BEAUTY does not lie in the eyes of the beholder… it lies in VOLUNTARY SERVICE for SELF REALIZATION

BEAUTY does   not   lie   in   the   eyes   of   the 


beholder…

It   lies   in   VOLUNTARY SERVICE   for   SELF REALIZATION


You are beautiful from the tips of your toes to the depth of your soul.  Give unconditionally from the bottom of your heart just for the sake of giving. You would be surprised how much you receive when you give without expecting anything in return.   For those who don’t know what to give, there is a resourceful of details below as a sample.  Be thankful, you just need to search what works well for you and proceed further.  

When you give, think a second as to who you want to give something to. Don’t ever donate to those who already are big wigs /names in the world.  They will get money anyway from their resources of funding.  Give to those who really deserve and who lack the resources. There are many who do outstanding service in the name of the Lord, whose names are not known to many, make it a point to hunt for their names.  There are hundreds of such people waiting in the lurch to get support from good Samaritans like you to cater to the well being of the organization which could be lacking much in many ways. You just need to keep your eyes and ears open to hunt them down. Some of them are so shy of even asking for donations.

Doling out funds from your end to the already existing giant social organizations means nothing at all. Probably you are doing it to earn a name for yourself, or to figure in their list is what I reckon. There are several NGO’s who need help and they are dedicated, pursuing in the hope that a Samaritan will do the needful to ease out their mission. 

Check out many NGO’s and see which one appeals to you before proceeding. Your heart should be in tune with your decision, only then, at the end of the day, you can have a satisfaction that makes you over whelmed with joy which nothing else can provide.

But the fact remains, you donate with your heart, and what your right hand gives, your left hand should not and must not know .That is truly a service worth its weight in gold, no matter that it may have been just biscuits and milk for HIV children or a bag or rice and dhal or any item of your choice to some orphanage every year in memory of your loved ones.   Don’t trumpet about it, for you are expected to forget it and not remember, so that while memory lasts, you continue giving   and giving assuming you are giving for the first time each time.  This is one way to release your Karma.  Let pride not make you have an excel sheet of all that you gave and to whosoever you gave for circulation purpose.  God knows it.  His accounting and balance sheet can never ever go wrong. 

Charity begins at home. First ensure that your family is taken care of well before you resort to donating anything as the head of the family.  Otherwise it has no meaning.  First look after yourself before serving others, otherwise you may regret later.  Don’t resort to charity when mouths at home have to be fed.  That would amount to a sin.

When you want to give to some orphanage, go to visit the place a couple of times and get familiar. See whether your hard earned money is worth there,  what is lacking which you feel could make their lives better, or check what they want first hand before venturing to provide funds.   It is not necessary to provide only money, as you can also arrange to buy the item they require and make things easier for them, if you prefer or even render your presence every week at a fixed time to educate the children there. Education for a child is important as he/ she is the future of a nation. You are lending a support to the nation by your benevolent act. 

If are keen to donate money, start with small amounts of donations within your means. Five to ten percent of your earnings should necessarily be allotted for good deeds;  if you are a bachelor or spinster  you can afford to allocate a little more, depending on your comfort zone.  Don’t feel guilty if, on any particular month, you wish to splurge on something, go ahead, you deserve a treat, so back it up again later to ensure that the shortfall is catered to.  There’s no harm in compensating this way.

When you feel you are not in a position to set aside the minimum percentage for donations, due to some reason for a period of time, contribute your mite by means of voluntary work.  This too is a welcome gesture on your part. It is your good intentions that matter. Voluntary work by no means is a dedicated form of service and far greater than money.  Anybody can provide money these days, considering the tax exemption available, but investing their time on Seva anywhere on a regular basis is something commendable.  Not all are blessed to do this, for just your inclination alone won’t help. You must be divinely ordained to take up the work.  You must be blessed with good health to undertake the same. Otherwise it is not possible, for you may merely wish and if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Don’t be under the assumption that once you cross sixty years, you can devote to voluntary work after retirement. That may not happen at all. Who knows till what age one is blessed to live? Above all, its only when you sacrifice sometime for noble works periodically as a way of life that you will be blessed for more to follow. Nothing comes overnight on a platter, not even voluntary work. It gets assigned based on the way we lead our lives.  Many lament in their old age that they did not get the opportunity for Seva, but the fact is that they chose to choose different paths which invariably altered their course of actions to be away from Seva. Repenting at leisure is certainly not the best outcome but there’s no other choice. One has to make hay while the sun shines. 

