Suppose someone shows a lot of love to you, what do you do?1. Often, do not know how to respond
2. Feel obliged and bound
3. Shrink or shy away
4. Feel foolish and awkward
5. Try to reciprocate even though it is not genuine
6. Doubt the love expressed and one’s own worthiness
7. Are afraid of losing respect because love does not allow distance and respect tends to keep distance
8. Your ego hardens and does not allow you to receive and reciprocate.
The ability to receive genuine love comes with the ability to give love. The more you are centered and, by experience, know that you are love, the more you feel at home with any amount of love expressed in any manner, for deep inside, you know: Love is not an emotion. It is your very existence.
There are three kinds of Love. The Love that comes out of charm, that which comes out of comfort, and the divine love. The love that comes out of charm does not last long. It comes out of unfamiliarity or attraction. In this you lose the attraction fast, and boredom sets in, like in most love marriages. This love may diminish and bring along with it fear, uncertainty, insecurity, and sadness.
The love that comes out of comfort and familiarity grows. But this love has no thrill, no enthusiasm, joy, or fire to it. For example, you are more comfortable with an old friend who is a familiar person, rather than with a new person. Divine love supersedes both the above. It has an ever present newness. The closer you go, there is more charm and depth. There is never boredom and it keeps everyone on their toes.
Worldly love can be like an ocean, yet an ocean has a bottom. Divine love is like the sky which is limitless, infinite. From the bottom of the ocean, soar into the vast sky. Ancient Love is beyond relationships. Often our love is in terms of some relation, ie, father, mother, brother, sister, wife, friend, master, disciple.
But Ancient Love transcends all these relationships and is inclusive of all the relationships. Any relationship brings a limitation but Ancient Love is beyond limitations. Let love be. Don’t give it a name. When you give it a name it becomes a relationship, and relationships restrict love.
Often, one experiences love at first sight. Then as time goes on it decreases, decays, becomes hatred and disappears. Ancient Love never decays. Although its mortality rate is high, love dies very young. After a few days, weeks, months, or years, it dies. In society you say love is never a tree, it is a seasonal crop. All the letters, all the gifts exchanged, all that happens is only in a short period.
When the same love becomes a tree with the manure of knowledge, that becomes Ancient Love that goes from lifetime to lifetime; keeps growing bigger, wider, stronger. That is our own consciousness. You are not limited to this present body, this present name, this present form and the present relationships around you. You may not know your past, your ancientness, but just know you are ancient, that is good enough.
You have gone through every experience and you have still come out the same — shining, innocent, pure, untainted. That is why you are the Ancient Love. Being on the spiritual path means uncovering the Ancient Love. In that state, whatever I am that is what you are.
Stop looking for anything; if there’s anything more to look for, you are only looking for misery. When the search stops, the goal begins. The search was necessary to get here; once you have got here drop your search, just rest, relax. If you can get on by your own searching, then what you get is not what you are looking for. If one teaspoonful could hold the entire ocean, then it is not the ocean.
What are you searching with? Your little mind? Do you think this little mind will realise the Divine, God, whatever? If it does, it is hallucination. This little mind cannot contain the infinity. So the searching can go on forever. I tell you, instead of running all around, give it up right away. That is called surrender.
Surrender is giving up the search for truth. You have always heard the other way around. Search, seek the truth! But I am telling you stop seeking. You have to look for water in the spring, in the river, if you still look for water, you will only move away from the spring. Wherever you are, right now, right there stop seeking. Relax into the fulfillment that is your very nature.
These are two different paths — one is seeking, the other is devotion. Seeking and searching should ultimately bring you a place of helplessness; when you become so helpless you give up, then devotion begins. And when devotion begins, when you surrender, you have it right there.
Pain goes with Love. Because you love someone, even a slight action, whatever it is, can hurt you. And in hurt, you feel very delicate, very deep. Love also creates the same sensation. Separation creates the same symptom. If you don’t love somebody, you’ll never get that hurt from them. Understand, accept this. Then you will not turn that hurt into a sore feeling. Rather, that very hurt will take you deep into dispassion and meditation.
Ancient Love says, ‘‘okay, you want to play, go play for some time. Want to get into the mud, okay get messy, doesn’t matter. We have a good soap and detergent to bring you back home’’. Ancient Love is not judgemental. Ancient Love does not punish you. God is thought to be sitting there as a judge and that on Judgement Day, He’s going to give rewards for your merits and punishment for your bad action
s. That doesn’t indicate love.When love glows, it is bliss,/When it flows, it is compassion,/When it blows, it is anger,/When it ferments, it is jealously,/When it is all Nos, it is hatred,/When it acts, it is perfection,/When love Knows, it is me! (self)
You don’t need to worry to maintain knowledge. When knowledge is lodged in you as wisdom, it will never leave you. Wisdom lodges itself in your heart. Make the Divine your Valentine (your sweet beloved). This is the last thing to do and the first thing to do. Keep your heart in a safe place; it is too delicate. Events, small things, make strong impressions on it. And you cannot find a better place than the Divine to keep your heart safe and your mind sane.
See the Divine in your Valentine and make the Divinity your Valentine (your sweet beloved). Just BE... and know that you are LOVED... that is BELOVED!
