Never become a Lover, become Love: Beautiful Analogies

Students can understand the interpretation of subtle aspects. One must never be a lover. A lover may love one or two. The lover is very low class. One must become love itself! When one becomes love, one can love any number of people. A lover can only love one or two. Hence one must never become a lover but must become love. When man becomes love, he is loved by everyone and then alone can one understand the feeling of the one Atma, of oneness. Love is uniform in everyone. Vedanta teaches this principle of love extensively. If love is not there in each and everything, then it is not possible to acquire it. So what sort of love must one have? It is not the love at the body or mind level. One must love God in every way and in every perspective. When one does so, the unnecessary things will vanish on their own accord. This is called as the doctrine of non-dualism. There is a sugar cane. It has many bends. A sugar cane may have many bends but the juice does not have any bends. One’s thoughts, too, may be haphazard, but one must seek to develop love within. The juice does not have any bends. That is “Raso Vai Saha”- the essence is Brahma; that is the principle of Brahman. That juice is the Divinity. God is in the form of ‘rasa’, the essence. It is not ‘Paadarasa’ the mercury but it is ‘Premarasa’ the juice of love. Mercury is called as ‘Padarasa’ in Telugu. Mercury when put on ground does not flow as one unit but breaks into small balls. But the ‘Premarasa’, the essence of love joins everything.

We should develop Love for God

A being with faith is called human being but today there is no faith in human beings at all. It is useless to do anything without faith. Therefore one must develop faith. Nammakamanu rendu nayanambule leni Andhulairi nedu avani yandu!! Today people have become blind, having lost the eyes of faith!! One becomes blind when one loses the eyes called faith. Does man have faith in himself? One who has faith in oneself has faith in God. Therefore having faith in oneself and in God is the way to greatness. It is enough if one has faith in oneself. How can one trust others if one does not trust oneself? This is the downward trend of the modern education. It is no true education at all.

Everything can be achieved through pure love

Human being comes from God but forgets his source. Clouds originate from sun but they cover the sun. But sun does not hate the clouds. Clouds are of passing nature. Why to hate those which are very temporary and transient? In the same manner, bad qualities sometimes cover our real loving nature. Then we should be calm. Then these clouds of bad qualities will pass off. Strong wind throws it off. That strong wind is Love. With that all clouds of evil nature are thrown off. There is nothing impossible to Love. It can achieve everything. It is said “Prem Eswar hai Eshwar prem hai” Love is God and God is Love. You should realize this and treat others’ difficulties and troubles as of yours. Love others as you love yourself. Self- introspection is essential. Self-inquiry doesn’t mean to count on how many legs, hands and attributes are present. Others’ feelings, pains and sorrows are also like your own. If you give pure love they too give pure love. There will not be any scope to hatred or jealousy. To shed off the bad qualities, one should develop selfless love. That is Devotion.

What is true love according to Swami

Ornaments may be different but gold is one and the same. Color of the cows may be different but the milk is one and the same. Flowers may be of different types but the worship for which they are used is the same. When we realize this oneness, it is possible to understand the nature of True Love. We should fill our hearts with only Love. Having negative feelings inside your heart and showing off love externally is deceiving one’s own self. The person who has true love can never leave it in any action or any place or in any situation. Many students are with pure love as long as they are in our institute but when they go out, they say their mind changes due to bad company or due to some situations. This is not correct. If truly you have pure love in your heart, it should not change wherever you are. No society or nobody can change you.

Love of God is absolutely selfless

Embodiments of Love! The goal of Love is sacrifice. Love does not aspire anything. Love does not blame anybody. Love does not harm anyone. Love is selfless and pure. Unable to realize the nature of love, man is hankering for love. One should understand that love means selfless sacrifice. In the parental love or love between husband and wife or whether it is between brothers or friends, there is some selfish motive. It may differ in the ratio but it is there. Love of God is absolutely selfless. This Love brings people close even if they are at a great distance apart. It unites those who are separated. It transforms the beastly person as Divine. Love of God changes the worldly love gradually into Divine Love. Those who want to know the nature of love should get rid of selfishness. They should develop divine feelings. They also should practice to be firm and pure in their practice. One may come across many troubles and difficulties, without caring for those; one should lead the life having only God’s Love as his goal. Even the concept of universal brotherhood does not promote the real unity present in Love. Brotherhood of man has also selfishness in it. So people working for universal brotherhood should first believe in the concept of unity. Many differences of opinion arise among brothers which lead to various complications. So, this brotherhood cannot be told as love. The true philosophy of love is to believe that the divine spark of divinity present in everyone is only one and the same. Individuals may differ. Forms and names may differ. But the divinity (Atma) inside everyone is the same. We should try to recognize this oneness.

