LOVE- a four-lettered word, and yet possibly the most
powerful feeling in the world. What is love? It is impossible to define the
exact meaning of Love in some pages, or even in an entire book. But we shall
try to express the central idea of this small word.
Apparently, Love is a feeling of respect and care. We love our parents, we love our siblings, we love our partner, we love our friends- because we think for them, and we care for them. They in turn, also show us the same kind of reaction that we call 'love'.
But if we go deep into our philosophy, we shall find that 'LOVE' has got something to do with an absolutely higher sphere. Our definition of love is nothing in front of it, as Love depicted by Indian philosophy and Indian religion means sacrifice and non-expectant. Here love is depicted as a kind of 'platonic love' - a feeling that does not ask for anything in return. It's a feeling absolutely divine and it is unfathomable.
To elaborate a little more, we all love our near and dear ones in family and friends. But if we go deep into our love, we shall find that we love them either for they have been helpful to us sometime or for we expect something from them in return. A child loves parents as they look after him, parents love child because they expect the child to look after them later; a teacher loves student as expects the student to do good, a student loves a teacher as the teacher helps the student in studies; friends love each other as they get help from each other; husband-wife love each other as they both care for and depend on each other to sustain in the family. But as far as 'LOVE' is concerned, none of these relationships carry true love.
You may wonder what we are talking about. Well, let us put it across this way: all the relations mentioned above are based on some enhanced positive feeling, e.g., parents' love for children is not 'love' but it is a feeling of enhanced care and responsibility, child's love for parents is a feeling of enhanced respect and responsibility. Feeling of responsibility is common in all those relations we think we love. Similarly, a teacher's feeling for a student is a feeling of enhanced responsibility, a student's 'love' for a teacher is actually a feeling of enhanced respect; a couple's love for each other is not 'love' but a feeling of enhanced affection etc.
To be more precise, no worldly relation can be termed as 'love', for they exchange expectations. True love never expects anything in return, come what may. When a boy loves a girl, he just loves a body and its behavior. So the love does not happen. Had there been true love in a couple, there would not have been any divorce filed in the history.
True love demands extreme sacrifice. I love you, but I cannot tolerate when you do something that I dislike. What kind of 'love' is this? If I really love you, I should not put any condition in it. Yes, I can certainly advice you when you are wrong, but then, I should not persuade you to do what I want, as my motto is to see you happy.
And here is where we commit mistake. In order to carry on a relation, we start compromising and we term that compromise as sacrifice! Sacrifice and comprise are two different things altogether, compromise comes from a negative state of mind, where sacrifice comes from sheer love.
Imagine Thakur Sri Ramakrishna Dev loving His disciples. There was no expectation of return. It was a pure love, without any demand. Swami Vivekananda sacrificed His entire life to serve Thakur and suffering humanity. The disciples of Swamiji sacrificed their entire life for serving humanity, leaving their own pleasure behind. Why? Indian freedom fighters sacrificed their life, they were shot dead, and they were hanged till death with smile on their face, why? To get something in return? No. They did it for 'LOVE', a love that does not maintain any specific relationship. It flows in heart, for anyone, for country, for love.
Swami Vivekananda says: "Love itself is the eternal, endless sacrifice. You will have to give up everything. You cannot take possession of anything."
How would we understand we can love like this? There is a simple way. When we start loving without any expectation, we become fearless. We dare love. We feel an absolute bliss; smile never fades out from our lips. I cannot resist quoting Swamiji here, for I have never seen such a romantic and wonderful description of falling in love:
"In the first moment of intense love the whole world seems in tune with your own heart. Every bird in the universe sings your love; the flowers bloom for you. It is infinite, eternal love itself that (human) love comes from."
The idea of love, therefore, is love for the sake of love. The idea is to see the self in all and be one with the object we love. This is, indeed, the first and ultimate step to love God, and be God. In practical world, it seems difficult, and it is difficult to love someone this way. But this is not impossible. If we have purity in mind, fire in heart, zeal in soul and passion in ourselves, we are capable enough to love everyone.
Apparently, Love is a feeling of respect and care. We love our parents, we love our siblings, we love our partner, we love our friends- because we think for them, and we care for them. They in turn, also show us the same kind of reaction that we call 'love'.
