Love - The Royal Road - How Do We Cultivate Love? Part 02

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Love - The Royal Road - How Do We Cultivate Love? Part 02

 

To grow flowers, we must first clear a plot of ground. To grow love, we

must clear the weeds of attachment and greed from our hearts. Soil must

be watered and fertilized. The heart must be prepared by learning

compassion for all. When the tender shoots of service and devotion

sprout, they must be kept free of the insects of egoism.

 

We start by expressing love toward God as we would to a mother or

father, brother or sister.But with time we see that there is no limit

to the attributes and manifestations of God. The world is created from

and is the substance of God. And so we begin to recognize God in all

and express love as service and sympathy for those in need. With time,

we feel the joys and sorrows of others as our own. By serving others,

we reverse God within them and draw closer to the source.

 

" Love is God, God is love. Where there is love, there God is certainly

evident. Love more and more people, love them more and more intensely.

Transform the love into service, transform the service into worship.

That is the highest sadhana " Baba

 

Service is the natural expression of love in action. When our hearts

are distressed at the suffering of others, we have no choice but to

alleviate that suffering. That is the true test of love. Service is

rendered as to a friend, not as a duty. Service is performed as a token

of love and humility, glady given.

 

Love is not an obligation; it is an expression of our inner divinity.

Service should be performed with the idea of one serving and another

being served. Selfless service is a natural expression of love, given

joyfully and spontaneously. Love is our nature; it is the fountain of

divinity, our inner source, identity, and potential.

 

" When you live with the consciousness of the omnipresent atma (inner

divinity), you live in love, love flowing and flooding in and through

you and all else " Baba

 

To experience the flood of love requires spiritual practice. It is

acquired by purification of character. The prerequisites to experience

divine love are truthfulness, non-violence, inner peace, and adherence

to duty. When we live a virtuous and moral life, we can experience

selfless love.

 

" If we really want to experience Prema,we will have to understand what

peace, or shanthi, means. If we want to follow the path of peace, we

will have to accept the path of dharma (spiritual duty). If we want to

follow the path of dharma, we will have to accept the path of truth "

Baba

 

Continue...Love - The Royal Road - The Vision of Unity Part 03