...

What Is Love?

"There is only one ferry that can take us across the terrible ocean of saṃsāra buffeting us with its waves— Mantras and rites, control of breath, disputation, philosophy, science, renunciation, enjoyment—all are mere delusions of the mind;“Love,” “Love”—this is the sole treasure.” ~From an English translation of Swami Vivekananda’s poem “To a Friend”

There are many cliches in life, and seemingly even more in spiritual life. I don’t care how cliche it seems, “All You Need is Love” is truth. Love is the means and the end. It is also the biggest barometer of “progress” in spiritual life. Are you feeling more joy? Has your practice expanded your love? We want to avoid spiritual dryness. Having your meditation feel like a chore. It should be life giving. It should be a positive feedback loop of love.

Supreme Bhakti

Now what is “Love”? What kind of love is our “sole treasure”? No ordinary love is meant here. Live, laugh, love is written on the walls of many a loveless and lifeless households. The love of things of the relative world; family, material possessions, sense-enjoyment. Most things branded as love are a sick consumerist rebranding of sense enjoyment. Even “higher” loves like passion for art and philosophy are not what is meant. These all belong to the world of the changing. What the Vedanta philosophy labels as unreal. No this love is one pointed towards God. The absolute. In whatever words or form one chooses to approach it. This is the love that is our sole treasure. Paradoxically, it is said, only through one pointed love of God can we fully love the objects of the world and mind. Intense attachment and simultaneous detachment. You see a beautiful sunset and are loving God in it. You see someone and through them, find means to love God. In this way our lives become a constant opening to love. In whatever action or opportunity the universe presents us, we love God. Knowledge brings love. Intelligence opens us to reality and then love arises naturally. What we want is “Prema-Bhakti”, supreme love and devotion to the chosen ideal. Love is not a needful clinging to limited things. Love is beyond reason. It goes beyond time and enters the realm of the eternal. It is more real than anything on this Earth. When you love something purely, it goes beyond the limitations of ignorance into the unchanging absolute.

I feel this is where it is helpful to look towards Sri Ramakrishna for guidance. Has there ever been a more intense lover of God? We may look to his Gospel for some guidance. These are selected from a chapter of Ramakrishna talking with members of the Hindu reformer sect the Brahmo Samaj.

Radha & Thakur

“Radha said to her friends: "I have loved to see Krishna from my childhood. My finger-nails are worn off from counting the days on them till I shall see Him. Once He gave me a garland. Look, it has withered, but I have not yet thrown it away. Alas! Where has the Moon of Krishna risen now? Has that Moon gone away from my firmament, afraid of the Rahu of my pique? Alas! Shall I ever see Krishna again? O my beloved Krishna, I have never been able to look at You to my heart's complete satisfaction. I have only one pair of eyes; they blink and so hinder my vision. And further, on account of streams of tears I could not see enough of my Beloved. The peacock feather on the crown of His head shines like arrested lightning. The peacocks, seeing Krishna's dark-cloud complexion, would dance in joy, spreading their tails. O friends, I shall not be able to keep my life-breath. After my death, place my body on a branch of the dark tamala tree and inscribe on my body Krishna's sweet name.””

What a beautiful expression! Victory to Radha! Through this kind of love she was able to enchant and ensnare the Lord of the universe Sri Krishna. It reminds me of Sri Ramakrishna’s attempted suicide at the Kali temple. The important part of that story is Sri Ramakrishna’s single minded yearning for only his beloved. In his case Divine Mother Kali. He held the ritual sword to his neck and threatened suicide because of his intense yearning to see her. He says there is nothing in the world for him if Kali is not there, so he will depart from it. Of course, at that moment Divine Mother Kali appeared to him in a vision. How many of us can live up to this level of devotion and renunciation? Knowing so fully that God is our only goal and treasure. Radha mirrors this talking in a state that worldly people may describe as madness. Day and night she yearns to be with her beloved. Her request to inscribe the name of Krishna on her body shows she has renounced her body and sees it as his. Here we see a peak of how supreme love can lead to the highest flights of knowledge, and vice-versa. Through love one can gain renunciation of everything to truly feel “This is all my beloved’s. Even my body and mind.” It is interesting to note Sri Ramakrishna’s experiential vision of Radha where she merged into his being. I find it telling this event happens in the company of the Brahms devotees. Famously known for looking down upon image worship and God with form. Thakur himself commented once he didn’t want to be a “dry jnani”. Love is the (in my opinion) necessary sweetness of our practice. He also comments on the ending line saying how, “The name and form of God are one”. Reminiscent of the Christian gospel's, “The word was with God and the word was God”

The conversation moves on:

One Pointed Devotion

"He played with the cowherd boys, and here in these groves He met the gopis secretly." Uddhava said to them: "Why are you so grief-stricken at Krishna's absence? He resides in all beings as their indwelling Spirit. He is God Himself, and nothing can exist without God." "But", said the gopis, "we do not understand all that. We can neither read nor write. We know only our Krishna of Vrindāvan, who played with us here in so many ways." Uddhava said: "Krishna is God Himself. By meditating on Him, man escapes from birth and death in the world and attains liberation." The gopis said: "We do not understand big words like 'liberation'. We want to see the Krishna of our hearts.”

“The Master listened to the story from the Bhagavata with great attention and said at last, "Yes, the gopis were right." (Yes, the Gopis were right.)

“Then he sang: Though I am never loath to grant salvation, I hesitate indeed, to grant pure love. Whoever wins pure love surpasses all; He is adored by men; He triumphs over the three worlds. Listen, Chandravali! I shall tell you of love: Mukti(Liberation) a man may gain, but rare is bhakti(love). Solely for pure love's sake did I become King Vali's door-keeper. Down in his realm in the nether world. Alone in Vrindāvan can pure love be found; Its secret none but the gopas and gopis know. For pure love's sake I dwelt in Nanda's house; Taking him as My father, I carried his burdens on My head.”

"Do you know the meaning of devotion that is not loyal to one ideal? It is devotion tinged with intellectual knowledge. It makes one feel: 'Krishna has become all these. He alone is the Supreme Brahman. He is Rama, Śiva, and Śakti.' But this element of knowledge is not present in ecstatic love of God."

There is so much to sit with here. The focus on one pointed devotion. To bring things to my own experience. I have been in many “woo-woo” new age circles. People who say things like “Yea, I’ve been working with Kali and Tara recently. She has a fierce energy for attraction”. A seeping in of Western consumerism and “God-Shopping”. Which God can give me this benefit when it is convenient for me etc. None of this is a novel observation, but I like Thakur’s emphasis on one pointedness. It brings to mind the story of digging many shallow holes and never striking water. We must dig one hole with fervor and determination. As if we are dying of thirst (we are). We must act out of love for the sake of love alone. Only then are we acting from the truth of our being. Let God offer us salvation, heaven, occult power, or fame: we only want love. We act not out of a neediness or desire, but from a place of care.

As a good friend told me "all talk of attainment falls away in the simple chanting of the Lord's name."

Jai Ma. Jai Sri Ramakrishna. May all this be an offering at the lotus feet of the Lord.