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May Knowledge
Grow in our Hearts:Applying Spiritual Principlesto Development Practice
Te Case of Seva Mandir
InstItuteFor
studIes In
Global ProsPerIty
Occasional Papers on
Insight and Practice: 2
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May Knowledge
Grow in our Hearts:Applying Spiritual Principlesto Development Practice
Te Case o Seva Mandir
Institute or Studies in Global Prosperity, Inc.Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved
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We need a new language that opens the door o
understanding; not a language o power and domi-
nation, but a language that emerges rom the deptho our sel-discovery, o discovering ourselves as an
inseparable part o a whole that is the cradle o the
miracle o lie. I we manage to provoke such a shit,
we may still experience the satisaction o having
brought about a new century worth living in.
Manred Max-Nee
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Introduction
hrough the ollowing study, the Institute or Studies in Glob-al Prosperity hopes to contribute to the worldwide discourseon social and economic development some o the insights it has
gained into the nature o development work that is cognizant oboth the spiritual and material dimensions o reality.
Te case described here, though o one organization, Seva Mandir*
(emple o Service), an organization working primarily with the
rural and tribal communities in Rajasthan, India, is representative
o the thousands o eorts that draw on spiritual principles and
scientic methods to bring about social transormation.
In its attempts to describe, rom the perspective o Seva Mandir
sta, the nature o the work that they undertake and the chal-
lenges they ace, this document discusses the meaning and
implications o working or the common good, a goal that is
present in Seva Mandir programs in areas such as orestry, health,
and education. Particularly, it tries to capture the way those who
* For more inormation about Seva Mandir, see Appendix III.
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work or the organization apply the concept o interconnected-
ness to all o their activities. Te interconnectedness o all things,
a principle that transcends the physical and visible relationshipsthat exist among phenomena and includes a spiritual connection,
can be considered the organizing principle around which all Seva
Mandir activities revolve.
Te Institutes ultimate aspiration in preparing this document
is to contribute to the eorts made by individuals, groups and
organizations around the world to engender a new consciousness
o how science and religion can work together to create a more
humane and just world.
A Discourse on Science, Religion and Development
Tis study was carried out in the context o a growing body o
knowledge related to development that emphasizes the positive
eects that spiritual values, derived rom religion, have on eortsdedicated to the empowerment o a population to act as the main
protagonist o its own progress. Despite the skepticism o those
researchers and planners who may oppose the incorporation o
religious values in the development paradigm, there is consensus
among many theoreticians and practitioners that i the eld o
development continues to ignore the spiritual dimension o the
human being and the cultural, transcendental and religious as-
pects o peoples and societies, it will ail to bring prosperity to hu-
mankind. Eorts made during the past years by the Institute or
Studies in Global Prosperity to introduce to the broad discourse
on development a stream o thought and practice that promotes a
spiritual perspective on the advancement o civilization have been
inspired by the work o like-minded institutions, or example,
Te International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in
Canada. One particular study published by this organization, Te
Introduction
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Lab, the emple, and the Market: Refections at the Intersection o
Science, Religion and Development, that brings together the views
o scientists rom our dierent systems o religious belie (Hindu-ism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bah Faith) on issues related to
development, has provided a major part o the theoretical back-
ground or the Institutes eorts in the promotion o a discourse
on science, religion and development.
Te present publication expands on ideas presented in Te Lab, the
emple, and the Marketand two additional documents prepared
by the Institute. Te rst is a concept paper titled Science, Religion
and Development: Some Initial Considerationsand the second Sci-
ence, Religion and Development: Some Aims and Challenges(here-
ater reerred to as the Aims and Challenges document). In the
rst document the Institute brings together the results o a year-
long conversation with development thinkers and practitioners in
India on the state o development thought and practice. Te ideas
and principles expressed in this document have animated thediscourse on science, religion and development that the Institute
has promoted in several countries during the past ew years. Te
second document was prepared in response to the expressed wish
o a number o the organizations involved in the discourse in In-
dia to better articulate their own experiences in applying spiritual
principles to their daily work. It consists o ve statements, which
assisted the participating organizations to describe how they draw
upon spiritual principles and employ scientic methods in their
work and to reect on a ew o their common aims as well as some
o the challenges that they regularly ace in putting their ideals
into action.
Tis paper is an account o the reections o Seva Mandir sta
in response to the questions posed in the Aims and Challenges
Introduction
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document*. Te study was carried out over a period o ve weeks
during November and December 2009 and involved a series o re-
ection meetings conducted by two acilitators rom the Institutewith sta and collaborators o Seva Mandir rom various levels
o the organization. In these meetings the Aims and Challenges
document was studied and the questions posed in it were used to
stimulate discussion and reection. Below is a summary o the
ve statements:
Science, Religion and Development: Some Aims and Challenges
Te rst statement in the Aims and Challenges document reers
to the oneness o mankind both as a spiritual principle and as one
o the major aims o social and economic development. It men-
tions some o the challenges that organizations ace as they design
and implement programs that, though inspired by this principle,
also strive to strengthen the will o the people to struggle to
transorm their own environment. Participants reecting on thisstatement are thus encouraged to explore the apparent contradic-
tions between creating unity and struggling or bringing about
change. Tey are then asked to examine the way they incorporate
in their own programs principles such as reciprocity, cooperation
and interconnectedness, and to reect on the direction they give
to the struggles in which they accompany the people with whom
they work.
Te second statement addresses the question o individual trans-
ormation and structural change. It questions two prevalent
ideologies o social changethat social transormation is a mere
outcome o the upgrading o the individual and that no change
is possible unless social structures, mainly those related to mat-
ters o political power, are rst changed. Te statement proposes
* For a ull version o this document, see Appendix II.
Introduction
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that lasting change can only result rom simultaneous eorts to
transorm both the individual and society. o gain insights into
how Seva Mandir addresses this question, sta and collaboratorswere asked to examine their activities and programs in terms o
the changes they promote at the level o the individual and the
way they aect structural change in their areas o inuence.
Knowledge is the main theme o the third statement o the
document. Many development organizations recognize that the
generation and application o knowledge, rather than economic
activity, is the central process o social existence. Development
is not viewed as the mere delivery o goods and services to the
disadvantaged, but as the process that enables the people o the
world, the major protagonists o change, to acquire knowledge
and to apply it to the shaping o their own aairs. Ater reading
this statement, participants are asked to discuss how their organi-
zation strives to bring knowledge to bear on the problems o the
populations it serves.
Te ourth statement ocuses on a conception o the human being
which reects both a material nature, inherited rom millions o
years o physical evolution, and a spiritual one that has gradually
made it possible or human beings to rise above the exigencies o
animal existence and mere physical survival. Te assertion that
development theory and practice must give urgent attention to
the spiritual dimension o human existence arises rom such an
understanding o human nature, and this statement invites par-
ticipants to reect on how this conception inorms their work.
As an enterprise that is envisioned to bring prosperity to the entire
human race, development is oten concerned with processes that
lead to the generation and distribution o wealth. Tis concept,
however, has been treated contradictorily in every period o social
Introduction
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evolution. Some ideologies have conceived o wealth as the cor-
rupter o the human soul while others have venerated it as the
ultimate dispenser o happiness. Te th and nal statement inthe Aims and Challenges document suggests that the concept o
wealth needs to be re-examined in the context o a development
process that contributes to the spiritual and material advance-
ment o the human race. In this regard, participants are invited
to discuss how their organizations programs strive to meet the
ollowing conditions, which, based on spiritual principles, make
the acquisition o personal wealth acceptable: Wealth must be
earned through honest work, physical or intellectual, and its
acquisition by the individual must not be the cause, no matter
how indirectly, o the impoverishment o others. Moreover, the
legitimacy o material possessions depends equally on how they
are earned and how they are used. One should enjoy the ruits o
ones labors and expend ones wealth not only or the good o ones
amily but also or the welare o society.
