Make a difference: volunteer and serve

YES, YOU CAN DO IT!

DAAJI invites you to spend some time doing things for others. Whether it is volunteering, serving others, or cleaning up your local environment, every small act helps! Daaji also shares a simple night-time ritual that we can all do to make a difference.

“I devote a portion of my time to helping others. It is good for my own health.”
—Louise Hay

Dear friends,

Many people, both young and old, tell me how they are feeling helpless and hopeless with the constant news of disasters, wars, and the environmental impacts of human behavior on our beloved Earth. They are concerned and uncertain about the future. And, indeed, the news is disturbing.

But the news doesn’t tell us everything. What about the stories of the many individuals, groups, and organizations around the world selflessly working to aid others less fortunate, cleaning up the environment, planting trees, and feeding others, bringing hope with acts of kindness, compassion, and love?

The principle of seva (Sanskrit for selfless service) has endured forever. Seva in its subtle essence is not confined to external actions; it is a state of being, a way of life that embodies love in action, with no expectation of reward or recognition. It is an attitude that eventually becomes our nature. Selfless service and volunteering on an individual level are transformative; they contribute to our personal health and spiritual growth, as well as to collective upliftment.

An experiment done with children aged 3 to 4 demonstrates that helping without any personal gain is inherent in the human psyche. An adult picks up a ball from the floor then drops it. Making a pretence of sadness, he picks it up again and drops it again. This pretense continues a few more times, until one of the children walks up to the adult, picks up the ball and places it in his hands. Simple!

Volunteering and service directly feed our feelings of self-worth: they combat loneliness, bring us out of our isolation, open us up to new experiences, improve our self-confidence, and bring a sense of purpose and self-esteem, so we feel valued, which in turn protects us from stress and depression.

Selfless service and volunteering on an
individual level are transformative; they
contribute to our personal health and
spiritual growth, as well as to
collective upliftment.

What would you like to do? 

It is a question with a multitude of answers. Our lifestyles and responsibilities determine how much any of us can do, so it may be something very simple. For those with more time and energy, there are many roles in larger organizations that help the less fortunate and the environment.

It may be as simple as visiting an elderly person who is lonely, volunteering at an animal rescue center or homeless shelter, working in a food bank, creating a vegetable garden in waste ground for others, reducing your use of plastics, cleaning up litter, doing small acts of kindness, or teaching others to relax and meditate. There are so many ways.

Where do you see a need that resonates in your heart?

The 9 p.m. prayer for humanity

Another subtle and potent way of serving others is through prayer. A prayer that radiates from a sincere heart with a genuine desire to alleviate suffering and bring joy creates a remarkable vibration for change. I invite you to join our global movement by praying with thousands of others around the world at 9 p.m. local time for fifteen minutes. It creates a beautiful resonance in your heart, a softness, and a feeling of connectedness that expands to all. 

Everyone is being filled with love and devotion and real faith is growing stronger in them.

Truth, righteousness, and faith are being established in the world.

All kinds of distractions faced by our country and our planet 
are going away.

May this entire Earth be engulfed with peace and with love.

When we take one step at a time, doing one
positive thing each day, we will
collectively bring joy, care, and hope to
others through kind and selfless acts.

When we take one step at a time, doing one positive thing each day, we will collectively bring joy, care, and hope to others through kind and selfless acts. Every gesture, no matter how modest, will contribute to the collective welfare of humanity and our dear Mother Earth. We will not only uplift others; we will also experience profound personal growth and fulfillment.

All the best,
Daaji