Love - out of a sense of kinship

 

I chant the name of my beloved in every breath. The beloved is faultless, perfect. But being in love I have lost my reputation. 


When there is so much love, you take total responsibility for any misunderstanding. For a moment you may express dismay on the surface. But when you do not feel that dismay in your heart, you arrive at a perfect understanding. You are in a state where all problems and all differences slide away and only love shines through. Usually we are stuck in our differences because we have lost sight of ourselves. In the name of love we try to manipulate and control the other person. It is natural that when we love someone, we want them to be perfect.


You can never see the holes in the ground from the top of a hill. From an airplane the earth looks so smooth. So also from a state of elevated consciousness, you do not see the pitfalls in others. But if you come to the ground you always see the holes. When you want to fill the holes, you have to see them. You cannot build a home being airborne. You cannot till the land without looking at the holes, filling them, removing the pebbles. 


That is why when you love someone, you find faults in them. But finding faults destroys love and instead of helping to fill the holes, we run away. When you love someone and see their faults, stay with them and help them fill the holes. This is wisdom. 


Why do you love someone? Is it because of their qualities or because of a sense of kinship or intimacy? You can love someone for their qualities and not feel a sense of kinship. This type of love gives rise to competition and jealousy. Such is not the case when love arises out of kinship. If you love someone for their qualities, when the qualities change or you get accustomed to their qualities, your love also changes. However, if you love someone out of kinship, because they belong to you, then that love remains for lifetimes.


People say, “I love God because He is great”. What if God is found to be ordinary, just one of us? Then your love and God would collapse. If you love God because He is yours, then however God is, whether He creates or destroys, you still love Him. The love of kinship is like love for yourself.


Why does it seem that so many people have no love for themselves? No. It is just the opposite. They love themselves so much that they want better qualities and a better appearance for themselves. This love of qualities makes them hard on themselves.