Te nature o the responses
Beore presenting the results o the discussions with Seva Mandir
sta, a ew words have to be said about the nature o the language
being used here to analyze these responses. Clearly, the language
used by the sta to describe their work did not correspond di-
rectly with the language used in the documents presented by the
Institute. Dierent people used dierent words to describe the
very deep and complex issues that were being discussed in the
meetings. Moreover, no attempt was made in such conversations
to dene precisely the terms that were being used. Some elt more
comortable with words that have less religious connotations and
preerred to reer to terms such as ethical, human, and social to
describe the concepts that were being discussed. Others were
more at ease with religious terminology. Tose in the Institute
Introduction
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who analyzed the responses had to try to penetrate the meaning
that each participant was trying to convey and understand it in
the context o the kind o activity they were describing. What ol-lows, then, is the Institutes understanding o these conversations
in a language that it eels conveys in a consistent way the ideas
that were discussed. Introduction
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Spiritual principles or a better society
Where there is the darkness o ignorance, it is there that SevaMandir should reach out. Tis phrase uttered by Mr.Mohan S. Mehta, ounder o Seva Mandir, echoes loudly in
the minds o many o his organizations sta. One member o aSeva Mandir village development committee explained that this
phrase paired with Seva Mandirs sloganService, devotion,
revolutioncaptures the organizations philosophy well. We
want our children to receive education, to have a green orest, to
live with truthulness, love and unity. We want to advance. Tis is
our purpose, he explained.
Love, unity and truthulness eatured prominently among the
spiritual values to which Seva Mandir sta and collaborators
requently reerred throughout the conversations that were held
at dierent moments and at dierent levels o the institution.
Educating the younger generations was reerred to as one o its
goals; preserving the environment as another. For many o those
who work at Seva Mandir, all o these aims are grouped together
under one overarching purpose: learning to work or the common
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goodan aspiration that reects the organizations perception o
spiritual and material progress.
o work or the common good, many emphasized, requires an
awareness o the interconnectedness o all things, a principle that
is present throughout all o creation. Seva Mandir sta and collab-
orators believe that their programs have gained their vision, direc-
tion, and impetus rom the recognition o this spiritual principle.
According to Mr. Mohan Singh Kothari, a long-standing collabo-
rator and a member o its board o trustees, such consciousness
reinorces and is in turn deepened by the actions people take or
the common good: An awareness o interconnectedness gener-
ates motivation to work with others or the well-being o all, and
every action taken in concert with others in turn expands and
deepens this sense o interconnectedness. Spirituality, thus, is not
conceived o merely in terms o the personal, but as an aspect
o the human being that expresses itsel in the love and concern
people eel or one another. Spirituality has to do with collec-tive well-being, not just individual well-beingwe try to bring
this into society, said Mr. Hemraj Bhati, Seva Mandirs general
secretary. Spiritual and material progress, then, are achieved when
members o a community, convinced o the interconnectedness o
creation, engage in action that transcends individual interest and
benets the whole.
In working with communities to dene, protect, and preserve
collective assets such as pasturelands and orests, Seva Mandir
puts this vision o spirituality into action. Eorts in this area
draw to the ore another dimension o interconnectednessthe
understanding that nature and human beings are part o a single,
interconnected creation. Resources o nature are the property o
all, a trust, according to Mr. Kothari, that the present generation
holds or uture generations:
Spiritual principlesor a better society
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Spirituality says that all assets belong, depending on whatlanguage you are speaking, to God, or to the earth, Mother
Earth, and they are not or exploitation or personal gain at the
cost o the deterioration o those assets. Tere is a theme song
o Seva Mandir: Sampurn srishti mandir manav.It means that
we regard the whole creation as a temple. Now, in a temple,
you dont desecrate ityou dont misuse it or steal rom it.
Sta who participated in the meetings requently made mention
o love and empathy as two pivotal values in Seva Mandirs work.
Ms. Neelima Khetan, the chie executive ocer o the organiza-
tion, reerred to love as a undamental element o Seva Mandirs
approach to education. She used the example obalwadispre-
school level educational centers promoted by the organization
to illustrate this idea:
I you boil it down, its a relationship between a woman and
small children. I you have love there, you can do anything,
but i there is no love, little children will not come. You can
give them toys, you can give them ood, but i there is no love
they will not come. Love is present in everything, but in the
balwadi it is so apparent. It will not work and somehow in
whatever we do, we have been able to invoke the love in the
sanchalika(balwadi in-charge).
Another sta member rom Badgaon block provided a concrete
example o how members o this committee try to show love
and empathy even towards those who may at a given moment
be harming the common good. I a person takes odder rom the
common land beore it is distributed, he mentioned, the village
committee will meet with him and try to elevate his understand-
Spiritual principlesor a better society
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ing*. He emphasized that the committee will try to resolve the
matter without using violence or orce. He added that by showing
love and by preserving unity in its problem-solving approaches,the committee sets an example o how rank and loving consulta-
tion can serve as a tool or solving problems.
Some members o Seva Mandir sta reerred to the connection
that exists between Seva Mandirs understanding o love, empathy
and interconnectedness and Mahatma Gandhis philosophy and
worldview. Ms. Khetan spoke o this connection in the ollowing
manner:
In terms o theory, one question is Where is the problem? I
you theorize development in terms o the state has not done
this, then it is the otherizing o the problem. Tat will lead to
solutions o a dierent kind. But suppose your analysis is say-
ing that maybe we are all part o the problem, then it is not
that there is someone who is the exploiter and another personwho is exploitedTere are no black or white categories.
Maybe there was a time when you could lay blamemaybe
in the reedom strugglebut even then, Gandhi resisted call-
ing the British the enemy. So how do we today go and do it
when there isnt even some [group like the] British to go and
point ngers at?
As illustrated by the above comments, Seva Mandir sta does not
conceive o interconnectedness, love, and empathy as abstract
ideas, but as aspects o human existence that are maniest in
every-day human behavior. Te application o spiritual principles
* Te odder needs to grow or a certain amount o time beore it is considered by thecommunity to be ready or distribution. I people ignore the rules and the odder is cut
prematurely, it will not grow properly and the community will not be able to benet asmuch as i the odder had been allowed to grow to maturity.
Spiritual principlesor a better society
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to the practical aspects o lie, however, requires the adoption o
methods that are consistent with such principles.
Spiritual principlesor a better society
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Building consensus throughopen and rank dialogue
In their comments, Seva Mandir sta and collaborators ex-pressed the view that the means o social change need to beconsistent with the ends. o express the spiritual reality o onenessin our social lives we need to adopt approaches that are uniying
rather than divisive. According to Mr. Kothari, enduring social
change can only be achieved through processes o consensus
building. Consensus building requires people to eel empathy, he
emphasized, drawing attention to the way that conrontation can
obstruct eorts to bring about deeper changes in the hearts and
minds o people: Troughout the history o all these spiritual
people that we have heard about, or know about, he said, you
will nd casesrom Christ to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
that when you see someone who is a wrongdoer, you dont hate
him, you dont conront him; you change his heart, because these
things require a change o heart and a change o heart cannot be
brought about by these sudden revolutions.
