Sant Kirpal Singh – Selfless Service
He employed His leisure in serving others. He attended to the ailing in hospitals, helping them financially, serving them in every possible way – even cleaning their utensils, if need be. In the year 1919, after the first World War, an epidemic of influenza, not unlike that of 1957, but certainly far more fatal, swept through the country. It took so heavy a toll that people were in mortal fear of catching the infection and left even their kith and kin unattended. But, disregarding the danger to Himself, Sant Kirpal Singh organized a Social Service Corps and personally attended victims stricken by the disease, mitigating as far as possible their sufferings in that hour of need.
Similarly, at about that time there broke out an epidemic of bubonic plague in the Punjab and took such a heavy toll, day in and day out, that people fled far and wide, leaving their dying relations in the throes of the dreadful malady. Once again, He raised a band of selfless volunteers and fearlessly plunged into the service of the sick and the helpless in the hour of their dire need, administering them medicines and comforting them in their distress.
Once when Sant Kirpal Singh was yet in His twenties and eked out a bare living with the sweat of His brow, His ailing uncle came to Him in Lahore. He got him admitted into the hospital and helped him day in and day out with all sorts of medicines and food. One day, while He was helping His uncle with a cup of milk, His eyes fell on an old and emaciated skeleton of bones lying uncovered on a nearby bed. Sant Kirpal Singh went up to him and asked him if he needed anything. This brought tears of gratitude in the old man’s eyes and he heaved a sigh of relief at finding someone in the wide and dreary world who would ask him about his needs.
From that day on, Sant Kirpal Singh began looking after both His uncle and this old man alike in all their needs. The result was that He Himself had for days on end to live on bare parched grams and plain water. His uncle was astonished and said, "You are doing all You can for me because I am Your uncle and as such have perhaps some claim on You. But I see that this old man, a mere bundle of bones, with no means to reward Your services, receives the same kind treatment from You as I do." Sant Kirpal Singh meekly replied, "Respected uncle, you both are alike to me. He has as much a right on me as You have. In fact the entire creation has the same right on me. I am for the creation and the creation is for me. We are one and not two. I am for all and not for any individual."