Chapter 20  ·  Contents  ·  Chapter 22

21. TO REALIZE UNION WITH THE DIVINE FILL YOURSELF WITH DIVINE LOVE

Embodiments of Divine Love,

Brahman 's form is Love so is full of Love. It is wise for everyone of us to have Love as the only connection. Love is the basic principle for human life. For all living creatures. Love is life but, however, this pure Divine Love has become one of attachment. The mother dog will take care of her young ones and give them milk due to Love. When you do not show Love you will not have anyone near you. Of all the creatures in the world, the human birth is the rarest and the noblest. However, human love in the form of attachment is like a passing cloud. Man boundlessly develops this temporary love, and does not recognize the inner Bliss and Love of Atma. Physical love is based on external relationships whereas inner Love is a matter of heart to heart and Love to Love. Inner or Divine Love has nothing to do with body and mind, but we do not have such intense love towards the Atma. A few minutes earlier, Anil Kumar said that faith should be first and Love next. This is not proper. First should be Love, and then faith. Without Love, there cannot be faith. Love is born with us and is always within us. Life and Love are not separate, but due to worldly attachments and relationships we are disappointed with Love. The entire mankind is magnetised by Love only, and when once you have Loved, have experienced Divine Love, you will grow in faith. Therefore, the rope of Love which encircles everybody is the true life. We experience appointment and disappointment due to the nature of worldly love.

Schools should give education to promote life. However, today the practical knowledge gained through schools is elevation and not true education. In a village once there was a poor family whose parents tried hard to educate their children and in doing so faced great difficulties. Then after sometime they desired to have their daughter married. The bride's parents had respect only for the status of the groom's family; the groom they decided upon was a modern student who boasted that he is a university graduate and would not like to marry a village girl but only an educated girl. His mother pleaded with him to consider the advantages in marrying a simple village girl. If the proper wife comes, she would attend to household work and also serve the mother and father. The parents reasoned that as the mother and the father are the direct representatives of God, one should not disobey them. But the boy insisted upon marrying only an educated girl. As the parents did not wish to hurt their son's feelings, they visited the town, found a girl and fixed the marriage. The boy exclaimed that he was completely happy now. One morning after fifteen days of marriage, the boy asked his wife, "My dear, prepare coffee for me." The girl replied, "lama graduate and you are a graduate. You prepare coffee for me." The boy now thought that his entire life was one of darkness, since his wife would not cater to him.

People have given up spirituality in worldly matters. One should begin and end life with Love to realize the oneness of the Atma. If one does not realize this oneness, birth and death repeat themselves. Over and over we lie in the womb of a mother. The entire worldly life without Divine Love is one of misery. One has to die one day, so one should end life in Love. This Love is concealed within but we search for it outside in transient relationships and objects. One must search for this Divine Love within oneself.

There was a father who had an only son. One day while the son was playing ball, the ball rolled into a corner. When the boy went to the corner to retrieve the ball, he was bitten by a scorpion. The father took him to the doctor who gave ointment for the bite. The doctor told him that it must be applied to the spot where he has been bitten to remove the pain. This father was not very intelligent. When he asked his son where the scorpion has bitten him the boy replied that it was over in the corner. So the father applied the ointment in the corner. You can only recover Love where you have lost it, within yourself.

Once an old lady was stitching clothes when she lost the needle. She had no lamp with which to find the needle and also had cataracts in her eyes. She began to search for the needle under a streetlight when a boy passing by asked her where she had lost the needle. She replied that she had lost the needle in the hut, but she is searching for it outside because there is no light inside.

Whatever spiritual practice we do such as meditation, yoga, japa, all are transient and external but God and Divine Love are permanent. We should develop a permanent relationship with God who is eternal and changeless. Today you have invested your Love in relationships with your mother and father, brother and sister. When you have money, you deposit it in a bank account for its accumulation, but we are losing our money (Love) more and more through investment in transient and worldly relationships. However, when we develop Divine Love, everything else will flow naturally. The body has no lasting value; the real value lies in our spiritual heart. In the body, so long as one has breath, it is sivam (auspicious) not shavam (a corpse). This auspiciousness is due to the Divine presence in the living body.

A hunter went to the forest and started attacking rabbits and other animals. A non vegetarian will tell you that the value of a dead rabbit is in it's skin. A hunter also attaches value to the skin of a goat, but no one will give any value to a dead human body which is called shavam or a corpse. Life is God. Life is Light. So long as there is Light there is life. Whatever we do should be pleasing to God. Truly speaking, would the one who eats sweets cherish bitter food? Divine Love is nectarine whereas worldly love is temporary. Worldly love is sweet poison in that it appears to be sweet but breaks your heart. All hearts are bound together by Divine Love.