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In order or these ideas to become a reality rather than a mere
enunciation o hope, certain methods are required. Pivotal among
these is the employment o rank and open dialogue. Tis is nosmall eat in a social context in which ones age, gender, class, or
caste usually determine whose opinion matters and whose voice
is heard. Te groups and committees that Seva Mandir creates
at the level o the grassroots provide spaces in which many o
these principles are enacted. It is in such spaces that consensus is
built among those who participate in the organizations dierent
programs. According to Mr. Kothari the sense o togetherness is
intensied in people when they come together to discuss common
issues, express their points o view openly, and advance in their
collective understanding o these issues. As people express their
opinions reely and listen to one another, they realize that the
collective good does not contradict the interests o the individual.
For people to talk to one another openly, they need to respect each
other. Te preservation o the dignity o the individual is thus one
o the aims o the groups that are being ormed by Seva Mandir.Empathy and respect must be expressed in peoples speech and in
the way they interact with one another.
Regarding this matter, a member o the village development com-
mittee o Malaria said:
When there is conict among the committee members, even
i it is with one person, then it will aect everyone else. So to
prevent this, we are very careul about the way we speak to the
villagers and to one another. We make sure to be considerate
o each others eelings.
Ms. Khetan explained how Seva Mandir sta strive to maintain
the dignity o people under all circumstances. Even i an indi-
vidual or a department is behaving poorly in some way, she said,
Building consensusthrough open and
rank dialogue
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rather than labeling the respective party as bad, the behavior
itsel is addressed. Te ollowing example given by her illustrates
this point:
Even when there were corruption cases in Seva Mandir, the
way we have dealt with those involved has not been to demean
them and show that they are thieves. I think that there has
been a lot o eort put into trying to understand why this
person deviated rom the path. Why did they cheat or become
corrupt? I we had to part ways, it has not been done in a
vindictive way. We have not tried to get their money; it has
been very civilized. Even ater theyve gone, weve sometimes
taken them back when we elt that there was true remorse on
that side.
Seva Mandir has played a key role in creating the conditions or
ree and rank dialogue and an environment where everyones
opinions are heard. Te organization has set guidelines regardingthe way the committees and the sel-help groups it creates oper-
ate, and it trains the members o these groups and committees
and ollows their progress. Te ollowing example provided by a
sta member rom Badgaon illustrates the role that Seva Mandir
workers play in acilitating these group discussions:
It happened that hal o the people in one o the village
development committees wanted to allocate money to build
a community hall, and the other hal didnt. But [the ormer]
hal didnt want to speak because they were araid o breaking
the unity o the committee. However, they discussed it and
Seva Mandir played a acilitating role to enable rank discus-
sion and to make sure that peoples opinions were heard and
consensus was reached. Finally they all decided to allocate
Building consensusthrough open andrank dialogue
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money rom the village development und to build the com-
munity hall.
Building consensusthrough open and
rank dialogue
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Creating structures that reect noble values
o bring about change, Seva Mandir has chosen constructivework*. Tis includes developing the capacities o the people,said a sta member rom the Natural Resource Development unit.
Such constructive work, he urther explained, involves encour-aging people to come together, consult, and work in cooperation
with one another. Te progress o both the individual and society
has always been the main objective o Seva Mandir. We do noble
work, and noble work should be done in a noble manner.
But to carry out noble work, structures that reect noble values
are needed. Good individuals will not accomplish much in society
i they are obliged to work in institutions that do not reect the
values that they cherish. How can people work or justice through
structures based on injustice? How can equality between men
and women be established when the institutions o society are
governed by norms that discriminate against women? o make
sure that those who participate in its programs can pursue their
* Te concept o constructive work was developed by Mahatma Gandhi. It was based on
the idea that the people themselves had to work or their own social, economic and moraldevelopment.
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noble goals, Seva Mandir creates spaces at the level o the grass-
roots that are governed by norms such as justice, collaboration
and cooperation:
Tese kinds o platorms are created or people to come
together. Nothing can be done in a vacuum. You cant just
talk about this. You have to create a place where people can
practice these qualities. (A sta member o the Women and
Child Development unit)
Te constructive work aspect has helped peoplesocial
transormation through constructive work. Doing something,
seeing the benet o that change, adding to your condence,
through that process also cleaning up whatever internal con-
tradictions are there, and then demanding changes in the
structure. (Neelima Khetan)
In Seva Mandir, working togetherbrings about a lot o con-quering o the ego without any bombshells coming rom any-
where. Te same applies to groupsthe ego will be questioned
and gets rectied automatically. (Mohan Singh Kothari)
Spaces o this nature also provide all community members with
the opportunity to participate in and benet rom the activities
that are being organized. Seva Mandirs eorts to ensure inclusiv-
ity through universal participation are derived rom the recog-
nition o the principle o interconnectedness. Acting according
to this principle implies ensuring that programs reach everyone,
particularly the poorest members o the community. We try to
reach where the government does not, said a sta member rom
Badgaon block. In cases where a amily or an individual is ex-
tremely poor, the rst opportunities are given to them, a member
o a village development committee o Dulavaton ka Guda ex-
Creatingstructures
that refectnoble values
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plained. Everyone sits together and prioritizes. We see who needs
what, which household really needs more, who is younger, who
is older. We make a plan to give benets to the weaker ones rst,oered another member o a committee rom Malaria village.
Ms. Swati Patel, in charge o the Women and Child Develop-
ment unit at Seva Mandir, expanded more on the role that the
village development committee plays in ensuring that all action
is directed towards collective well-being. According to her, Seva
Mandir has aced situations in which people have wanted to work
only or their own sel-interest or that o a small group o people.
For instance, on one occasion a ew prominent individuals work-
ing at the grassroots were asked to make bathrooms, wells, hand
pumps, or cattle sheds which were expected to benet everyone.
Yet they made only a ew o these items or their own benets.
We saw, she commented, that otentimes people werent able
to see beyond their own sel-interest or beyond that o a certain
group o people. Most people could not tap into these benets sowe decided to orm these village committees, most o which have
about 12 members.
According to its sta, the committees and groups ulll several
objectives or Seva Mandir. First, their existence at the level o
the villages implies more opportunities or the participation o
larger numbers o people. Tis means that new people in the vil-
lages have access to knowledge and resources that have tradition-
ally been in the hands o a ew. In addition to this, through their
participation in these groups, people learn to work together in
an environment o mutuality. Capacity is built at the level o the
villages to assume greater responsibility or their own progress and
to learn rom experience.
Creatingstructuresthat refectnoble values
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Seva Mandir sta and collaborators described how these groups
and committees serve as spaces where social issues are discussed,
community needs are addressed, and plans or action are designed.Trough their participation in these spaces more and more people
come to take responsibility or the development o their villages.
Village committees are responsible or providing leadership and
managing a variety o local development activities including
convening village meetings, monitoring and evaluating ongoing
development work, paying village-level workers associated with
Seva Mandir, and acilitating interaction with ormal government
bodies.
Mr. Kamal Lal Ahari, a member o the village development com-
mittee o Madla, oered the ollowing on this subject:
Earlier the proposals or development would come rom the
government, but now with the help and training received
rom Seva Mandir, we are able to design our own develop-ment programs based on our needs and the requirements
o the village and then we are able to propose these to the
government, through thepanchayat(village council, a govern-
ment body) and gram sabha (village assembly). Te village
people themselves have made the village development com-
mittee; the entire community looks at the problems, consults
on them, reects on them and then takes the proposal to the
government.
