Love can never be made to happen with just our logical decision. Our mental setup itself should be created in such a way that we become love and our actions speak love. Our logic should start radiating a love that is beyond logic! When real love happens in us, we will not even be aware that we are loving. Only others will be aware that we are radiating love. When real love happens, we overflow with so much energy that we will have the courage to share whatever we have with others. We get tremendous confidence because we know it has happened in us!
Whether it is energy, time, talent or pleasure, only when we are over flowing can we really share it. Similarly, love happens only naturally, never through compulsion. If we try to create love, it will be like forcing open the petals of a flower to make it bloom. Can it be called flowering? No. Love is a flower that blossoms deep within your being and sends out a sweet fragrance that we share with others.
The word ‘love’ is loaded with so many different meanings, interpretations and commentaries. First, let us leave out the idea of selfless and spiritual love. Let us first consider the normal, simple love with all its possessiveness, jealousy and all the side effects it causes! Even that love can do a lot of good for the body and mind.
Later we will discuss selfless, spiritual love or mature love.The other day I was reading an article in a magazine. The title was, ‘Live Forever’. I was amazed to read it. It gave eleven techniques to extend your life by at least twenty years and it was supported by statistics and survey reports. All the eleven techniques were related to love. It said that even caring for a pet animal releases a hormone in us that allows us to live at ease with our body. If caring for our pet animals does so much, surely caring for the husband or for the wife will do a lot more!
The article also spoke of how people die early if they are single or widowers and how life is extended with love. It also spoke of how chances of getting cancer or depression are less when you have love in your life. Even what we call ordinary love, simple infatuation, can do miracles for our body and mind. It can give us a deep feeling of healing and wellbeing.
According to Tantra*, five types of restlessness happen in a person and all of these can be healed by ordinary love, by the simple caring for one another. Once again, I am not speaking of spiritual love or devotion or selfless love. That comes later.
From the Book “Living Enlightenment“