred to separate us apart. That is why we as humans are capable of hatred like no other animal is. This helps us maintain our difference. And therefore we hate those who believe something different than what we do. We engineer hatred to keep us apart. This works very well in social organizations. Works well in religious organizations. We constitute our identity on the basis of our hatred towards the other. And when we make dichotomy as the basis for service, we are simply reinforcing this very hatred. And in a deeper sense, to accept others service becomes synonymous to accepting oneself as an object of hatred.
Recognizing singularity erases the possibility of hatred. yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtāni ātmany evānupaśyati, sarvabhūtastham ātmānaṃ tato na vijugupsate|| when one recognizes the entirety of all the beings within oneself and recognizes oneself as located within all, he overcomes hatred.
When I help you, let this help not be a means to insubordinate you or to boost my own ego. When you receive help, let this not be something that makes you feel subordinate. Let us help each other so that we recognize each other within our own pulsation. Let your happiness be my happiness and your suffering my suffering. For this, we will have to ground the concept of sevā on the platform of non-duality.
There are two sources that I will be grounding my reflections today. One, the concept of niṣkāma-karma, and two, the concept of pūrnatā-pratyabhijñā. The main idea is to address the concept of service further.
Niṣkāma karma
Niṣkāma karma is the concept from the Bhagavadgita. This is the concept of action without any attachment, literally doing actions without expecting any desire-fulfillment. The concept seems simple, easy to do. But it is not. We are biologically conditioned to act for self-interest, and our primary self-interest is the preservation of this body. All we want to do, if we let the instincts run their course, is to care for this body. Body-denying philosophy was a need. It was not teaching the truth but it was needed. It came to teach the kids obsessed with the video games that watching videos is turning people blind. The idea was to shift attention elsewhere. But it went too far.
Niṣkāma-karma is not performed for liberation either. Liberation is not yet another object for you to acquire. Liberation is the consequence of niṣkāma-karma. This is like breaking the Matrix code. It is like waking up from the conditioning in which we are used to recognize reality as self-fulfilling dream. To act against instinct is difficult but it is not impossible. Otherwise we would have no culture and no civilization. Doing niṣkāma karma is the same way cracking the code. We are programmed to be selfish and by you doing something good and expecting absolutely nothing out of it cuts the very root of this design. That is liberation.
Then, as I know you, you would be tempted to pile up sand or throw pebbles in the ocean rather than helping others. For this is also niṣkāma-karma and at least nobody is benefitting from it. You see how crooked the though is? Number one, for something to be an act, it has to have a consequence, a result. If there is no result, there is no action. Action does not confirm result but result confirms action.
Meaning, only upon you performing productive act that you can claim of doing niṣkāma karma. But the productive act should be free of your attachment of reward. Even if you are attached to liberation, that hardly counts. Because this attachment comes from you not understanding liberation, also, the reward of action is measured differently. If I expect a good night of sleep by running ten miles to deliver medicine to a friend, I cannot say I am being selfish for wanting a good night of sleep. Let the logicians argue whichever way they like for they have also lost the core of reasoning. Basically, for you to perform niṣkāma karma is to go against your programming and liberation is its consequence.
pūrṇatā-pratyabhijñā
Two, pūrṇatā-pratyabhijñā, recognition of fullness. How can you recognize that you are more than this immediately given body of yours if you cannot recognize the others as your own continuum. Let me give you an example. A family of five has two grown up kids and one young boy. The couple is struggling to make their needs met. The little boy is constantly asking for a toy plane but the parents are not able to buy it. The grown up brothers look for some work so they can make some money and buy the toy for their little brother. Father gives a surprise with the toy, the kids are playing in the field, and parents watching. The little boy is excited and running. Two boys are following him everywhere, happy that their little brother is so happy. The wife is pleased seeing her grown up children happy that their brother happy. Father is pleased that his wife is happy that her boys are happy. Our fulfillment is not always conditioned by our own petty interest reserved to this bodily identity. We can expand our identity and envelop the entire existence as our family, and as our own self. For this expansion, we need to act on behalf of the others, and sometimes, we have to sacrifice our own personal interest in order to fulfill the interest of the others.
This is the beginning.