A member o the village development committee o Dulavaton ka
Guda village commented:
Beore we had a village development committee we used to
only meet to discuss unerals and weddings. But now we
Creatingstructures
that refectnoble values
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have a platorm that enables us to meet every month and dis-
cuss a range o issues.
Creatingstructuresthat refectnoble values
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Adopting new attitudes
hose who participated in the reection meetings or thisstudy reiterated many times that the best and most appropri-ate social structures will not ulll their purpose unless people are
empowered, their vision and consciousness is raised, and they areenabled to possess the qualities, skills and intellectual capabilities
that allow them to work or the common good. But what qualities
and attitudes should people who wish to work or the betterment
o society acquire? How are these qualities developed? Tere is a
termmanviya mulyaor spiritual qualities or human values:
truthulness, dedication, sacrice, responsibility, collective ben-
et, said Mr. Abhishek Jain, a sta member rom Jhadol block.Ms. Lakshmi Takur o the Women and Child Development unit,
reerred to another important aspect o the work. raining,
and more training, she said. I you want to change the mindset
o the people and bring about change without violence and con-
ict, you have tochange their way o thinking. Tat can only
be done through training. It is through these trainings, according
to one o the members o a village development committee in
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Dulavaton ka Guda, that people develop within themselves the
desire to stand up and become champions o justice.
Over time there has been a great improvement in the under-
standing o the villagers. Trough meetings people are made
aware o their rights and responsibilities, and this also helps.
People are aware o the development and changes taking place;
they are made aware o these through meetings and trainings.
Working or gender equality is an important area o work or
Seva Mandir. When we orm committees we say we need ty
percent women. In the beginning we couldnt reach that, but now
its happening, Mr. Jain explained. In Seva Mandirs work we
believe that without the participation o women, no work can
be accomplished. When women have a role in decision making,
then change can come. But to achieve equality, attitudes towards
women and commonly held ideas about their status in society
have to change. Educating both men and women about gen-
der equality is an important aspect o Seva Mandirs work. As
Ms.Patel explained, We talk to the men-olk and nd out why
this is a problem? What can we do about it? Why do we behave
this way? Why is it mainly against women that there is this savage,
violent behavior?
We pose the same questions to women, she said and urther
explained:
We try to raise awareness by showing them that they need
to stand up against violence. Just because there is this belie
thatpatiisparmeshwar(husband is lord), that doesnt mean
that the wie should accept everything. We had a workshop
with 30 women, and asked them about violence; they said it
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is accepted that the men hit them. I you dont put enough
salt in the ood, then your husband is going to beat you. Te
attitude was, What can we do? I we did something wrongthen the husband will hit us. We deserved it because we did
the wrong thing, and what can I do about it? So when we saw
the situation, we decided to ask some other older women who
had experienced similar violence to speak to them about why
it is wrong. Ater this, there was a change. Tis was a way in
which we raised among these women the awareness o what
they can do about violence and that they should also not per-
petuate it, because in the way that they educate their children
or daughters-in-law they teach them to expect it.
According to Ms. Patel, although the establishment o equality
between men and women requires changes in the attitudes o
every member o society, special attention has to be paid to the
uture generations: A ew years ago, a 15-year-old boy told me
that I my wie makes a mistake I will hit her. When I heardthis, I realized that i this is his thought process now, then later on
when we work with these men, o what use will it be?
But equality between men and women cannot be established in a
society that is permeated by other kinds o prejudices. Tere are
two levels o unityunity between women and men, and unity
between women o dierent backgrounds, added Ms. Patel.
Tere are a lot o prejudices between womenyou are Johar, she
is Adivasi, you are Meghwal (dierent castes). But i the women
arent rst unied, then how can we ever struggle or equality with
men? Seva Mandir tries to eliminate these prejudices by creat-
ing bonds o riendship among people: Te Kaya raining Centre
helped a lot because the rule was that all have to eat together, and
all the women have to sleep in the same roomit was not that the
Brahmins (considered the highest caste) would eat separately
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Adopting newattitudes
otherwise they wouldnt sit with the others. Sometimes things are
addressed openly, sometimes indirectly, Ms. Patel explained.
She later shared an example o how the organization discovered an
indirect way to encourage younger women who were intimidated
by the attitudes o older women to participate in Seva Mandirs
programs:
Te older women would always come to the Seva Mandir pro-
grams, but we also wanted to encourage the younger women
to attend. So what we did was encourage them more by hav-
ing more programs catering to their needs, such as discussing
adolescent problems or younger womens issues, which really
didnt concern the older women...I the older women would
shout at the daughters-in-law, they wouldnt do anything or
stand up or themselves. So these programs encouraged the
daughters-in-law to know their rights and stand up or them-
selves. Also, only the younger daughters-in-law would havetheir young children come or the balwadis, so it opened a
space or Seva Mandir to work with the younger women, oth-
erwise they couldnt even leave the house. Tey made separate
groups or married and unmarried, and adolescents, to tackle
these problems also. In issues or married women, like repro-
duction, pregnancythese are younger peoples problems, so
it became very easy to encourage the younger women to come
or these programs.
Te dierent values and expectations that people hold are inu-
enced by many actors and will not change overnight. Ms. Vidhya
Bhati o the Women and Child Development unit explained, or
example, that even though Seva Mandir trainings emphasize that
people should share their ideas, ask questions, and speak, it is
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challenging to overcome the many other cultural actors that keep
women silent:
Peoples socialization is based on all o their interactions in
society, not just with Seva Mandir, so changing behavior is di-
cult. People sometimes go and talk to them and the women
just sit quietly. One o the rural ladies went with me to talk to
a balwadi sanchalika. And while the sanchalikawas talking, the
lady was just looking on and staring at her ace, but she wasnt
talking or contributing anything. And ater a while the sancha-
likaasked me, Does this lady have some mental problem?
Because she was just sitting there and staring blankly. Ten, o
course, I said, No, she doesnt. Once the sanchalikahad let,
I told the lady, Why werent you sharing your thoughts and
opinions? You have so much knowledge and practical experi-
ence; why didnt you share it? Te sanchalikawas telling her
exactly what she had been told in another training session, but
she was just sitting there, listening. She never explained thatshe already knew that inormation.
o deal with these challenges, then, Seva Mandir also has to direct
its attention to the amily and the community. It has to address
the culture in which men and women are immersed. According to
Mr. Devilal Katara o Jhadol block, the rst step to change culture
is to involve all members in the decisions the amily has to make,
and to begin to educate the children and treat the girl and boy
child the same way.
