True
and Selfless Love manifests as Sacrifice. Such Love knows no
hatred. It envelops the entire Universe, and is capable of drawing
near even those who are seemingly far away. Love it is that
transforms the human into the Divine. In the phenomenal world, you
come across many shades and derivatives of this Primordial Love.
You love your father, mother, brother, sister, friends and so on.
In all such cases, there is always a tinge of selfishness
somewhere or the other. Divine Love, on the other hand, is totally
free of even the slightest trace of selfishness. You must
surrender to such Love, become completely submerged by it, and
experience the Bliss it confers.
For acquiring such Love, the
quality of Kshama or forbearance is a vital necessity. Every
individual must cultivate this noble quality. Kshama is not
achieved by reading books or learnt from an instructor. Nor can it
be received as a gift from someone else. This prime virtue Kshama
can be acquired solely by self-effort, that is, by facing diverse
problems squarely, enduring difficulties of various sorts, not
giving in to anxieties, and bearing with equanimity suffering as
well as sorrow. In the absence of Kshama, man becomes susceptible
to various evil tendencies. Hatred and jealousy easily take root
in a person lacking this virtue.
Kshama is the grandest and the
noblest among virtues. The troubles the country is currently
passing through are largely due to the absence of this noble
quality of Kshama. Without Kshama, mankind becomes degraded and
starts declining, but if it has this quality then it can progress
in leaps and bounds. Kshama is thus the very breath of life.
Everything must have a basis.
For spiritual progress and advancement, Kshama is the real basis
or foundation. When Kshama disappears, disturbance sets in and
there is decline. Great countries have lost their glory, prestige
and reputation for this reason. Patience is therefore a virtue
that must be assiduously cultivated, by individuals as well as
nations, if troubles and tribulations are to be successfully faced.
Without patience and the capacity for forbearance, one becomes
spiritually weak. When patience is gone, the greatest of men get
reduced to utter fools.
The importance of Kshama cannot be over-stressed. This virtue is
best cultivated under adverse circumstances, and one must
therefore gladly welcome troubles instead of regarding them as
unwelcome.
Jealousy is the greatest enemy
of man, and it takes root when Kshama is absent. If you possess
the virtue of Kshama, then none of these enemies can come anywhere
near you. Cultivation of Kshama must therefore be an important
priority. No doubt you will face many difficulties during life's
journey, but bravely march on, taking courage from the fact that
once you have Kshama there is nothing that you cannot achieve.
Excerpts from a Discourse of Bhagawan Sri
Sathya Sai Baba