The process to serve and be served sanctified food with love is called "honoring prasad" in the classical Vaishnava spiritual tradition. I personally consider it to be the culmination of culture and service. I learned this art in my studies in Mayapur, India, so when I helped direct The Radha Krishna Camp for Girls in Brazil, we decided to implement this system of honoring prasad for every single meal for six days.
We may have bit off a liiiiiittle more than we could chew. (No pun intended.)
I taught the girls that for every meal, everyone would sit on mats on the floor in rows. About four girls for each meal would be rotated through the list to be a server of prasad. Each meal, I would train the servers how to approach their fellow campers with each dish and silently and lovingly offer prasad. When all the girls in the camp were completely satisfied, the servers would settle into a short row and then the director of the serve-out (me) got to serve the servers.
On our third day after lunch had been served to the whole camp, I was all set to serve those who had served out. But several of the girls who had been serving lunch kept saying no, no, Bhakti lata sit down, sit down, we will serve you!
I insisted, "No, this is my privilege, this is my service to serve the servers," This was only the third day of camp, and I sensed that the girls needed more training and direction.
But they were so insistent to serve. At last, I picked one girl, Annapurna, to serve the servers.
I settled to the rattan mat along with the other servers with curiosity.
Annapurna began to serve us. At one point, she surprised me – several minutes in she handed me a folded napkin. “What’s this?” I asked, shocked.
“It’s to wipe your mouth,” she replied. What? I had never taught her to give out napkins!
Annapurna served attentively and carefully, although naturally there were still some areas to grow into.
When we had all finished our lunch, I gestured to Annapurna to please sit down.
I would serve her now - I would be the servant of the servant of the servant.
Throughout the process of serving prasad to Annapurna, a competitive urge flared in my heart - I would serve her even better than she had served me! The image kept flashing through my mind of the folded napkin she had placed beside my plate. Determined to outdo her, I brought Annapurna ice cubes for her water. She accepted gratefully. The irony of my lack of humility in being a servant had me laughing to myself and shaking my head.
Once Annapurna had finished lunch and she had pronounced that she was satisfied, an idea struck me. I gathered the other servers and we held a mini-meeting at the dining table.
"Okay girls, let's have a little fun here. Let us discuss Annapurna’s service," I said once we were all gathered. "The goal of serving prasad is to be like salt - absolutely necessary and at the same time completely invisible. If we were to rate Annapurna in terms of her service being like salt, then what is one and what is ten on a scale from 1-10?”
“Ten is best, one is not good?” one girl ventured.
"Think about it, if Annapurna's service is like salt…”
“Ah!" another girl exclaimed, "Ten is too much salt, one is too little,”
“Exactly. What is five?”
“Perfectly balanced, right in the middle.”
“Yes. So we’re each going to give feedback to Annapurna. We'll rate her service on the salt scale from 1-10 and then offer some comments. Do you agree with this, Annapurna?”
We may have bit off a liiiiiittle more than we could chew. (No pun intended.)
I taught the girls that for every meal, everyone would sit on mats on the floor in rows. About four girls for each meal would be rotated through the list to be a server of prasad. Each meal, I would train the servers how to approach their fellow campers with each dish and silently and lovingly offer prasad. When all the girls in the camp were completely satisfied, the servers would settle into a short row and then the director of the serve-out (me) got to serve the servers.
On our third day after lunch had been served to the whole camp, I was all set to serve those who had served out. But several of the girls who had been serving lunch kept saying no, no, Bhakti lata sit down, sit down, we will serve you!
I insisted, "No, this is my privilege, this is my service to serve the servers," This was only the third day of camp, and I sensed that the girls needed more training and direction.
But they were so insistent to serve. At last, I picked one girl, Annapurna, to serve the servers.
I settled to the rattan mat along with the other servers with curiosity.
Annapurna began to serve us. At one point, she surprised me – several minutes in she handed me a folded napkin. “What’s this?” I asked, shocked.
“It’s to wipe your mouth,” she replied. What? I had never taught her to give out napkins!
Annapurna served attentively and carefully, although naturally there were still some areas to grow into.