Two yards of cloth are required to stitch a shirt. When you give the fabric to the tailor, he'll cut it into pieces to make the collar, sleeves and pockets, etc. These pieces refer to worldly life, whereas spiritual life is like the needle which stitches all the pieces together. The cloth has been cut by the scissors into many pieces. Thus the worldly life is like the scissors which separate while the Divine Love is like the needle which brings about wholeness. The needle has a small hole which may be likened to wisdom, and the thread to Love. We carry with us the cloth, the worldly life, which is cut into so many problems and turmoil. When we carry Divinity, the Divine vision will put everything together again. What we put on is Dharma. If we do not see the world with Love, everyone and everything will seem to be separated. In families because the members are separated, there is no happiness. Love is an essential foundation for the growth of self-confidence; faith can be developed later. All other qualities are very low in comparison to Love. Jewels are many but the gold is only one. Without the gold of Love, how can one receive the jewellery of peace and comfort? Anil Kumar said that one cannot learn to swim on sand or on the road but one must jump into the water. One should take the help and support which will allow one to float. That help is Divine Love. After you learn, you no longer need help. A green bitter gourd (a vegetable), sinks when placed in water but floats when dry. So long as one is full of worldly desires, one will drown in the worldly life but when the desires are directed towards God, one would float like the dry gourd. A pure iron rod would sink in water but if pounded and made into a hollow tube it would float. When you transform yourself into a container of pure Spirit you become light and rise up. The spiritual deservedness enables one to keep his boat floating on the water of worldly life, but if water gets in, it would sink. So as not to sink one should learn to live in the world without carrying worldly things inside oneself. One's heart is neither a double-seat sofa nor a game of musical chairs. The seat of one's heart should be reserved only for God.

Without Love, how can one develop faith? First there should be Love, then faith would follow. Troubles come not for lack of faith but for lack of Love. After marriage, the husband declares that she is my wife and then develops love for her but when he discovers mistakes in her, his love is cut off. God is unconditional Love, so live in Love. Conduct your life with Love as the only goal and then faith will follow automatically. All worldly love is based on faith, but when this faith is broken, love is lost. Love is life but faith is like passing clouds that come and go.

Stars exist during the daytime but they are not visible due to the light from the sun. Night and day come and go due to the rotation of the earth while revolving around the sun. Likewise when you switch off the light, you will be able to see the glow worm. Similarly, when one starts loving. Spiritual Dharma, (Righteous, Loving Action) will increase. In order to be Blissful, one should Love all and Love God. When you have the Divine experience of Love, you will then naturally Love all. When your head and heart are devoid of attachment and desires, then you will be able to fill them with Divinity. As long as you are full of worldly feelings, you cannot experience Divinity. Can insects that crawl on the flower become butterflies? A pig can never become an elephant. Can you ever attach the tusks of an elephant to a bull that has horns? When you lead your life only by worldly feelings, you will become distressed. Love is very powerful whereas faith is only knowledge. With Love, all can be together as one without misery. If you want to have peace you need Love. For the welfare of the country, Love, Love, Love.

There is a relationship between worldly and Divine Love. Parikshit asked his guru, Sri Shuka the following question. "The Gopikas love Krishna intensely but how can they attain liberation?." Shuka clearly understood the nature of Love. The sage replied, "The Gopikas' love may not be completely pure, but even if drainage water combines with seawater there would be no effect on the seawater. First, love Krishna as God. Join your low impure love with the infinite stainless Love of God. One cup of milk will become diluted when mixed with ten cups of water, the substance with the higher quality is more valuable. You should make every effort to manifest your innate Divinity. In the world there is no diamond as valuable as Love. Do not ruin your sacred life; develop Love and leave hatred. Divine feeling and creation are infinite." The Gopikas asked Krishna, "Can we ever know You? You are the smallest of the small and the biggest of the big. You are in all the 84 lakhs (a lakh is 100,000) of living species on earth."

Swami's message is one in all of your hearts, even though your bodies are separate and your minds are separate. Swami's Love is the Divine magnet that has drawn you all here to this place. The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. Everywhere life is full of fear and man cannot seem to get away from it. Fear alone is life for the one who knows no refuge or help. In order to be away from fear, one must develop and manifest his innate Divine Love.

Swami ended His Discourse by singing, "Prema Mudita Manase Kaho, Rama, Rama, Ram."

April 27, 1996

Chapter 22