Be Godlike, Love Others Always And In All Ways

In love, the problem is not who to love, but how to love. is an ability, a capacity in our minds that has to be systematically cultivated. Once the faculty of love has developed, we have the total freedom to love, and then any situation is a fertile ground for our love to grow.Man, irrespective of his belief or nationality, seeks love all around him. Yet only a rare few seem to discover an apparent satisfaction in personal relationships. Man helplessly waits for love to be given to him, to receive love. Alas! None ‘give’ love; all are anxiously waiting to ‘get’ love. All are always disappointed. Love is of two distinct types. The ‘higher love’ is called prema bhakti, devotion; and the ‘lower love’ is known as sneha, affection. When the love is directed to a ‘higher’ object of love, it is called prema; when it is directed towards a ‘lower’ object of love, it is called sneha. Thus, we have prema bhakti towards parents, teachers, country, and knowledge, while we have sneha for our friends, brothers, sisters, dogs, cows, flowers, toys, and books.The emotion is the same in both the higher and lower kinds of love. But when we direct our love towards a higher, more inspiring ideal, our mind expands, our vision deepens and our efficiency multiplies. Then it is prema. When this prema is directed towards the Lord, the divine essence in man, it is called bhakti.When the same emotion of love goes towards the external objects of pleasure – things or beings, it slowly shells us into a prison of sorrows and excitements, pangs and sobs. Then love degrades itself to be of the lower type – sneha.Rishis always repeat that higher love alone can help us overcome our sense of incompleteness and alienation.To ‘give’ love is, therefore, to love everyone without expecting any results, gains, and profits, but demanding of life your privilege to love all. True love is not a passive ‘taking’ but a dynamic ‘giving’.Love is its own reward when it is true and full, unconditional and joyful – love is a fulfilment in itself. Very few realise this; none dares to live it in life. Only the special few, who have grown up a little in their inward vision, and evolved slightly in their spiritual growth, can feel this way and readily discover the heroism to love, to give love to all creatures. All are but Narayan in manifestation. What else then can we give to the world but love.Some of us love only if we are loved in return. This is a commercial attitude, and an expression of our mental weakness.The Sun gives and demands nothing; so do the Earth, the Moon, rains, flowers, and rivers. Everywhere in nature, among animals and plants, the universal rhythm is to ‘give’ lovingly and not to ‘demand’ love from others.To give love is true freedom; to demand love is pure slavery. Do not feel cheated if others do not give you love. The Lord Himself serves us all every moment, even when we do not love Him in return. Let us be godlike in our love for others – always and in all ways.The writer is the founder of Chinmaya Mission.