The Path of Love

The path of love tells that we suffer because we lack faith in God.

God gave us life; He gave us the power to love. He gave us everything, along with the freedom to cast Him aside. In other words, He has given to us, without asking anything in return His greatest blessing, His unconditional love. We, being His children endowed with the power of His unconditional love, should use that power to find Him saying: "O Lord, I do not want anything from Thee only Thy love alone; and without condition I will give my love to Thee."

Intellectual knowledge of God does not mean that we know God. A great mistake in the modern world is reading about God or listening to sermons about Him without trying to commune with Him, thinking that actual communion with God is impossible. How, then, can one presume even to talk about Him who is impossible to know? But the saints, who have communed with God, say, "Don't just read about God. First taste Him; and then you will be able to speak thousands of words about Him. But if you don't, taste Him, everything you say will be mere assumption. Perception of God is what is necessary. Then even if we have no words to express, if our heart is filled with Him, others will feel the power and conviction of our direct perception.

Pure unselfish love in God's love is a most wonderful state of consciousness. It is an ecstasy day and night. God richly rewards us with unconditional love. We should want to give that same love to Him. Say, “Lord, I will be happy in the giving of my love to You, even though my offering may be inadequate. I am not looking for Your response; I am not asking You to receive my love. Whether or not You receive it, whether or not You respond, I am glad just to give my unconditional love to You. It is my greatest happiness. I give that love to You, and to Your manifested Presence of all nature. I know that as You have made me in Your image, I am one with You always. I give my love to You, my Lord, and shall keep on giving unto eternity.

He who is a true lover of God stands by Him equally during sunny days of joy and dark days of trials. Why not? Those who are in love are day and night thinking only of their beloved one. So is this romance with God. It is the most wonderful existence one can ever imagine.

Some spiritual practices suggestions  

What do we mean by spiritual practice?

A spiritual practice is any regular and intentional activity that establishes, develops, and nourishes a personal relationship with the Divine in which we allow ourselves to be transformed.

What do we mean by being transformed? Through regular practices of meditation, prayer, fasting, study, and the other practices, we emerge from an inner transformed state of being with deep conviction and passion for God, rather than being passionate for God out of duty, custom, or fear.

A suggestion for devotional people whose heart is God centered. For them a common expression is, “I love God”. But to develop an even closer relationship with God, it is even better to claim ownership by saying instead “I love my God”.  At the beginning, this may feel strange, but over time, it will develop into an intimacy, since love has a way of taking over our lives.

In our society we may express love in service, in doing things for those in need. We then offer all our actions as a service to God, in this way there is no division between the sacred and the secular. We direct all our activities into acts of God.

Some people find it difficult to express their devotion to God. This can be often a result of earlier teachings were it was said that God is separate from us and we are separate from God. But  in devotion, our desire is not to establish oneness with God, but to keep our separate identity for the joy of standing apart and worshiping the Object of our adoration. The attitude of devotion is, "I am Thy son/daughter, and Thou art my Father"; or, "I am Thy lover, and Thou art my Beloved"; or, "I am Thy devotee, and Thou art my Lord." In this state, the devotee doesn't want to say or feel, "Thou and I are One," but rather, "I adore Thee." The devotee is free to retain his individuality in order to enjoy, throughout this life and all eternity, the bliss of beholding God and worshiping Him with the offering of devotion.

Prayer life

In prayer we engage in two kinds of praying. One is praying to the loving God in the hope for a better life. This type of prayer is of the lower kind. It affirms that we believe in God, yet we pray to God for the things we want or need, such as good health, a better job a compatible partner and so on. Here we are imploring God to serve our purpose, by enhancing our life or the life of our brothers and sisters.

The problem with this approach is that often we pray and pray and often nothing happens. This can result in doubt and the questioning of whether the prayers are heard.  

The higher prayer is one’s love for God and realizing, that God is aware of our needs even before we are.

The person with ordinary consciousness is pleased and thankful when his prayer for worldly things is answered. The enlightened person on the other hand only wants God. He/she is a lover of God. When he enters a place of service, he says ‘I’ve come because I love Thee’.

We can see for ourselves what power the God centered prayer has in that soon it will transform our entire view of God and of ourselves. Everything else in life will be of secondary importance..

We wander in darkness until we realize that God is with us always. He is our own consciousness.

Love: Human and Divine

The greatest love you can experience is in communion with God in meditation. The love between the soul and Spirit is the perfect love, the love you are all seeking. When you meditate, love grows. Millions of thrills pass through your heart....If you meditate deeply, a love will come over you such as no human tongue can describe; you will know His divine love, and you will be able to give that pure love to others.

                                                   Paramahansa Yogananda