If there is no love there is no life

You must try to become persons with love-filled hearts. Only then will you be able to undertake sacred tasks. If there is no Love, there is no Life. You are not analysing what will be your future? You are becoming overjoyed with temporary gains now!

Develop unconditional love and lead your life

God is the embodiment of love. One must not exhibit it but put it in sacred path. One must never put the sacred love in sullied path or use it in wrong way or to fulfil the mean desires or to amass money. “Love for love”- love is for love only and it is not for anything else. Having access to such treasure trove of love within, one prays to the Lord in many ways. One can attain the cosmos with an iota of Lord’s love. What relieved Kuchela’s troubles? Krishna’s small act of love took away Kuchela’s poverty. An iota or a fraction of Lord’s love is enough to attain and achieve everything!!! There is nothing that cannot be attained through love. With love even the enemies become friends; distant ones come closer with love; separated ones unite with love. One must develop such mighty, great, thick and valuable love. The world is immersed in misery due to the absence of such love. There is no love between mother and the child or between siblings or between husband and wife. Where has love gone?? Love has disappeared in man’s life. Man lives with artificial love. “Art is outside, heart is inside!” Art comes from the heart. Students must observe this truth that- “The art comes from the heart!” Therefore everything must come from the heart. In the heart one finds the strong love. One must try to attain everything with this love.

God is love and love is God

In what form does God exist? He exists in the form of Love! Love is present in everyone. Swami has been reiterating it many times: “Prem eashwar hai, eashwar prem hai”- God is love and love is God. Sacred love is the divine form. Therefore one must keep this love pure and sacred. This love must not be materialistic and worldly; it must only be related to the spirit. Atma, the self is love and love is atma. Atma is God and God is love. Hence “Love is god, live in love!”

When you see the whole creation with Love, it becomes Brahman

It is said that the world is an illusion, brahma alone is the truth. No, the world too is true. When one’s vision is full of love, the entire creation becomes Brahman. And when one’s vision is physical and worldly the whole world becomes full of misery. How many kinds of anxieties are there in the world? Man lives under tree called “the world”. It has twelve anxieties. Puttuta Oka chinta, birth is number one worry, Bhoominunduta chinta, to live on earth is another, Samsaaramoka chinta, the family life is a worry, Chaavu chinta, death is another worry, Balyamanthayu chinta, childhood is worry, Vardhakya mokachinta, old age is another anxiety, Jeevinchuta Oka chinta, the very life is a worry, Chelimi chinta, friendship is a cause for worry too, Karmalanniyu chinta, all actions are causes for worry, Kasthamu Oka chinta, troubles cause worry, Santhasamoka chinta, happiness is worrisome too! Vintha chinta, beauty also causes worry, Sarva chinthala baapedi, daiwa prema! Kondi ikanaina prajalara, korke meera, the one that will relieve all the worries is the divine love. O people seek that divine love atleast now Inthakanna vereddi yeruka parathu, saadhusadguna ganyulaou sabhyulaara!! What else can be taught to this august assembly of pious people?

We need to expand our love

“Prema swroopinam jeevanam!”-– Love is the essence of man’s life. Man today does not experience this life sustaining love in a proper way leading to selfishness. One must develop this love in the society; extend one’s love to others and receive the same from others. This give and take strengthens love as it destroys selfishness and makes one sacred and broadminded.

God seeks only your love

Embodiments of love! You are doing so many sadhanas. God doesn't desire for this. God doesn't desire your devotion. God only desires your love.

Live life with love

As William conversed with everyone with love, Lord Brain considered him Divine. It implies that one should speak lovingly with others, lead a life of truth and live in peace. Then one becomes Divine. ‘You cannot always oblige, but you can always speak obligingly!!’ With this mentality human life can be transformed into divine life.

Expansion of love is ideal in life

In this vast world, Our love also should be broad and wide. Our compassion should also be broad and wide. In this vast world you cannot afford to have love in a limited sense of fraction. Everything should be broadened and widened. Then you will be able to know the true human value. The body and mind face so many obstacles and so many difficulties and problems. They are passing clouds, none of them are permanent. They come and pass out. But our values are very important and we have to develop them.