It is this voluntary work that will get you closer to God. Hands that work are holier than lips that pray said  Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.  His life is His message. He built a fantastic hospital of world standards within a record break of 6 months at Puttaparthy , India,   the first of its kind in the world, to the effect that  the  Super Specialty hospital is run all the 365 days in a year, round the clock  with  dedicated Sevadal from all over the country on a rotational basis from across India.

Even Doctors from abroad come there to serve voluntarily.  There is no cash box or billing counter for the hospital as it operates free for all and it is to be seen to be believed. He never called anybody to come to Puttaparthy, but the crowd throngs there, because He willed it so.  Not a blade of grass moves without His consent.  Not a 1000 horses can bring you unless I will it, stated Baba and He is absolutely firm on that. You may buy your tickets to reach there but there’s no guarantee you will land up there , as you can’t reach the divine’s abode at Puttaparthy unless He calls you for a Darshan or Seva. You can’t stay a day longer there unless He wills it, no matter who you are. 

There are several ways that one can go ahead to proceed locally when it comes to voluntary work.  In case these were not on your mind, open up to these avenues. When there is love overflowing from your heart to give, give and give, who can stop it? Continue to give whatever little you can, to insignificant places, so that they flourish with your help. That timely help is what the Divine seeks from you and blesses you with more opportunities at your door step.