But to change those cultural elements that are impediments to the
ull participation o women in society is not a simple task. Various
sta members gave examples o some o the elements o the local
culture that have to change and o ways in which Seva Mandir
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Adopting newattitudes
addresses them:
During womens monthly menstrual cycles, they are told thatthey are dirty and must stay separate rom everyone until
their cycle ends. Tereore, we make an eort to educate these
women about the scientic causes o these monthly cycles and
help them to understand that it is not their ault in any way
and that they should not eel dirty or unwanted. (A member
o the Women and Child Development unit)
Te entire community sits together and they evaluate what are
the correct and incorrect norms and practices being ollowed
and try to bring about change. For example, child marriage
was a practice that was morally and socially incorrect so the
entire community sat together to discuss this. We now ensure
that all marriages are registered and the committee also ensures
that child marriages do not take place. (Mr. Kamal Lal Ahari)
With regard to aspects o the culture that are resilient to change,
Seva Mandir has sought to distinguish between those issues that
are to be addressed directly and those aspects o the culture that
need to be dealt with gently and worked around. A sta member
o the Women and Child Development unit remarked:
According to Rajasthani culture, women are not encouraged
to attend any event alone or unaccompanied, hence we kept
this aspect o culture in mind and when Seva Mandir orga-
nized programs or women; i men-olk wanted to accompany
them, then this was allowed. Similarly, there is also aghunghat
(veil) culture among women, so we do not insist that they
should remove theirghunghatwhen they come or activities
and workshops. We also do not criticize them or say that
ghunghatwearing is wrong, but slowly and with encourage-
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ment we tell them that they can share their thoughts even i
they do not want to remove theirghunghat. We use a similar
approach in the case o women who want to bring their chil-dren along with them.
In addition to seeking to change those aspects o the culture which
have been sources o oppression and injustice, Seva Mandirs work
also involves eorts to draw rom some o the positive attitudes
and values that are embedded in a regions culture. Any part o
the culture that is or the common good, the larger good, we have
adopted, explained Mr. Kothari, but we have not adopted any
part which does not t into that denition, because society has its
own superstitions, so we have to use discrimination.
An existing cultural value is the recognition o human solidarity.
Seva Mandir builds on this sense o collective identity that exists
among the people o the region; this sense lends impetus to a
desire to work or the common good. According to Mr. Kotharithere is a general eeling among the people that what is in the in-
terest o the collective ultimately proves to be in the interest o the
individual as well. I you have a proper dialogue with people, he
said, this idea is inherent somewhere in their heartsalthough
it may not be clear in todays thinking or vocabularythat what-
ever is or the larger good may also be good or me in the longer
run.
Te ollowing are Mr. Aharis words in relation to the concept o
solidarity:
Some amilies, i they dont have many people to work on
their land and are poor, they perorm handa* during the har-
* Handa is the local term or a practice whereby the villagers o a certain area come
together as a group and they go to each others homes to help one another with theirharvesting as needed.
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Adopting newattitudes
vest time. Tey put out the word in the village that they need
help and everyone comes to help with the harvest. Tis is part
o the culture. With weddings and unerals, too, everyonecontributes.
o preserve and to promote these values urther, Seva Mandir
uses the eective means o social communication provided by the
local culture. A ew sta members reerred to Gavri, a tribal es-
tival which involves dance-drama perormances, as a medium or
raising awareness about government campaigns, and educating
people about immunization, the environment, and aorestation.
Others spoke o how in its orestry work Seva Mandir has adopted
a cultural practice called kesar chadkao (saron sprinkling), which
involves throwing saron on trees to discourage deorestation.
Te saron, considered to lend the area an aura o sanctity, is
sprinkled by a recognized religious gure. Tey also reerred to the
useulness o sacred grovesareas o the orest in which a temple
is builtin encouraging the preservation o the orest around thetemple. Mr. Madhav ailor o the Natural Resource Development
unit observed: In the last 50 years, most o the orest has been
cut, but only the sacred groves remained. Tey even had to divert
roads around them.
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Working or the common good inthe midst o contrary orces
A
pplying spiritual principles to social processes that become
more materialistic with every passing day is not an easy task.
Endeavoring to work towards the common good in a world inwhich individuals are urged to pursue their narrow sel-interest
is challenging. Given the great inuence that individualism and
materialism have on the lives o people, it is not surprising or
Seva Mandir sta to encounter people in their work who are more
interested in their own short-term gain than in a vision o collec-
tive betterment. A ew Seva Mandir collaborators eel that during
the past years the people rom the villages have begun to lose theirsense o connectedness. As one collaborator explained, those who
participated in the projects in earlier stages had a long-term vision
o their purpose and work with Seva Mandir. According to him,
the number o people who see the payment that they receive or
their labor as an end in itsel has increased signicantly.
Aware o the diculty o controlling most outside inuences, Seva
Mandir sta try to ensure that at least the trainings they provide
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or raising up village leaders do not increase in the participants
the desire and the capacity to pursue their own sel-interest. Ms.
Takur explained this challenge in the ollowing way:
Usually when were promoting leadership programs in villages,
there are certain people whose understanding is better than
othersSo, unconsciously, one o these people gets promoted
by Seva Mandir. But then the same person goes and does just
the opposite o what he is taught. He starts working with oth-
ers, but or his own sel-interestTey dont work honestly,
they avor their own people. Its not possible to work with
everyone at the same time. You have to work with a ew people
at a time. But how do you go beyond the ew you begin work-
ing with and reach everyone? How do you prevent individuals
rom working or their own sel-interest?
In addition to raising participants awareness o the importance o
behaving in ways that will benet everyone, sta at Seva Mandirhave to address the question o nepotism at the level o the vil-
lage committees. People, especially the committee members, do
take advantage o their position and take extra benets, a Bad-
gaon sta member observed. Te village development commit-
tee sometimes wants to give the position o balwadi sanchalika
(in-charge) to their own daughters-in-law or amily members,
another member commented. So we had to develop a system to
make the process transparent...We sit with the committee, share
the sanchalikas paper with the committee and discuss why they
have chosen her.
Other members explained that, by incorporating more and more
people into its programs and raising their capacity to be able to
serve in these committees, Seva Mandir tries to avoid the cre-
ation o a group o elite who are in charge o the aairs o each
Working orthe common goodin the midst ocontrary orces
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community. Tey explained that through discussions held with
both committee members and the entire village Seva Mandir sta
remind villagers o the responsibility they have or the develop-ment o their communities. o ulll this responsibility, they are
to avoid ollowing anyone blindly. Te committees are there to
serve them. Tey, too, as community members should assist the
committees in their task by reminding them that the choices they
make have to be based on their moral judgment rather than on
their own interests. Putting spirituality into action, said one Seva
Mandir sta member, means acting as a responsible member o
the community.
Another challenge that Seva Mandir collaborators are aware o
is the challenge o ensuring that the promotion o qualities such
as empathy and love, and the use o methods based on building
consensus do not inadvertently lead to passivity in those who par-
ticipate in its programs. o say that one should neither express
anger towards others nor use violence is not tantamount to tellingpeople that they should be passive, merely accept what comes to
them, and not strive or change. One can struggle or justice and
yet still show empathy towards others, said Ms. Khetan. For
example, we all agree that a man has done something wrong when
hes beaten his wie, but you can conduct a conversation with him
either with empathy or with rage. For Ms. Khetan, the path to
societal improvement is long and involves many gradual and in-
cremental changes. In response to critics who may question an
approach o building on consensus rather than on conict, she
said:
You should look at it and tell uso the womens groups
youve seen, the changes youve seen, are they undamental
changes or not?You look at the Van Utthan Sangh [a ed-
eration o orest protection committees in the region created
Working orthe common good
in the midst ocontrary orces
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Working orthe common goodin the midst ocontrary orces
by Seva Mandir]it is not a small achievement that they have
altered the nature o the discourse. From a private approach to
land, they have shited it to a more common kind o owner-ship and approach. So are these shits undamental, deep, or
not?...I they are deep shits, then maybe our method may not
be that weakIt cant be just a conversation on I think this is
the theory, you think this is the theoryit has to be on social
change in practice.
