Unconditional Love

 

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Unconditional Love

Swamiji in the beginning of this month wrote a series of messages based on ‘love’. The long and short of those messages was that even if you do not get into a meditative state, an easier path is to ‘love’ selflessly and unconditionally. Love can also take you to the state of fulfilment and completeness. Let us try and see how this happens. When we talk of unconditional love – this implies that if there are conditions, then it is not love. Conditions turn love into selfish attachment. With attachment comes expectation and the problem with relationships is the huge gap between expectations and reality.

If you notice your mind, you will realise that we judge people before we ‘love’ them. This judgement is based on their actions, words and qualities and so on. This is not love, this is simply attachment. Most shocking of all is we don’t even love our own selves unconditionally for who we are! We have inferiority complexes because we don’t love ourselves. Attachment makes us selfish, because we constantly think in terms of “I” eg. Does he/she treat “me” nicely, does he/she take care of “me”, can “I” relate to him, does he/she match “my” social status. Anything that involves the ego which considers people as possessions – that cannot be love.

Unconditional, selfless love on the other hand is loving both sentient and non-sentient beings for what they are and not for who they are. It does not involve trying to change them or mould them into your idea of them – it is letting them be who they are and loving them for it, with all their good and bad points. That is what makes unconditional love beautiful, divine even – accepting people with all their defects and shortcomings along with all their positives. This is a very direct, straightforward, simple and relaxed emotion – unconditional love does not carry baggage!

Unconditional love is not superficial at all, in fact it goes much deeper, it sees the very basic nature of the human being, it touches the soul – when it does that it is pure love and bliss – no conditions attached! So, can one love unconditionally? The answer to this is found daily in nature. The Sun gives light to everybody, trees give shade, water wets everything that comes in its way. Why does this happen – this happens because they follow their true nature. The true nature of human beings is humanity, which implies unconditional love regardless of race, religion, colour, country, language, etc – the true nature of this love is bliss and pure joy of existence.

When we realise our true nature, we will become “love personified” and then we won’t have any conditions for our love; and that’s how unconditional love is possible. With unconditional love comes the feeling of unity with the universe, and this could be another path to liberation and becoming one with universal consciousness.