Transforming Ourselves and the World Through Selfless Service

How does a heart of service respond to the difficulties of our times? How do we overcome fear and awaken the compassion that is innate within us? Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace.org, discusses how small acts of service can transform us and transform the world.

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology and gift-economy. What started as an experiment with four friends in the Silicon Valley has now grown to a global ecosystem of over 500,000 members that has delivered millions of dollars in service for free.  In this past year, KarunaVirus.org, a play on the words Corona virus, is one of the many programs that have grown out of ServiceSpace. KarunaVirus.org offers good news, uplifting stories and inspiring ideas sent to subscribers daily. This is a volunteer project offered freely without ads or solicitations. 

Nipun has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, Dalai Lama's Unsung Hero of Compassion, Goi Peace Award in 2019.

SHOW NOTES: Nipun Mehta websites: ServiceSpace.org, KarunaVirus.org. Note that the quote “The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.” is actually from Ramakrishna. Dr. Trujillo apologizes that she couldn’t remember the correct attribution during the show.

YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: What an inspiring discussion today with Nipun Mehta on Karma Yoga, the path of selfless service. I love the insight that in Karma Yoga, it is not the action that is as important as the mindset. We grow compassion as we decouple from the focus on outcomes and serve from the space of love. "The reward for service is service." Powerful! I also enjoyed his teaching about 3 types of service, beggarly, neighborly and kingly and that if we realize we are offering beggarly service (expecting something in return) we can evolve to giving without motive.