Develop love is the message of Swami

Love, love and love alone. Yesterday, children presented a drama, how nice it was! Because of love, the wicked hearts changed. By love, you can transform, change anybody. However, some hearts are more hard, it takes some time, be patient and after some time they will also change. Develop love within you ,more and more. Swami's nature, Bhagavan's divinity and sanctity, nobody can know in full. On the day of the first Christmas celebration here, Swami sang a song, 20 years back. "Love is my form, truth is my breath, bliss is my food. My life is my message, expansion is my life. No season for love, no reason for love, no birth, no death. Love is my form, truth is my breath, bliss is my food." Sai's message can be conveyed like this by singing this song - anyone can understand it. Love is His form, so Bhagavan says "My Life is My Message". Develop the feelings of fraternity, brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God, strengthen these two ideas.

Our love is the true gift to Swami

Bhagavan does not expect anything. He doesn't say anything for Himself. He does nothing for Himself. Bhagavan doesn't want anything except one thing. Bhagavan wants only your love. Love is not your property, your love is Bhagavan's property. There may be love in everybody - that is His gift. It is God's gift, not earned by you. So let this gift be gifted in turn by you. Then you will achieve the objective. If God has gifted you with love, gift Him back the same love. That is the main service you are expected to do. "Oh God! That heart you have given me, Oh Lord! I surrender it to you, what else can I give you to worship you? Salutations Oh Lord! I give you my heart. I give you what you have given me. It is not my own, after all, it is yours." The one whose heart melts with this feeling is a true devotee. The one with that truthful, sacred thought is the one of sacrifice. Let such thoughts originate in our heart. Without that, if we go on praising our own devotion, it is nothing but ego.

God's love is selfless

One should love God. There is only one lovable object in the cosmos and that is God. Today one can see the love of mother, love of father, love of brothers, love of friends and relatives- all these forms of love have a selfish motive behind them, atleast minutely. The only selfless love is the Divine love. God does not want anything from anyone. God does not expect anything from anyone. God is selfless from top to toe. It is wholesome love. God is love and one should love Him. When once one has the fear of sin one will love God. Such a man will be respected by the society. In order to earn esteem in the society, one must develop love for God and to cultivate love for God one must have this fear of sin. One must never give scope for sin.

What is Prema and what is Bhakthi

Pure, unwavering and unsullied love is called as Bhakthi. The kind of love which does not desire anything other than God is Bhakthi. The urge which makes one want for oneself is ‘love’, it is not for the want of materialistic and worldly things but for oneself who is essentially the divine. Loving the divine as one loves one’s reflection in the mirror is called as Bhakthi. Ramanujacharya gave importance to Bhakthi and propagated this philosophy of ‘Visishtadwaitha’.

Love is the basic principle for anything

Embodiments of love! If you want to have your desire, increase your love. Love will grant all the boons. Don't hate anybody. This is the true ideal. This is main message today. Youshould become embodiment's of love with hearts full of love. You should be personification of love and you should experience infinite love. This is the biggest gift that Bhagawan is giving to you. This is the only wealth Bhagwan has. In fact none of this property belong to Me. These are all built by devotees. Bhagawan's own property is one. That is Love alone. Love is his whole property and he is prepared to give it you. He is even ready to give his body. Lead a blissful life, be ideal and then bhagawan would extremely happy. Whatever else you give Me, I will not be happy. Your love alone makes Me happy. Bhagawan's love is your wealth. Bhagawan wants us to preserve, protect and sustain this divine love.

Love all, hate none

When once you say God dwells in everyone you should love all. But you just say so but you consider some as your enemies. It is a contradictory way of action. You should not say so. If you don't love or like him be away from him, that's all. Be silent and develop love with him. Don't hate anybody. Don't be disgusted with anyone. Don't accuse anybody. This day you have to learn the message of Oneness or Unity. Bhagawan loves all. Bhagawan doesn't hate anybody. In fact none would hate him. So all of us are children of Bhagawan, all of us are friends of Bhagawan. We should practice this principle. We should develop this friendship with God. What is our sacred text? The whole universe is our sacred text. Our Atma is our teacher. Who is our friend? God himself is our friend. God is my friend, the whole universe is my Sacred text, my Atma or inner self is my Guru. This is the real teaching. Make your time sacred and sanctified. This is the real Sadhana.

