L O V E

[Guest guest]

Dear friends and devotees,

 

Bhakti is eternal,

 

Love. It is universal. It is divine.

 

If one desirous to know more about love, the perfect tutor is only

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Saibaba Garu. A living God. If we stay in

Prasanthi Nilayam or even go through any of His discourses, He starts

with Premaswaroopulara! See how sweet His words are! He being

Premaswaroopa, feels every one alike. We, especially, Telugu people are

luckiest to have Baba with us. Where ever He goes, he delivers the

speech in telugu only; of course the same will be translated to be

understandable to non-telugu people.

Edesamegina, ekkadunna nenu teluguvadine kada.

The preaching of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai is in another site of

Groups and need not be repeated here.

 

Regarding Love many great personalities had discussed at length.

 

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living

Foundation, travels and teaches internationally, reminding us that the

great spiritual traditions have common goals and values. His simple

message of love, practical wisdom, and compassion continues to inspire

people from all walks of life, and He encourages everyone to follow

their chosen religious or spiritual path while honoring the path of

others.

His talks and programs have helped people around the world reduce

stress, experience physical and emotional healing and develop a sense of

belonging. It so happened that I have recently come across some

excerpts from these talks of more than ten years old. Whether reading a

talk from years past or hearing a current one for the first time, the

knowledge is always fresh and meaningful.

People often feel that the current weekly knowledge applies to an

immediate need, and there are many instances where someone seeking

wisdom or advice picked up a volume and opened it randomly to find

exactly what they required at the moment. The paradigm of time, space

and separateness breaks down.

I would, therefore, share with you all the wisdom of the great Guruji,

on different topics under the heading:

 

Share the wisdom of His holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

 

 

LOVE

 

1. When there is so much love, you take total responsibility for any

misunderstanding. For a moment you may express dismay on the surface.

But when you do not feel that dismay in your heart, you arrive at a

perfect understanding. You are in a state where all problems and all

differences slide away and only love shines through.

 

Usually we are struck in our differences because we have lost sight of

ourselves. In the name of love, we try to manipulate and control the

other person. It is natural that when we love some one, we want them to

be perfect.

 

You can never see the holes in the ground from the top of a hill. From

an airplane the earth looks so smooth. So also from a state of elevated

consciousness, you do not see the pitfalls in others. But if you come

to the ground you always see the holes. When you want to fill the

holes, you have to see them. You cannot till the land without looking

at the holes, filling them and removing pebbles.

 

That is why when you love someone, when you are close to them, you find

faults in them. But finding faults destroys love and instead of helping

to fill the holes, we run away. When you love someone and see their

faults, stay with them and help them fill the holes. This is wisdom.

 

 

2. Why do you love someone? Is it because of their qualities or because

of a sense of kinship or intimacy?

 

You can love someone for their qualities and not feel a sense of

kinship. This type of love gives rise to competition and jealousy.

Such is not the case when love arises out of kinship.

 

If you love someone for their qualities, when the qualities change or

you get accustomed to their qualities, your love also changes. However,

if you love someone out of kinship because they belong to you, then that

love remains for lifetimes.

 

People say, “I love God because He is great.†What if God

is found to be ordinary, just one of us? Then your love and God would

collapse. If you love God because he is yours, then however God is,

whether He creates or destroys, you still love Him. The love of kinship

is like love for your self.

 

Question: “Why do so many people have no love for

themselves?â€

 

No. It is just the opposite. They love themselves so much that they

want better qualities for themselves. They want to appear better than

they think they are. This love of qualities makes them hard on

themselves.

 

If love is based on the qualities of a person, that love is not stable.

After some time the qualities change and the love becomes shaky. Loving

someone because of their greatness or uniqueness is third rate love.

Loving someone because they belong to you, great or otherwise, is

unconditional love.

 

Knowledge, along with sadhans, seva and satsang †" spiritual

practice, service, and coming together in celebration †" help to

engender a sense of belongingness, then the actions and qualities do not

overshadow the love. Neither qualities nor actions can be perfect all

the time. Only love and a feeling of kinship can be perfect.

 

3. Here are the signs of love: When you love someone you see nothing

wrong with them. Even if you see a fault in them you justify it in some

way -- “Everyone does that; it is normal.†You think you

have not done enough for them and the more you do, the more you want to

do for them. They are always in your mind. Ordinary things become

extraordinary. A baby winking at its grandmother becomes an

extraordinary event. When you love someone, you want to see them always

happy and you want them to have the best.

 

4. There are some who long for change. Feeling that every thing is

stagnant in their lives, they want to change partners, careers,

dwellings. There are some who are afraid of change. They feel security

in the way they are.

 

There are some who see change, but do not acknowledge it out of fear.

There are some who do not notice change at all. There are others who do

not think there is anything to change.

 

There are some who realise that everything is changing, yet see thee is

something that is non-changing. Those who recognise the non-changing

amidst the change are the wisest of all.

 

Question: “Must love always change?â€

 

Love is your very nature. What is your nature cannot change. But the

expression of love changes. Because love is your nature, you cannot but

love.

 

A mother has total love for her child. Some times she feeds the child;

sometimes she is strict with the child. “Come on, sit and

write!†She does this out of love, and these are all different

modes of love. So the expression of love changes. But love itself does

not change, because love is your nature.

 

To be continued . . .

 

With affectionate regards,

 

Sastry.