Love
represents the pious instinct of heart, which enables one to realize oneness of God where
there is no duality. In other words we can describe the vast impulse of oneness as love.
Love is the practical expression of God which one can experience in one-self. Love is like
a pure, sublime waterfall and whosoever comes in touch with it also becomes pure. As there
is no difference between good and evil in the flow of the stream, the man with love knows
no hatred, malice and jealousy. The external pollution immerges with the vastness of love
as dirt of several streams merges with the water of the ocean. The man of love sacrifices
his comforts and conveniences and finds total satisfaction in his unbounded love for the
True Master. Love for the sake of love is the aim of a true lover who has no desire to get
any compensation or reward.
On
the face of it, love is nothing but complete surrender of one’s sentiments and
emotions. If there are no sentiments and instincts of love, there will be no attachment
with the wife, children or other relatives. The beginning of love starts undoubtedly from
worldly objects and relationship. During the process of love with the material objects,
the idea “I am His” emanates. The concept of attachment and fascination is there
but that is motivated by individual’s self-interest. Where
a person deploys his self-interest he feels somewhat satisfied. Such a love can be into
one’s wife with whom he does not have ancient relationship. One spouse hails from
north and another from the south. They know each other only negligibly. But the impulse of
surrender unto the other narrows down the distance to such an extent that they can not
afford to live without each other. At the
initial stage they can not bare separation for a day. This is the stage when one is
confronted with the sentiment “ I am entirely yours”. This stage, however, does
not last long. One starts feeling the presence of God because man cannot live for long on
the basis of desires and emotions. Man finds himself incomplete without the Divine Love.
Unless one attains it the vacuum and the incompletion does not get fulfilled or satiated.
He does not get peace and comforts and real bliss. The instinct of love after developing,
reaches a climax where the concept of “I” and “You” disappears
and one feels at one with the infinite ocean of love. This is the highest stage of
self-surrender where “I” and “You” get united as ONE. The sex - like
seed assumes the form of love - like tree,
which culminates in the form of devotion - like fruit.
One
cannot attain the stage of highest character without experiencing truelove. This is the
highest state of spiritual consciousness, which provides spiritual vigour and vitality. In
fact all the progress that man has attained so far is because of love. Love makes the life
purposeful, pure and sublime. The divine virtues of purity, perception of truth, sacrifice, fearlessness, devotion and fortitude are closely
connected with the impulse of love. Even the animal folk are not deprived of the instinct
of love.
How
unfortunate that the man of today is perturbed and disturbed because of deviation from the
path of true love and engulfed in the vices of hatred, jealousy and duality. This is the
reason, why heads and hearts of people are melancholy, restless and depressed. The whole
humanity, devoid of instinct of true love, is leading towards destruction. The
constructive aspect relates only to the concept of love and one who imbibes love becomes
an angel. If we could imbibe the instinct of true love we can lead a peaceful and
purposeful life irrespective of one is rich or poor, urbanite or ruralite, living in a
cottage or a bungalow. If our instinct of love transcending the vessel of self- interest
starts perceiving God in every living and non-living object, one can see God even in the
statues of stones. Attainment of love is attainment of God. All other means to realize God
are complicated, arduous and require hard labour. Love is the only instrument, which has
admixture of comfort, convenience and peace. “God is love” is absolutely true.
If love is understood in its true impact and inculcated in one’s practical life then
man can not only attain God but he can become God-like.