Catherine Ingraham, who founded Parallax Press in order to promote engaged Buddhism asked Papaji about the world crisis in 1993:

"You say that this divine is playing itself out, but let's look at the suffering on this planet. For instance, there is an ecological destruction that is creating a living hell for people and other beings who are not awake in this dream, as we can easily see here in India. We are creating a desert of this Earth and poisoning out land, waters, and air. Many more people will face starvation and live in degraded circumstances. Worldwide tensions will increase, and so on. People who are primarily interested in spiritual matters, are, at this particular point in history, sometimes accused of being selfish. What do you feel about rendering service to the world, and from where does the passion arise for service if the manifestation is seen as a dream?"

Papaji:Having known the supreme state, our own Self, from inside there arises compassion. Automatically we are compelled. It's not service. Service has to do with somebody else. When the command is compassion, there's no one doing any service to anybody else. When you are hungry, you eat. You are not in service to the stomach, nor are the hands the servant when they are putting food into the mouth. We should live in the world like this. Service is the responsibility of the Self. Otherwise, who is doing this service? When the action is coming from the ego, there is hypocricy,jealousy, crisis. When the doer is not there, compassion arises. If a person is realized, all his actions are beautiful."