In plain words
The first thing you must develop is the principle of Prema. Prema is God, and God is Prema. If anyone asks where God is, tell them He is in all. If they ask in what way He is there, tell them He is there in the form of Prema. It is not enough merely to say “Prema, Prema, Prema” with your mouth; you must prove it in practice. Only then will you earn the name of true human beings.
What Is True Service?
Students! You are young men. There is so much power in you. However many powers there are in the earth, all those powers are in you too. Believe this truth, and wherever in the country any hardship befalls, go there and give the help that is needed. Give no room to the feeling of difference, ‘Who are they, who am I?’ Take part in service to society with the feeling of oneness, ‘All are my own.’ Eye, nose, ear, mouth, hands, feet: all these are limbs of the body. The body is a limb of society. Society is a limb of humanity. Humanity is a limb of Prakṛti. So put the body to work in service to society. Find out what each one needs and what is good for him, and help each in the way that suits him. That is true service to society. Today many people go into the villages in the name of social service, sweep the streets, paint the temples and are content with just that. That is not service at all. That is your duty. What is true service? Enquire into what the village people need and what troubles they are going through, and strive as far as your strength allows to meet their needs and remove their troubles. Summer is on its way. In many villages there will be no water to drink. In such places you must sink a borewell, or else bring water from other parts and supply it. Taking up work of this kind, useful to the people and needed by them: this, we can say, is true service. But if you think that you are serving someone or other, there is a chance that Ahaṅkāra will grow in you. You must feel, “I am doing this for my own.” Take part in service with the feeling of oneness: all have but one caste (the caste of humanity), all have but one religion (the religion of Prema), all have but one language (the language of the heart). Only then does it become true service.