The Meaning of Love (Page 2 of 2)

The Lover & the Beloved
Beloved God is in all.

What is then the duty of the lover?

It is to make the Beloved happy without sparing himself. Without giving a second thought to his own happiness, the lover should seek the pleasure of the Beloved. The only thought a lover of God should have is to make the Beloved happy.

Thus, if you stop thinking of your own happiness and give happiness to others, you will then indeed play the part of the lover of God, because Beloved God is in all.

But, while giving happiness to others, if you have an iota of thought of self, it is then not love but affection. This tends to seek happiness for the self while making others happy.

As for example: (1) A husband’s affection for his wife. The husband wants to give happiness to his wife; but while doing so he thinks of his own happiness, too. (2) A mother’s affection for her child. From this affection the mother derives happiness purely out of giving and seeking happiness for her child.

Surrenderance
He who genuinely surrenders to a Perfect Master surrenders completely without asking for permission to do so. He does not even expect acceptance of his surrender from the Master. Complete surrender in itself embodies the acceptance of one who has surrendered completely as he ought to have done.
Lovers of God

Before I met my Beloved in union, I lost everything – ego, mind, and lower consciousness; but thank God, as I have just said, I did not lose my sense of humour. That is why I appear amongst you like this, on your level. Yogis and saints in India you will usually find in meditation, with long beards. You would not be allowed in their presence with your shoes on, or smoking, but with me you can do all these things, because I am one with you and one of you. From tomorrow I shall work so that this visit of yours will not be merely a picnic or sightseeing.

There are three types of lovers of God. The first is the mast, who loves and knows only God. He loses all consciousness of self, of body and the world. Whether it rains or shines, whether it is winter or summer, it is all the same to him. Only God exists for him. He is dead to himself.

The second type of lover is one who lives in the world, attends to all worldly duties fully, yet all the time in his heart he knows that this is temporary, that only God exists, and he loves God internally, without anyone knowing it.

Third type, which is the highest, is very rare. Here the lover surrenders completely to Christ, to the Avatar, to the God-Man. He lives, not for himself, but for the Master. This is the highest type of lover. Unless you have such love, merely to criticize and to judge others will take you nowhere.

Sahavas
I am the only Beloved and you are all my lovers; or I am the only Lover and you are all my beloveds. I want you all to remain happy in my sahavas. I am the Ocean of Love. Draw as much of this love as possible. Make the most of this opportunity. It rests with you to draw as much love as you can out of the Ocean. It does not rest with me to explain to you how you should love me. Does a husband or a wife explain to one another how to love? One thing is certain: I want to give you my love. It depends on each of you to receive it. The easy way to receive it is to forget your home, family and all worldly affairs, when you are here, and be receptive to my love. This is the first thing. The second thing is to have a good night’s rest, sleep well each night and feel fresh when you come here for my sahavas each day. I am God; if you remain drowsy in my presence, you will miss me and your drowsiness will oblige you to remain absent from my presence, in spite of your daily attendance.

‘Sahavas’ means intimate companionship. To establish this companionship you should be free with me. Sahavas is the intimacy of give and take of love between the lovers and the Beloved. There is no need to explain this give and take, for to create an atmosphere of explanations and discourses is to mar the dignity of love which is established only in the closest intimacy.

How do I participate in the sahavas? I bow down to myself, I embrace myself. It is I who smile, who weep; it is Baba who sits here on the dais seat and it is Baba who squats on the ground in the tent. Baba meets ‘Baba;’ Baba consoles ‘Baba,’ pets ‘Baba,’ chides ‘Baba.’ It is all Baba, Baba, Baba. Such is my experience of participation in the sahavas.

Drink deep at the fountain of love, but do not lose consciousness. If you can but taste even a drop of this love – what a wonderful experience it will be! Have you any idea what this sahavas is? He who approaches me with a heart full of love has my sahavas. After I drop this body and my passing away from your midst, many things will be said about this sahavas. Take fullest advantage of this opportunity in the living presence of the Avatar. Forget everything else but my sahavas and concentrate all your attention on me. I am the Ancient One.