When we had all finished our lunch, I gestured to Annapurna to please sit down.
I would serve her now - I would be the servant of the servant of the servant.
Throughout the process of serving prasad to Annapurna, a competitive urge flared in my heart - I would serve her even better than she had served me! The image kept flashing through my mind of the folded napkin she had placed beside my plate. Determined to outdo her, I brought Annapurna ice cubes for her water. She accepted gratefully. The irony of my lack of humility in being a servant had me laughing to myself and shaking my head.
Once Annapurna had finished lunch and she had pronounced that she was satisfied, an idea struck me. I gathered the other servers and we held a mini-meeting at the dining table.
"Okay girls, let's have a little fun here. Let us discuss Annapurna’s service," I said once we were all gathered. "The goal of serving prasad is to be like salt - absolutely necessary and at the same time completely invisible. If we were to rate Annapurna in terms of her service being like salt, then what is one and what is ten on a scale from 1-10?”
“Ten is best, one is not good?” one girl ventured.
"Think about it, if Annapurna's service is like salt…”
“Ah!" another girl exclaimed, "Ten is too much salt, one is too little,”
“Exactly. What is five?”
“Perfectly balanced, right in the middle.”
“Yes. So we’re each going to give feedback to Annapurna. We'll rate her service on the salt scale from 1-10 and then offer some comments. Do you agree with this, Annapurna?”
"Yes," she replied.
Girls gave feedback to Annapurna that she had been a little too salty - too many questions, too times being offered the same dish. One girl appreciated Annapurna's attentive kindness and careful mood. Annapurna received her feedback with a stoic face, her blue eyes clear and grave.
"Annapurna," I said. "I experienced your service on the salt scale as a 3.5 – not quite enough salt. I had to often ask for another dish or for more water, and I felt shy and uncomfortable to do so. That said, I was quite surprised when you gave me the napkin! It was thoughtful and sweet. I felt competitive, and decided to serve you even better – I thought, I’m going to serve you ice cubes, so take that!" We all laughed and laughed.
Then I asked Annapurna, “So, if you were to rate my service to you on a scale from 1-10, what would I be? What is your feedback for me?”
"You were a five," she said.
"Please, Annapurna, I want to grow in my service. Please be honest with me,"
"Well," she said, "The ice cubes for my water was nice, you were very attentive, Bhakti lata,"
"Any constructive feedback?" I prodded. The other girls watched in anticipation.
Annapurna fell quiet. At last she said, “You were so serious,”
“Serious?”
“Yes. Maybe you could... smile more,”
I laughed and nodded. “Thank you,” I said. I folded my palms to this girl who had become my guru today. "I shall carefully consider what you have said,"
“Next time," Annapurna said with a grin, "I will fold your napkin into an origami bird,”
We all laughed.
Girls gave feedback to Annapurna that she had been a little too salty - too many questions, too times being offered the same dish. One girl appreciated Annapurna's attentive kindness and careful mood. Annapurna received her feedback with a stoic face, her blue eyes clear and grave.
"Annapurna," I said. "I experienced your service on the salt scale as a 3.5 – not quite enough salt. I had to often ask for another dish or for more water, and I felt shy and uncomfortable to do so. That said, I was quite surprised when you gave me the napkin! It was thoughtful and sweet. I felt competitive, and decided to serve you even better – I thought, I’m going to serve you ice cubes, so take that!" We all laughed and laughed.
Then I asked Annapurna, “So, if you were to rate my service to you on a scale from 1-10, what would I be? What is your feedback for me?”
"You were a five," she said.
"Please, Annapurna, I want to grow in my service. Please be honest with me,"
"Well," she said, "The ice cubes for my water was nice, you were very attentive, Bhakti lata,"
"Any constructive feedback?" I prodded. The other girls watched in anticipation.
Annapurna fell quiet. At last she said, “You were so serious,”
“Serious?”
“Yes. Maybe you could... smile more,”
I laughed and nodded. “Thank you,” I said. I folded my palms to this girl who had become my guru today. "I shall carefully consider what you have said,"
“Next time," Annapurna said with a grin, "I will fold your napkin into an origami bird,”
We all laughed.