Love is the basis for nine paths of devotion

There are nine paths of devotion namely: Listening, Singing, Contemplation, Serving the holy feet, Salutation, Worship, Servitude, Friendship and Surrender. These nine paths of devotion can be achieved through love. It is the love that is the basis for everything. Love is the inner current flowing in all. When there is continuous flow of love, one can accomplish anything.

Be happy for being the recipient of God's love

One should not pride over one’s high education or high position in job. One must be happy at winning the love of the God. That love is the primal basis for everything. Any spiritual pursuit must be based on love.

Divine love lights the lamp of life

Young men and women! One needs oil to light a lamp. It is the oil that helps in making the lamp glow, but the divine love will light the lamp of life! It is not the worldly love, it is the divine love! It is this divine love that lights the lamp of life. Alas! One is not yet able to understand the difference between the divine love and the worldly love. The sacred divine love has no limits at all; no one can dictate it or put it under certain norms. The divine love flows in all directions. The worldly love is under certain limits and conditions and hence has to be used confined to those limitations.

Foster love and cultivate sacrifice

It is essential to do certain things. Do not give up God. Cultivate sacrifice. Foster love and recognize everyone as a manifestation of divinity. Recognize the truth that God descends on Earth in order to teach Love. Our love is extremely narrow. It is filled with selfishness. True love doesn't consist of this. We have to develop love in us first, which can recognize and understand the love in all other human beings. People go on merely telling everyone that they belong to such and such a caste, but are they practicing the great truth expounded in that particular community, caste or religion? Today, philosophy of words is growing fast, but philosophy in action is dwindling. Wherever you see, you come across philosophy of spirituality only in words. But that is not what we want today. We want spirituality in practice. It is better to practice one than preach a hundred. Therefore, develop love in yourself. Enjoy the sweetness associated and inherent in the name of God.

Love is God; God is Love

We can achieve anything and everything through love. Love is God, God is Love. We should make efforts to achieve everything only through love. One small example - you may believe or may not believe. All these 15 days, any movement in the leg gave me unbearable shocks. This morning, when I came out of the silver door, when I saw the devotees their love reached me, My love reached them, and I forgot My body. Therefore why does God descend? It is only to experience love. We can never get delight and joy which does not have love. That is why the gopikas said, "O Krishna, play the flute at least once. How should you play the flute? You should play in such a way that in our barren and dry heart, you sow the seed of love, put this seedling in our heart. How should you put this seedling? Through love and with love. You should play the flute in such a way that the land should be made of love, the seedling is love, the rain is love, the river is love, only then can we enjoy the principle of Love." That is to say that whatever we do, it must be filled with love. If there is sweet nectar in in a vessel, however many holes you may put in the vessel, you will only get the sweet nectar and not poison. Therefore if you can fill your heart with love, your thoughts will be full of love, your looks will be full of love, your deeds will be full of love, everything will be full of love. We are trying to change only the external objects and circumstances but we are not prepared to change our own feelings and our own heart. You have to change the root and the origin of all these things. Apparently a king employed a number of workers in order to cleanse the kingdom of thorns, saying there should be no thorns anywhere. One intelligent minister told him, 'O king, it would be foolish on our part to clear all the thorns in the entire world, but on the other hand wherever you go, you can wear footwear, so that you will be protected from the thorns'. It seems a particular king had an eye problem. An eye specialist prescribed that which ever sight you see, whatever you see, must be green - then your eyes will be free from any disease. So, the king ordered that everything in his kingdom should be painted green - painters were in great demand and did a lot of work. One intelligent minister went and told him, 'It would be rather foolish for you to do this, instead you can just wear green glasses!' In the same way if we can fill our hearts with love then there is no need for criticizing others and no need for commenting on others. Make effort so that, instead of filling your thoughts with all sorts of ideas, fill it with love.

Principle of Love and its importance to Life

A man without love is a living corpse. The divinity of man can be recognized only in sacrifice and love. Love alone is the reward for love. Love is the witness of love. Love knows no fear. The reason is love is full in itself. There is no selfishness in love. Loves lives for itself and therefore there is no fear in it. Incarnations come down to the Earth in order to teach this law of love. The world sees diversity in unity but God sees unity in diversity. That is why unity in diversity is the law. One can learn this basic truth only through divinity and through God.

