Let me start this piece with my three most favorite love quotes by Swamiji (Swami Vivekananda)
1. The first sign of love is when love asks nothing, [when it] gives everything
2. Love is the easiest of all, it waits for no logic, it is natural (talking about Bhakti Yoga among other forms of Yoga)
3. God is Love, and Love is God
Followed by lines from his holiness Dalai Lama: "When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace”
And in the words of Pope Francis "Men of good will must work, each with his own strengths and expertise, to ensure that love for others increases until it is equal and possibly exceeds love for oneself"
These quotes are a blazing reminder of the importance and all-pervasiveness of Love. Why then does our modern society and learned worldly methods try to educate us into selfishly loving what is 'mine'? From securing grades in school, to cheating others to possess the best tangible things for oneself, to evaluating other using the yardstick of 'wealth' and not love and compassion? Why have we been 'taught' to only love ourselves? This question, I am yet to find an answer to.
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself" Matthew 22:39
"Those who believe and do good deeds, the Gracious God will create love in their hearts" Al Quran 19:97
Based on my personal experiences and the collective wisdom in various books of faith (a few examples shared above), I feel confident that we as humans are capable of being in love with every living thing around us. Where love stands for acknowledging that the universal energy-consciousness conglomerate within me is the same as that within other life forms around me, at different levels of manifestation, intensity, and complexity. Once we are able to come to terms with this fundamental truth, being in a state of Love is easy and natural.
Love is immortal and transcends the finite boundaries of body, space and time. We are at the center of an infinite effulgence of Love. Let me give an example; a man dearly loves his wife and from their union, a child is born (same is true for most life forms, as they are capable of reproducing their kind). With the birth of this child, the man loves the baby most dearly (sometimes even more than himself). Does this phenomenon look like a natural process where Love was manufactured? To me it does. Before the baby, man loved his wife with all his heart. After the baby, man loves both his baby and wife most dearly, completely, with the fullest fervor; without compromising his love for either of them. With arrival of a second baby, man loves both his children and wife most dearly and so on. An interesting prose from Upanishads explains this idea wonderfully
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Which Translates to:
Outer World is 'Purna' (full with external Love consciousness); the Inner World is also 'Purna';
From Purna comes Purna, Taking Purna from Purna, Purna Indeed Remains (because Love is infinite).
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
So dear friends, immerse thyself into this eternal flood of Love. Once you drown, only then shall you arise awakened in His Kingdom of Love
1. The first sign of love is when love asks nothing, [when it] gives everything
2. Love is the easiest of all, it waits for no logic, it is natural (talking about Bhakti Yoga among other forms of Yoga)
3. God is Love, and Love is God
Followed by lines from his holiness Dalai Lama: "When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace”
And in the words of Pope Francis "Men of good will must work, each with his own strengths and expertise, to ensure that love for others increases until it is equal and possibly exceeds love for oneself"
These quotes are a blazing reminder of the importance and all-pervasiveness of Love. Why then does our modern society and learned worldly methods try to educate us into selfishly loving what is 'mine'? From securing grades in school, to cheating others to possess the best tangible things for oneself, to evaluating other using the yardstick of 'wealth' and not love and compassion? Why have we been 'taught' to only love ourselves? This question, I am yet to find an answer to.
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself" Matthew 22:39
"Those who believe and do good deeds, the Gracious God will create love in their hearts" Al Quran 19:97
Based on my personal experiences and the collective wisdom in various books of faith (a few examples shared above), I feel confident that we as humans are capable of being in love with every living thing around us. Where love stands for acknowledging that the universal energy-consciousness conglomerate within me is the same as that within other life forms around me, at different levels of manifestation, intensity, and complexity. Once we are able to come to terms with this fundamental truth, being in a state of Love is easy and natural.
Love is immortal and transcends the finite boundaries of body, space and time. We are at the center of an infinite effulgence of Love. Let me give an example; a man dearly loves his wife and from their union, a child is born (same is true for most life forms, as they are capable of reproducing their kind). With the birth of this child, the man loves the baby most dearly (sometimes even more than himself). Does this phenomenon look like a natural process where Love was manufactured? To me it does. Before the baby, man loved his wife with all his heart. After the baby, man loves both his baby and wife most dearly, completely, with the fullest fervor; without compromising his love for either of them. With arrival of a second baby, man loves both his children and wife most dearly and so on. An interesting prose from Upanishads explains this idea wonderfully
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Which Translates to:
Outer World is 'Purna' (full with external Love consciousness); the Inner World is also 'Purna';
From Purna comes Purna, Taking Purna from Purna, Purna Indeed Remains (because Love is infinite).
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
So dear friends, immerse thyself into this eternal flood of Love. Once you drown, only then shall you arise awakened in His Kingdom of Love
