Sathya sai international organisation

Setting Targets for Service?

An attendee at the recent Summer Course in Muddenahalli reported:

In the afternoon, we had an interactive session conducted by Bro Vijay Sai and Bro Sri Ram. We were made to sit region wise and asked to discuss what service we would take up going back to our cities and its time bound implementation.

http://preethamsai9.hubpages.com/hub/Summer-Showers-in-the-Foothills-of-Nandi-Hills-An-Exposition
Is this the spirit of service Sri Sathya Sai Baba taught?

Clever propaganda may achieve some temporary results but, in the long run, it will bring disappointment and disillusion. Like the 'rockets' lit by children on Deepavali night, it will flare up and fizzle down. Today, we are confronted everywhere by statistics parading quantities and reports in glowing terms. Do not bother about adding to the number or achieving a target. I value quality, not quantity. Genuine, intensive devoted service offered in a few villages is more fruitful than casual contacts and superficial service offered to a large number.

SSS 19.25: November 21, 1986 http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume19/sss19-25.pdf

Quantity of service vs Quality of service

Speaking about the correct attitude when performing service, Sathya Sai Baba said:

God will not ask you, when and where did you do service? He will ask, "With what motive did you do it? What was the intention that prompted you?" You may weigh the seva and boast of its quantity. But, God seeks quality, the quality of the heart, the purity of the mind, the holiness of the motive.

SSS 15.31: November 19, 1981, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume15/sss15-31.pdf

As members of the Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, you have to be an example to others. In whatever service you do, it is the quality that counts, not the quantity. No act of service should be considered trivial or debasing. Nor should there be unhealthy rivalry in rendering service.

SSS 17.13: May 20, 1984, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume17/sss17-13.pdf

Any little service performed with love is enough. If you give a glass of water to a thirsty person with genuine love, it is more than enough. Almost 90 percent of the so-called devotees are, in fact, deceitful. Earlier, it was quite different: devotees were few, but they were genuine devotees. Nowadays, there are too many self-seeking cheats masquerading as devotees. First thing in the morning, they adorn their forehead with vibhuti (holy ash), wrap a scarf round their neck, and roam about freely in the guise of devotees. Even the stray dogs scrounging around for something to eat are better than such fake devotees!

SSS 35.11: July 22, 2002, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume35/sss35-11.pdf

Give in reverence; give in plenty; give with modesty; give as to a friend; give without any thought of reward. Do not give ostentatiously. The service in the Hospital, the service in the Bhajan Group - all have to be done, with humility and reverence. Then only can they yield chiththa-suddhi (purification of mind and thought), which is the main benefit derivable from Seva.

SSS 7.48: December 21, 1967, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume07/sss07-48.pdf

Our attitude during a service activity determines whether or not the service helps us grow spiritually. Service performed with a sense of pride or superiority may help the person we are serving, but it does not help us. Do not pollute your service with the poison of pride.

SSS 11.10: February 21, 1971, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume11/sss11-10.pdf

Feel that you are serving yourself, that you are curbing your own ego.

SSS 7.18: 21 April 1967, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume07/sss07-18.pdf

There are no "others" in 'the Sai Organisation. We are one family. The word, "thanks," should not be used in the Sai Organisation. It is purely a conventional expression, in the ordinary world. The member of a family who works for the family is different from a worker who labours for wages. Members of the Sai Organisation should render service without expectation of any reward or recognition.

SSS 28.33: November 20, 1995, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume28/sss28-33.pdf

To remove the evil of egoism, service is the most efficient instrument. Service will also impress on the person doing service, the Unity of all mankind. He who dedicates his time, skill and strength to service, can never meet defeat, distress or disappointment, for service is its own reward.

SSS 13.22: August 28, 1976, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume13/sss13-22.pdf

But do not believe that you can by means of Seva re-form or re-shape the world. You may or you may not. That does not matter. The real value of Seva, its most visible result, is that it reforms you, reshapes you. Do Seva as a Sadhana; then you will be humble and happy. Do not strut about that you are improving others; improve yourself.

SSS 7.14: March 29, 1967, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume07/sss07-14.pdf

The worship of jeeva (individual being), which is the other name for seva can be worthwhile only when the heart is pure. All the various types of service that one may write and talk about are mere empty, boasts if the mind of the sevak (volunteer) is not pure. A heart bubbling with ananda and a mind saturated with love may do any tiny bit of seva, yet that will win much more Grace than huge projects undertaken in pride and pomp.

Preliminary to any seva, you have to uproot all egotistic tendencies, get rid of all sense of mine and thine and burn to ashes the pride that comes of the feeling that you are offering service to someone poorer and less fortunate.

As a preliminary to seva you have to win purity of heart. You must examine your motives and skills, your intentions and qualifications, and discover for yourself what you hope to achieve through the seva. You should ferret out any trace of egotism, and also the desire for fame or even of being near Swami. If you have an irrepressible urge to possess things that contribute to your comfort or sense of superiority over others who are your friends or kith and kin, then the sooner you leave the Dal the better.

Do deeds that are holy and beneficial, untarnished by ego and the greed to benefit. Start on the sacred pilgrimage to the Divine Goal and make every minute of your life holy and purposeful. Then, surely, this earth, your karmakshethra (field of work), will be transformed into a dharmakshethra (field of righteousness).

While judging the seva done by a member of the Dal, it is not the quantity or number of

individual instances that matter; they do not count at all. Judge rather the motive that led him to serve, the genuineness of the love and compassion with which the seva was saturated.

SSS 14.13: November 22, 1978 http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume14/sss14-13.pdf

SUMMARY 1. Madhusudan Naidu's followers are encouraged to set targets for implementing service projects. 2. Sathya Sai Baba said that today, we are confronted everywhere by statistics parading quantities and reports in glowing terms. Do not bother about adding to the number or achieving a target. I value quality, not quantity. (SSS 19.25). 3. Sri Sathya Sai Baba also said "Give in reverence; give in plenty; give with modesty; give as to a friend; give without any thought of reward. Do not give ostentatiously." (SSS 7.48). While judging the seva done by a member of the Dal, it is not the quantity or number of individual instances that matter; they do not count at all. Judge rather the motive that led him to serve, the genuineness of the love and compassion with which the seva was saturated. (SSS 14.13) QUESTIONS 1. Why would Madhusudan’s followers be encouraged to set targets for their service activities when Swami said not to do this?