Promote love and get rid of hatred

Embodiments of the Divine! We must develop faith in the decisions that we have taken in this conference, discuss amongst ourselves to bring the necessary changes and propagate them so that others can follow them in unison. This is possible only along the path of love. So promote love and get rid of hatred. If we want to enjoy bliss and happiness we should get rid of sorrow. Similarly, we can develop love only when we rid ourselves of hared. ‘Love of God’ and ‘Fear of Sin’ – these are the two wheels on which the members of the Sevadal should travel.

Swami on true Love

In fact, true love has got with it a true heart. Love is nothing but the flowering or the fruition of Love from the heart. It does not find a place in a separate individual either. Along the firmament of the human heart it blows like the wind, Love is around you and safeguards you. We have to cultivate this spirit of love. This is the nature of true love. Prema or love cannot be acquired from a distant place. It emanates from the human heart. The synonym of Love or Prema is Dharma or Righteousness. The main goal of man is love only. It is a way of life. One has to foster this love which is the way of life. You cannot get it out of conveniences and comforts. It arises from the very navel of the human heart. When you have that spirit of love, you can be mighty and strong. You think that Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu achieved something. When you have the fullness of love in totality, Hiranyakashapu and Hiranyaksha stand nowhere. All other powers are mean and low in front of love.

Love is everything

The main quality of mankind is Love . Love is God, Live in love. Develop this love today. You can give up anything but not Love. Love is our life-force. Love is life. Love makes up the world. Love is God.

Develop love in every act of yours

Therefore, Divinity will be emanated while working together i.e Unity in Divinity. Any work we may do in this world with the attitude of love will be turn out to an achievement. The heart in which there is no love is certain to be the paradise of wickedness. Whatever we do, we should do it with love. The Gopikas prayed, “Oh Krishna, play Your sweet flute and sow the seeds of love in the desert of loveless hearts. Let the rain of love fall on earth and make the rivers of love flow.” The rivers of love must flow continuously. Thus said, Start the day with love, Spend the day with love, fill the day with love, end the day with love, this is the way to God. Such sacred quotes we read everyday, we see them on the boards everyday, but they are not getting imprinted in our hearts. Is our hunger going to be relieved, if you just listen to the names of so many different sweets? Is even one paise going to come to our pocket, if you think of money that is present in reserve bank. By just thinking of powerful medicines, we are not going to be cured of the disease. So also, by merely seeing the sacred quotes on the board or by listening to them with our ears, it is not going to purify our minds. Only by putting them into practice, the result can be experienced.

Develop selfless love

Embodiments of Love! Along with love, also cultivate kshama. What is normally professed as love is not real love because it invariably tends to be narrow, restricted, and tinged with selfishness. Do not mistake this distorted feeling to be love. This so-called love is based on selfishness and self-interest. Liberate this shackled love from the various clutches, purify it, and then direct it toward God. Once you have gone through this cleansing process, Kshama will grow automatically.

Love is the basis for forbearance

Embodiments of Love! Boys and Girls! 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. It can transform pasu (a bestial person) into Pasupathi (Divinity). 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. [kshama is a word rich in meaning. Besides forbearance, it also implies extreme patience and an enormous capacity to forget as also forgive. In view of this, the word kshama is directly used in most places in order not to dilute Bhagavan’s emphasis.] 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, by facing squarely diverse problems, difficulties of various sorts, anxieties, and suffering as well as sorrow. In the absence of kshama, man becomes susceptible to all kinds of evil tendencies. Hatred and jealousy easily take root in a person lacking this virtue. Divinity is nothing but the combined manifestation of prema and kshama.

Lead all your life with full of Love

First, love is most important. Love is God, live in love. Therefore, it is the love that we should develop first. When once there is love in your heart, no other bad quality can ever get in. Your heart, the human heart, is a single sofa not a double sofa. It is not a musical chair. There is only one heart. Fill the heart with love. No one can enter thereafter. As there is no love in the human heart, wicked qualities find a place in it. Start the day with love, spend the day with love, fill the day with love, end the day with love - this is the way to God. Lead your life in love. There is nothing beyond love. Love also arises from truth. Truth also arises from love. Without truth, love cannot exist. Love cannot exist without truth. So, truth is an undercurrent. Love manifests outwards. God is the combination of the inner and outer - the truth and the love. The undercurrent, truth, flows ceaselessly. That symbolizes Saraswathi. You must have seen rivers Ganga and Yamuna. River Saraswathi is an undercurrent.