  • Some very old Temples need renovation or painting. You can help by bringing a team of friends to do a lime wash, clean up the temple on a regular basis after informing the temple authorities. If you don’t want to undertake painting yourself, you can engage people and pay for the services. 
  • Plant a few potted plants especially flowering ones usable for pooja  in the temple so that the place looks more vibrant. Also in umpteen places where the devotees are inclined to mess up with camphor and oil etc., planting helps with lovely ornamental plants so that they are constricted to enter the arena due to the border of plants.   Ensure that watering is catered to by yourself or someone you can entrust the work to , and make occasional checks to ensure the same.
  •  You can donate for a closed dust bin or two at a corner in the temple so that ‘Prasadam’, etc are not strewn all over the place.  As a team, ensure that devotees are taught to keep the place clean with support from authorities. Every day ensure that the bin is emptied   and the premise is clean. 
  • Help in removing cobwebs every month and arrange to procure items required by the temple if they are in deficit or wants. People invariably remember the most common items, but may not remember insignificant yet important ones.
  • Cleaning up is the most wanted Seva ( Voluntary work) in a country as ours, as that calls for immediate attention. By far we are a nation whose cleanliness is far from desirable standards. So team up with friends every week for just a couple of hours and ensure your street and public places is one that is enviable. Don’t wait for the government to act.
  • Forgive the government and forget it if they don’t render what they ought to. You set up things which will work within the team, so that life is heaven.  Don’t let ego take a slot here.
  • When you work as a team of just 2 or 3 or community, the place gets recharged with vitality.  You also enjoy and don’t feel shy. You can cover pot holes in the road with mud from nearby, so that motorists don’t have bumpy rides. 
  • When you plant a tree in your locality as a team, ensure there is a tree guard put in place first.  This helps that it is not removed by anyone. Planting a tree in the peak of summer is of no use. Plant it now, so that you can reap the benefits in a couple of next summers. 
  •  Voluntarily train children in your locality, if you live in an apartment, to keep a fresh bath tub of water for birds and feed them with grains on the terrace.  This will be like activity work for them.
  •  Engage yourself productively in some way to be of use to somebody, this itself will earn grace.
  • Donate your toys, cupboards,  utensils, walking sticks, old clothes and whatever you don’t want but is in good condition, so that your place is clutter free. This is good Feng Shui and will improve your personal life.  Keep the barest minimum and don’t hoard things. The moment you hoard anything, life can take a different turn.
  • Make a visit to an old age home with your children in the evening on any weekend, so that they learn to respect elders and give love to all. If your children play music or dance, let them perform for them as this gives them an opportunity to remove their stage phobias too.
  • You can undertake scribe work the blind.
  • Teach any art for the differently able or spend some quality time with them as a team on a regular basis for supporting them.
  • Just as you have car pooling, check with neighbours if they need anything and execute works in a phased and scheduled manner such that  time is well spent to entertain an event of priority.
  • During Rama navami and other important festival days ,  you can volunteer  to be at temples  or places of worship, for helping the queue , which may get into a stampede or help in making / distribution of prasadam, etc.
  • Baby sitting for a friend at a time convenient to you or visiting to take turns for someone at the hospital who needs assistance for  a while.
  • Help your neighborhood provision- wallah by sending your child for assisting in the shop for a couple of hours in the weekends. He will be extremely thankful to you.  This enables the child to get more responsible and also gain knowledge and voluntary experience in handling customers at the shop. This way they mature into good children and earn the respect of the community. During exam time the children need not go.
  • Let children be taught to be kind to stray dogs. They should not tie tins to the dog’s tail or do unmerciful acts.  They can be taught to handover the remnants of food to stray dogs and also provide water to drink,   such that they realize it to be a part of the locality’s watch dog.  Snakes are not to be killed but allowed to slither away. The fact that man is a social being and has to learn to adjust to  all creatures big and small has to be ingrained in them. This is also a noble task to educate children for all good things to follow.  Teach them young and imbibe in them the universal prayers so that they grow up to be good citizens. Run a bal vikas centre in the weekends for just one hour. This is yeoman service even if there are just three children. Even one from the three can grow up to be a Dr Kalam or a Mother Teresa, one never knows.
  • If you have elderly at home, cater to their well being and comfort. Give them timely meals and that is also a form of Seva.  It is a golden opportunity given to you to serve, so do it with love from the bottom of your heart.  Look upon it as a sheer blessing. Not all are blessed to serve this way.
  • See beauty in everything you do. No matter how insignificant a thing you have to do, do it as well as you can, for it is by these that you shall be judged.  Perfection is a must when it comes to voluntary work as that gives scope for improvement. You are in the public view and you need to   be your best self. There can be no greater reward for perfection.
You are most welcome to add more to the above list via your comments in my blog, so that all stand to benefit.
The Almighty gave everything wonderful and all that's nice for each one of us to live on this planet earth… a sensible mind, a healthy body and a loving Spirit/ Soul which primarily was bestowed for Self Realization. Let us work towards Self Realization.

Malini Kalyanam alias USHA.

PS: This article is a humble dedication to my dear Beloved Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba ,  “Swami' as he is  fondly known to devotees far and wide , across the oceans and seas.  
Swami  blessed us with “SUNDARAM”, his abode  at Raja Annamalaipuram , Chennai which  reaches another milestone on this  day , 19th January 2018 being  the 37th Anniversary  (we are all blessed as the squirrels undertaking work for building the bridge for Lord Rama), with seva on our lips on a regular basis for some activity or the other… be it Laddoo making, Vegetable cutting, Narayana Seva, Mobile hospital  work, Bal vikas , blood bank duty , Gram seva to villages, Help for Sai Nagar kids, flower decoration, Kolam,  regular cleaning duty, vibhuti packing, Spl duty on festival days, cyclonic relief duty, Samiti level engagement, and a lot more; We thankfully grow in beauty year by year.

Incidentally this soul was blessed to undertake the  manuscript work of JOURNEYING TO THE GOLDEN ERA , a colorful booklet for NRI’s  describing the glory of SUNDARAM , His abode , on  Sundaram’s Silver Jubilee a few years ago and that was truly a miracle . Thanks Divine.   Jai Sairam


                                                        

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