Achieving consistency between the personal conduct o Seva
Mandir sta and the aims and practices they are trying to promote
in the communities the organization serves was another challenge
Seva Mandir sta and collaborators identied. In this connection,
Ms. Patel commented:
Whether you look at Seva Mandirs aims or the Women and
Child Development units aims, the rst struggle is with
yoursel. Because until we make and eel these changes withinourselves, it is hard to talk to anyone else about it. It will be
very supercial. For example, i I say that people should treat
childrenboys and girlsequally, and that is what we want
to bring about, a change in attitudes towards gender relations,
then i I dont believe in this or Im not practicing these at
home, it may become dicult to tell others to do it. It is very
empty. It is like this with any area o Seva Mandirs work. Until
we practice it ourselves, it is dicult to tell anyone else to do
it. Sometimes it does happen that we say one thing and prac-
tice another. We may yell at the servant at home, but at Seva
Mandir we say we are equal and should treat others equally.
Sometimes we do it consciously, sometimes unconsciously. It
is a big struggle, because sometimes you do one thing inside
and another thing outside. Sometimes I eel like I have di-
erent identities. In Seva Mandir I have a dierent identity.
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Working orthe common good
in the midst ocontrary orces
When Im at home it is dierent. And at my home in Pune,
my identity there is also dierent. Tere are lots o dierent
struggles.
In relation to this theme, a sta member o the Natural Resource
Development unit said the ollowing:
Sometimes we do something ourselves then go to the village
and tell them not to do it. Development isnt just or tribals;
its or us all. We have dierent masks, but we should analyze
this. Morality is not just a subject in our textbooks; what is it
in practice?
Although the challenge o achieving higher levels o consistency
between ones own behavior and the aims one espouses in ones
work with communities is inevitably great, Seva Mandir does
oer spaces or reection or its sta to meet and discuss such
challenges. Tis assists individuals to become more aware o anycontradictions that may exist and strive towards greater consis-
tency. I the sel-help group is not united, then how can they
share benets with others? I we have a contradiction, how can we
help others? asked Mr. ailor.
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May knowledge grow in my heart
Mara ghat mein upje gyan (may knowledge grow in my heart)were the words Mr. Kothari uttered, reerring to a line romthe theme song o Seva Mandir. He urther explained the mean-
ing ogyan, the Hindi word or both scientic knowledge andhigher understanding:
Te line that comes out o it is gyan. Tis is a complex word.
It means knowledge, understanding, and also a sense o the
larger good, enlightenment. Tis is all encompassed by the
word. Tis song has been sung by thousands in the Seva
Mandir programs over the years and it appeals to the higher
sense that is inherent in people. Te second line that comesis, Human lie/is an important jewel/without striving/it is
worthless. Tis means striving to have a higher understand-
ing. Tis makes sense to the people we work with even today.
Knowledge, then, in Seva Mandirs perspective, is the impulse
that drives and gives direction to change, it is the inner yearning
o the soul that drives the individual to seek understanding.
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Mr. Shailendra iwari, head o the Natural Resource Develop-
ment unit, reerred to a prayer that expresses this meaning o
knowledge:
De gyan, Saraswati Ma (give us knowledge, Mother Sara-
swati) the prayer says. It is a soul-cry. It is not simply literacy,
it is gyan. We need both Lakshmi (goddess o wealth) and
Saraswati (goddess o learning and knowledge). Te soul is
crying or knowledgeabout education, lie, the environ-
ment, everything. Gyan means exposure, which can generate
demand or development.
Where is one to nd this kind o knowledge? According to Mr.
Niranjan Ameta, a member o the Natural Resource Development
unit, the source o this knowledge is not only the major urban
centers like New Delhi, as is oten assumed. Rather, knowledge
can also be passed rom one village to another. Other members o
the sta elaborated on this idea. While local knowledge is impor-tant, they said, development eorts can benet rom combining it
with modern science, technology and other sources o knowledge
rom outside the community in an appropriate manner. Local
knowledge and outside knowledge are both used; we combine
both. We dont say only local knowledge or outside knowledge
is always good, Mr. Bhati commented. Both have a place, Ms.
Khetan added. Both bottom-up and top-down happen because
the issue o womens empowerment, not beating children, doesnt
come rom the bottom. Our society has always believed that i
you hit the children, they will study, that there is nothing wrong
with that. [Te idea that it should not be like this] was not in the
discourse. Te way the caste panchayats exclude women is not
good, nor are all local things good.
May knowledgegrow in my heart
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May knowledgegrow in my heart
Sta members rom Badgaon block shared examples o how local
and scientic knowledge combine in a ew areas in which Seva
Mandir works with the community. With respect to agriculture,one o them explained:
Old seeds oer less yield, so we teach community members
how to use the new seeds using modern scientic techniques.
We are not bringing in hybrids, but are improving the ones
that exist in the local area. In the training or the traditional
birth attendants, we use scientic methods, teach them what
medical practices they should use while helping mothers
give birth, the schemes available or pregnant women, and
immunization.
Indigenous technologies are also preserved and used in Seva
Mandirs work. Mr. ulsi Ram, a sta member rom Jhadol block,
noted the ollowing with respect to some o the local technologies
used and developed by the people o the region:
Tey have so many dierent technologiesthey do a kind
o engineering to connect two streams and make a wooden
bridge between them. When the water is channeled rom di-
erent streams, they make a barrier and a third channel at a
cross point and use that to bring water to the lower elds.
Tey measure it and build a bridge across.
Mr. Katara added:
Tey have lots o dierent types o water engineering that
even engineers dont know. We combine the dierent types o
knowledgelocal and modernto give them the maximum
benet. We see how they can benet rom modern agricul-
tural technologies.
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And what is the source o spiritual knowledge? Seva Mandir stawere asked. Te source, many answered, is the common spiritual
knowledge that has been accumulated by populations throughout
the centuries. Tere is a conviction among the sta and collabora-
tors that certain principles that orm part o this knowledge are still
relevant, but at the same time, the organization is not inexible.
Tere is a constant dialogue with these ideas with the intention o
rst nding those principles or belies, especially those rom the
local culture, which have proven ecacy. Ms. Khetan remarked,
Tese are maybe principles espoused by Christ to Ramakrishnaji,
but Seva Mandir came to it not through any religion; the villagers
taught us this. It has arisen out o our experience.
Spiritual knowledge comes rom the conviction that qualities
such as love and truthulness and principles such as the oneness o
mankind are real and that they can contribute to the constructiono a better world. People in the villages possess this knowledge
because they have lived it all their lives. When the arms o some
amilies in the village were burned and the amily had nothing to
eat, the whole village got together and arranged to provide ood
grains or that amily. We think that way, a committee member
rom Bada Bhilwara explained.
A committee member in Dulavaton ka Guda stated: Human-
ity is one and God created us all. Were all Gods children, so
why these dierences? Another member rom that village com-
mented: Every person together makes up the society and each
person has to answer at the end o his lie or what he has done. I
you have ollowed the path o truth, you will nd truth.
May knowledgegrow in my heart
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May knowledgegrow in my heart
Naturally, making sure that a holistic conception o knowledge
permeates all o its activities has certainly not been without chal-
lenge or Seva Mandir. For one, the agency has had to strive tothink critically about its own approach in order to avoid being un-
duly swayed by the dominant discourse in the eld, and increas-
ingly by the modern educational system, which has encouraged
more proessionalization and specialization and a narrower ocus
on science. In this context, it is easy to lose sight o an integrated
understanding o knowledge or gyan. Reerring to an approach
increasingly taken by actors in the development eld, a sta mem-
ber o the Natural Resource Development unit commented:
Most ocus on only one particular sector o development, the
area in which they are specialized, and tend to ignore the other
areas. We oten lack a holistic approach in developmentwe
are ocusing too much on science.