But if we go deep into our philosophy, we shall find that 'LOVE' has got something to do with an absolutely higher sphere. Our definition of love is nothing in front of it, as Love depicted by Indian philosophy and Indian religion means sacrifice and non-expectant. Here love is depicted as a kind of 'platonic love' - a feeling that does not ask for anything in return. It's a feeling absolutely divine and it is unfathomable.
To elaborate a little more, we all love our near and dear ones in family and friends. But if we go deep into our love, we shall find that we love them either for they have been helpful to us sometime or for we expect something from them in return. A child loves parents as they look after him, parents love child because they expect the child to look after them later; a teacher loves student as expects the student to do good, a student loves a teacher as the teacher helps the student in studies; friends love each other as they get help from each other; husband-wife love each other as they both care for and depend on each other to sustain in the family. But as far as 'LOVE' is concerned, none of these relationships carry true love.
You may wonder what we are talking about. Well, let us put it across this way: all the relations mentioned above are based on some enhanced positive feeling, e.g., parents' love for children is not 'love' but it is a feeling of enhanced care and responsibility, child's love for parents is a feeling of enhanced respect and responsibility. Feeling of responsibility is common in all those relations we think we love. Similarly, a teacher's feeling for a student is a feeling of enhanced responsibility, a student's 'love' for a teacher is actually a feeling of enhanced respect; a couple's love for each other is not 'love' but a feeling of enhanced affection etc.
To be more precise, no worldly relation can be termed as 'love', for they exchange expectations. True love never expects anything in return, come what may. When a boy loves a girl, he just loves a body and its behavior. So the love does not happen. Had there been true love in a couple, there would not have been any divorce filed in the history.
True love demands extreme sacrifice. I love you, but I cannot tolerate when you do something that I dislike. What kind of 'love' is this? If I really love you, I should not put any condition in it. Yes, I can certainly advice you when you are wrong, but then, I should not persuade you to do what I want, as my motto is to see you happy.
And here is where we commit mistake. In order to carry on a relation, we start compromising and we term that compromise as sacrifice! Sacrifice and comprise are two different things altogether, compromise comes from a negative state of mind, where sacrifice comes from sheer love.
Imagine Thakur Sri Ramakrishna Dev loving His disciples. There was no expectation of return. It was a pure love, without any demand. Swami Vivekananda sacrificed His entire life to serve Thakur and suffering humanity. The disciples of Swamiji sacrificed their entire life for serving humanity, leaving their own pleasure behind. Why? Indian freedom fighters sacrificed their life, they were shot dead, and they were hanged till death with smile on their face, why? To get something in return? No. They did it for 'LOVE', a love that does not maintain any specific relationship. It flows in heart, for anyone, for country, for love.
Swami Vivekananda says: "Love itself is the eternal, endless sacrifice. You will have to give up everything. You cannot take possession of anything."
How would we understand we can love like this? There is a simple way. When we start loving without any expectation, we become fearless. We dare love. We feel an absolute bliss; smile never fades out from our lips. I cannot resist quoting Swamiji here, for I have never seen such a romantic and wonderful description of falling in love:
"In the first moment of intense love the whole world seems in tune with your own heart. Every bird in the universe sings your love; the flowers bloom for you. It is infinite, eternal love itself that (human) love comes from."
The idea of love, therefore, is love for the sake of love. The idea is to see the self in all and be one with the object we love. This is, indeed, the first and ultimate step to love God, and be God. In practical world, it seems difficult, and it is difficult to love someone this way. But this is not impossible. If we have purity in mind, fire in heart, zeal in soul and passion in ourselves, we are capable enough to love everyone.
First I like to congradulate Our lovable Madhumita.I like this article very much.Whatever love may be its requirs Unselfishness,Understanding each other,do not tolerate others
ReplyDeleteSahara India Pariwar has taken great initiative to bring the people of country together through the medium of national anthem. We all should come up one by one joining the hands of each other to make a such a strong knot on which every Indian word get printed strongly. Let us make this day auspicious in the world by making one of unbreakable records. Jai Hind!
ReplyDeleteBharat Bhawna Diwas