Service: To Whom? Where? When? How?

Today I visited a Buddhist temple in North Birmingham and the Birmingham Buddhist Centre as part of the ‘community immersion programme’, and I know its not strictly “Hindu” in that sense, but I decided to go because; a lot of their values are closely linked to Hindu values, it is a Dharmic religion, and I personally had an interest to find out more about a community I hadn’t been exposed to in Birmingham.

When speaking to a member at the Birmingham Buddhist Centre, I gradually found that they also struggled in terms of communicating with other Buddhist communities, and really it was a microcosm of what is sometimes happening in the Hindu samaj. He also told me that they do require volunteers when it comes to trying to hold big festivals and events. At this point, I gave him my number and asked him to call whenever they required volunteers for help of any sort.

It was something inside me that made me feel that we should create a bridge with these communities. It may not strictly be a Hindu community as such, but does it really matter? Maybe I made a rash decision but this was what was going through my mind while in the discussion. In Sangh, one part of our bi-focal visions is to unite the Hindu samaj, and also the rest of the world. My experiences today made me realise that I really haven’t been doing enough as a Swayamsevak. I agree, if it weren’t for these 7 weeks in SIP then I probably wouldn’t have gone to the centre and offered to help.

We should be making a conscious effort to continue Sangh work in our daily lives, if not Sangh work then at least spend time in the service of others, a recent book I have been reading, mentioned how the only true happiness comes from the service to others. I believe that somehow, our service to others needs to be like it’s a part of our ‘Super Ego’. So we are prepared to offer our service to the community and the rest of humanity with sheer instinct. I know that this kind of character seems a bit farfetched and something like a Dharmic superhero, because we all have different situations trying to manage our personal lives let alone anything else. But it is something we should all aim for.

We need to remind ourselves that we are Swayamsevaks, and it is definitely within our reach to serve the community. Right here, Right now.