Another member o that unit said:
We come rom an era o scientic imperialism and when we
started to implement policies, we were taught that we had
to teach the tribals, that knowledge has to be brought rom
outside. In other words, the knowledge rom the West and
centers o learning have to be brought and provided to the
villagersinstead o making eorts and encouraging people
at the grassroots to generate local knowledge. Our current
education system teaches people to work and aspire or jobs
in the cities rather than devoting ones time to agriculture in
the villages. o bring about a change in this kind o mindset
is extremely challenging, as we have rom the beginning been
brought up in this kind o culture.
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Te sta o the organization have themselves been brought up in
an educational system that largely values modern science above lo-
cal knowledge and values urban employment and liestyles aboveagriculture and rural lie. Tus, encouraging people at the grass-
roots to generate and apply local knowledge and to value their
agricultural liestyle required sta to reorient their own thinking.
Another challenge or the agency in seeking to encourage people
to generate and apply knowledge is or the sta members to re-
ally believe that the local people have the capacity to do so. Te
organizations sta had to change patterns o behavior inherited
rom the culture they grew up in, which hindered their ability to
build the capacity o others. In addition, though it was not ini-
tially easy, they had to learn to convince community members
particularly segments o the population which have historically
been oppressedthat they possess knowledge and that their views
matter.
Ms. Patel explained the process she went through in order to
overcome cultural assumptions that someone with more ormal
education has all o the answers:
Te culture o asking questions did not exist in India. What
your parents or school teachers say is correct and you are not to
question it. So when I studied at a very amous university and
came here, I thought I knew all the answers. But aterwards
I also realized the signicance o giving other peoples views
importance. Tey have more practical knowledge. We have
come rom ar away, but [they] are here, so [they] have more
practical knowledge. Its very important that people should
condently share their opinions, especially women.
May knowledgegrow in my heart
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May knowledgegrow in my heart
Ms. Bhati described the approach the organization takes to help-
ing community members, especially women, realize that they pos-
sess knowledge and their views are important to the consultativeprocess:
Otentimes we assure the people o their valuewhether
you are rom the village or rom the city, your viewpoint and
opinions are also important. We encourage them to share. For
a change to be brought about in these women you have to
encourage them to know that their opinions are important.
Tis helps bring about a change, because they will share more,
express more. Because rom the beginning they are taught that
they dont know anything; but when we tell them that their
opinions are important, this gives them condence and helps
to bring about change. Tey realize that they also have under-
standing and they can use this. Tis [encouragement] we do
through the medium o trainings. So then they also eel that
women also have a standing in society and our thoughts alsohave some importance.
Another challenge Seva Mandir has aced pertains to the role o
knowledge drawn rom religion. While religion holds much value
as a source o spiritual principles, insights and motivation or the
development process, many people hold belies that are part o
their religious traditions but that prove to be a great hindrance to
the development process. Much gender inequality, hatred, con-
ict and prejudice has been upheld and promoted in the name
o religion. Due to this, Seva Mandir has had to sort through the
various belies held by the members o the communities in which
it works. It has endeavored to distinguish between those belies
and traditions that are ound to be valuable rom others that cause
harm. A sta member o the Women and Child Development
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May knowledgegrow in my heart
unit commented:
When there is violence against women, we try and addressall these misconceptions about women that we claim come
rom religionhow much actually comes rom religion is yet
to be known. Scientic methods are used to explain various
conceptsWhen we talk about development o children, we
explain to them about the entire process in a scientic manner.
Whatever programs we carry out, we try to use both religious
and scientic knowledge. I religion is saying something about
a particular issue then what does science say about the same
issue.
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Rising above the exigencieso material existence
What is it that makes human beings human, motivates themto love, to sacrice and to give o themselves? What impelspeople to sustain their work or the common good? Answers tothese questions are, or many, grounded in the spiritual nature o
the human being. o say that human reality is spiritual is an a-
rmation o human potentialities and not a denial o the material
dimension o existence. It suggests that we as human beings can
rise above the natural and material exigencies o our existence,
and implies the need to raise our consciousness, to realize that
we are bound to others in spirit, that we share the same reality,
and that we are united and connected both to each other and to
nature. Maybe it is such aith in the capacity o human beings to
develop their spiritual qualities, to grow, and to transorm them-
selves that motivates many development organizations to work
or a better society.
o work or the common good requires sacrice. But what makes
people give up their own comort or others? What makes them
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love and trust people they barely know? What motivates them to
see beyond their own interests? Seva Mandirs answers to these
questions are derived rom its belie in the goodness o the humanbeing. It is on that dimension o human nature, which inclines
the individual toward qualities such as honesty, selessness, and
trustworthiness, that it ocuses its attention. Te human being...
is not only a selsh being. Tere is a higher plane to that, Ms.
Khetan observed. She believes that the intrinsic nobility that
people have within them enables them to respond to appeals to
strive or the common good. It is to this nobility that Seva Mandir
appeals when it calls people to transcend the promptings o the
ego and o narrow sel-interest, which also orm part o human
reality.
Te movement o the individual towards higher ideals is a process
that takes time, said Mr. Bhati. Te ego doesnt get conquered
all at once. It is a process rom stage to stage. Mr. Jain explained,
I a glass is hal lled some people think it is hal-empty. We lookmore towards the positive side and hope the negative side will be
drowned in it.
Many at the organization believe that people should be treated in
such a way that their lower nature is not unnecessarily provoked.
Mr. Ameta said:
In a person, there is the lower nature and the higher nature;
they can go in both directions and the capacity has to be used
in the right direction. Everyone has the same reality, no one
is just an animal. You have to use the person well, treat them
with dignity and understanding and their reaction will be di-
erentAt whatever level the person is, we have to see the
positive in them and take the positive orward. I a person has
enthusiasm and capacity, we need to take it in the right direc-
Rising abovethe exigencies o
material existence
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Rising abovethe exigencies omaterial existence
tion, otherwise they can become unmotivatedIn our work
with the commons, Seva Mandir tried to give everyone work
on common lands. I we had not involved everyone, somepeople might have opposed it. When you let the animal na-
ture start to develop rom a small level, then it just grows.
Mr. Arun Maheshwari, a member o the Natural Resource Devel-
opment unit, concurred:
Sometimes developmentwill stimulate the animal na-
ture. Tere is always the animal nature, but certain things in
the environment inuence it and can bring mans animal or
positive nature out. I you oer benets to one amily and
not to another, then you can bring out the bad sides. Peoples
animal nature doesnt come out because people are poor and
uneducated, it oten actually becomes worse when people are
more rich and educated.
Te way the organization is managed is also a reection o its
belie in peoples capacity to rise beyond the limitations o the sel.
Te atmosphere, according to Ms. Khetan, is not one o supervi-
sion. We give people space and trust that they want to do work.
According to her, this trust has been paid back to Seva Mandir in
ull measure. Its not that weve trusted in people and have then
been taken advantage o.
She then reerred to the ollowing example to demonstrate the com-
mitment that Seva Mandir sta have towards the organization:
Sometimes in the board meetings we engage in such hard dis
cussionsshould we take a salary raise or not at this time?
