A pertinent question arises now as to why Bhagawan wants us to serve? He says, "It is the only way to be egoless. It is the only way to consider the great quality of humility - to be humble, to want to serve. To be egoless one should enlist in the path of service." When we serve, we cannot be egoistic. Then again, unless we are free from ego, we cannot serve to the best of our ability.
Once Swami wanted a tin of laddus to be distributed to the boys and He instructed this author to fetch the tin of laddus. As Swami went inside, the author called one of the boys and instructed him to bring the tin. Bhagawan noticed this and rebuked the author saying, "I can ask those boys to bring it Myself. You don't have to delegate power to anybody. I wanted to give you this chance of service and you lost it. I gave you this chance of service and you missed it. And you may not get it again."
What had happened? At that time, the author was principal of the College and he felt it demeaning to carry the tin of laddus. The ego did not allow him to do this. But the one who does it, is egoless. So long as there is ego, we cannot be spiritual or religious and Realisation is out of the question. Indeed, we should say, "Oh, ego! Let me go!" The ego is the iron curtain between God and humans. So service helps us to be humble and remove that iron curtain that separates us from divine manifestation.
Furthermore, let us understand that we are not serving anybody. Rather, we are serving ourselves. Once in an interview, Swami asked some young people what work they were doing. When they replied that they were helping the aged, the physically challenged and the poor, Swami cut them short and told them - "You are not helping anybody. You are helping yourselves."
Every act of service is an act to oneself, not to anybody else.
(From the book "Sai-chology" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)
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