Speaking into the microphone

He speaks about service more sharply than about almost anything else, and the sharpness is aimed at a specific thing: seva performed where it can be observed. His position is that the moment the doing is arranged so that somebody sees it, the nature of the act has changed. Something is now being exchanged, and what is being bought is regard.

He is not accusing anybody of insincerity, which is what makes the point land. The person handing out food at the gate may genuinely want to help and may also, without deciding to, be aware of who is watching. Both are true at once. He simply asks devotees to notice which of the two would survive if the audience were removed, and to notice honestly rather than defensively.

The test he offers is simple enough to apply the same day. Would you still do this if no one ever learned that you had. If the answer wobbles, the wobble is the information, and it is not a reason to stop doing the thing. It is a reason to change the conditions until the act can stand on its own.

There is a practical argument underneath the moral one. Service done for regard is fragile in a way that quiet service is not. It requires the recipient to be grateful, the onlookers to notice, and the effort to be recognised, and any one of those failing turns the server bitter. Seva done without an audience has nothing to be disappointed by, so it lasts.

He extends this to money without softening it. A donation announced is a purchase, and what has been purchased is a reputation, which is a perfectly ordinary transaction but should not be confused with devotion. He notes that this is one reason nothing at his own ashram is arranged so that giving buys position: entry is free, the queue is one queue, and no amount moves anybody forward.

What it asks of you is a small subtraction rather than a new activity. Continue whatever service you already do, and remove one piece of the visibility from it. Do not mention it at home, do not photograph it, do not let it come up in conversation. The act will feel noticeably thinner the first few times, and that thinness is a measurement of how much of it was the audience.

The rest of his most repeated sayings are on the quotes page, the teaching they belong to is set out on the teachings page, and the questions devotees bring him about anger, money, family and grief are answered on the questions answered page.