We are one o the ew organizations who have increased the
work hours; we used to work rom 10:00am to 5:00pm and
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we made it 9:30 to 5:30, and everyone discussed and people
agreed to it, and no union came up to protest. In this day
and age where can you nd people on such low salaries sayingwell increase our work hours, even though we brought down
the number o holidays?
Regarding the atmosphere o trust and mutual support that exists
in the organization, a sta member in Badgaon recounted, I had
an accident and needed money or treatment, then I received a
transer o unds to my account rom Seva Mandir. We really take
care o each other and treat each other like amily members. Tere
is a lot o trust.
I avoiding approaches to development that try to satiate peoples
limitless material desires is dicult, building an organization
based on trust and mutual respect is even more demanding. Seva
Mandir sta commented on some o these challenges:
I we give people the capability to decide, they can also op-
press others. (Mr. Nitin Verma rom Jhadol block)
In our work with the commons, Seva Mandir is always trying
to give everyone work on the pasture lands, but sometimes
i a person does not get work then he goes and opposes all
the other programs o Seva Mandir. (A sta member o the
Natural Resource Development unit)
Consumerism tries to create needs and people try to ulll
those needs. Ten it creates even more needs and orces people
to do wrong to ulll these unjustied needs created by the
market and consumerist society. (A sta member o the Natu-
ral Resource Development unit)
Rising abovethe exigencies o
material existence
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Rising abovethe exigencies omaterial existence
Te inuence o a culture that continually creates new needs and
wants in people makes the task o encouraging individuals to live
up to higher idealsto share, to be generous, and to sacrice orthe well-being o the communityeven more challenging. Ac-
cording to its sta, the organization has sought to orge ahead
patiently in its eorts to promote sustainable development by
bringing out the good in people, even when the behavior o
certain individuals has been less than cooperative. An individual
rom the Natural Resource Development unit said:
During Seva Mandirs work and programs, i we eel that an
individual is not cooperating or is incorrect in their approach,
then we try and maintain tolerance. We are constantly striving
to be more tolerant and to accept others views and opinions
no matter how dicult it is. Te aim is to pursue a common
goal but not compromise individual benet while we ac-
company people. We motivate people byappreciating their
viewpoints and recognizing their eortswe encourage morepeople to work together and in cooperation with one another.
Tis approach takes longer but it is more sustainable.
While seeking to give people reedom to decide, Seva Mandir
avoids creating structures that place power completely in the
hands o individuals. As Mr. Nitin Verma explained:
In order to avoid the reedom o the individual becoming the
cause o the oppression o others, we join people together into
collectives. People are ree to express their opinions, but we
ask all to share their opinions and make a collective decision.
People can express it i they dont like a decision, so no one
can orce others.
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Rising abovethe exigencies o
material existence
In the context o Seva Mandirs view o human nature, the or-
ganizations view on reedom reected, not so much a desire to
promote unbridled liberty, as much as a commitment to createspace or individuals to rankly and openly exchange views, take
responsibility and make decisions or their own development. Mr.
Bhati remarked:
Everyone has reedom to express ideas; its not just that Nee-
limaji (the CEO) said it and so thats it. Tere can be debate.
Tere is a space created. I a proessional comes, he can speak,
and i a villager comes, so can he. At all levels, people can
speak and have equality. Whatever seems best ater discussion
is carried orward.
Ms. Sunita Kumari, in-charge o the Peoples Management School,
commented that this reedom comes with responsibility. She de-
scribed the organizations work as building peoples capacity to
make decisions, ostering their ability to work together in groups,and to uphold the rules o those groups. Tey are taught that they
have not only rights, but also responsibilities.
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Material means and the common good
In their reections on material possessions, Seva Mandirs staand collaborators spoke o wealth as a means to urther theprogress o the community rather than as an end in itsel. Based
on such understanding, then, the purpose o work is to contributeto the common good. It is through their work that individuals
can generate material means that can benet themselves and
their amilies as well as their neighbors and other members o the
community.
An emphasis on collective good implies that individuals can-
not amass wealth at the expense o the well-being o others. Mr.
Kothari shared his insights on the purpose o wealth:
Adoration o wealth as the ultimate dispenser o happiness can
become a problem, and this sense o collective good and larger
interest helps to counter this. When you are seeking the whole
wealth o the world or yoursel, then you are impoverishing
the community, depriving it o something else. So I think this
sense o the larger goodo what is proper and how much to
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strive or money and by what means to strive or moneythat
sense comes, and I think Seva Mandirs work entails that.
He later spoke o the idea o balanced and appropriate develop-
ment in the ollowing manner:
Even when we discussed the process o development in one o
these Seva Mandir unctions, I made a statement that was a
dicult statement to make. I said that we must aim or bal-
anced development, and people must accept development
based on balance and wisdom. We cannot expect to all become
millionaires, because i every villager started expecting that,
it will either be an impossible task or it will set into motion
greed to such an extent that it will pervert society. Tat was a
dangerous statement to make. But the sense that we convey to
the people we work or and work with is that by joining our
movement you arent going to become millionaires, but the
aim is development in which your needs, not your greed, willbe met. Tat understanding exists in Seva Mandir. Te chal-
lenge remains in the present scenario because o this attraction
o endless acquisition o goods and gadgets and luxuries.
A number o activities undertaken in the communities in which
Seva Mandir works demonstrate this understanding o work and
wealth. Te organization has helped many communities establish
village development unds, in which community members con-
tribute a certain percentage o their earnings to be used or the
development o the village. Village development committees that
provide a space in which people can develop and practice qualities
such as selessness and sacrice have also galvanized community
eorts to contribute voluntary labor in order to construct com-
munity centers and roads. Regarding the village development
und, Mr. Jain said:
Material meansand the
common good
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Material meansand thecommon good
Te village development und is or allall people contribute.
I they are using it, it should be invested in something that can
result in earnings, so it is revolving.
Te und not only provides material means; it also contributes
to uniying the members o a community and creating a sense o
shared responsibility. Mr. Ameta remarked:
Many times in the traditional orums or decision-making,
people decide to use money they would use or alcohol to
put in the village development und insteadthey make
sacrices.
Te village development und reects an understanding o wealth
as being a shared resource or the development o the community.
Te und is used or a variety o development eorts. For example,
in Madla, the unds were used to hire extra teachers in order to
provide education to the children o the village. Te local govern-ment school had only 2 teachers or 230 students, so the village
development committee met and decided to hire 2 more teachers
rom among the educated but unemployed youth o the village.
Te committee pays the salaries o these 2 teachers out o the
interest received rom the village und. Tey hold classes in the
village library established by Seva Mandir.
Te sense o balance and moderation in regards to material wealth
is not imposed by Seva Mandir on the communities with which it
works. In general, rom the perspective o the communities, true
wealth is social wealth. It is recognized that while individual wealth
yields temporary benet, collective unds have more lasting value.
Tere is a consciousness o the need to use wealth to contribute to
collective well-being. For example, Mr. Ahari remarked:
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In the village the prevalent mentality towards wealth is that i
a person does not have wealth or money then everyone helps
him, individually we help him and as a community we helphim, too. In the entire village people who earn a lot o wealth
are ew, but whatever wealth is received is shared with amilies
who are needy. We also try to prevent corruption rom enter-
ing the village. Te attitude in the village towards work is a
positive one. Work is something that should be done or the
benet o all. Tere is a eeling o sacrice and ownership.
Te understanding that has traditionally existed in the village is
that good character is more important than the possession o great
wealth. A sta member in Badgaon commented:
I you have a good child, but little wealth, that child can
eventually earn thro