The Love of God is beyond human comprehension. Nothing in this 3D physical world can compare. Until you’ve had the direct experience of this love no one can describe or explain it to you!
It’s like the example of trying to explain to someone what a mango tastes like if they have never known or seen the fruit. You can try as hard as possible, you can use all the words you like, but until you stop trying to explain and go get a mango and give it to the person so that they actually have the direct experience of the taste for themselves they will never truly know or understand the truth of what the mango tastes like.
It’s the same with the love of God!
People have referred to it at ecstasy, bliss, profound joy, unending happiness, etc… Mystics & poets have wrote beautiful prose comparing it to the intimacy between lovers, and all of this is fine & good. All of this is a way to try & explain something in terms or experiences which we can understand and relate to, but the truth is that none of these words or examples even come close to the truth.
And while love between family, friends, partners, is a way for us to get a feel for the love of God; while relationships with others is also a way to share the love with them; the Love of God is beyond & more intense than any form, level, or experience of physical love you have ever known.
This love is always present just waiting for us to receive, accept, experience, and tap into it. For God is a fountain of this infinite, unconditional, & eternal love always ready to give and share of itself. In fact, true love wants to be shared and it shares itself unselfishly.
Mother Theresa of Calcutta once told a story of how she brought food to a starving family. The mother of the family then excused herself not returning for some time. When she returned, Mother Theresa asked her where she had gone. The mother explained she went to give half of the food her family received to another starving family.
This is a wonderful example of true and pure love. The mother of this family could have saved the food for herself & her family. She could have just been grateful & thankful for her good fortune and simply kept the food to feed her family for a few extra days. But, she selflessly decided to share her blessing with others in need. And that is what true love is. True love just wants to give. It wants to be shared. And it seeks nothing in return.
True love just wants to give. It wants to be shared. And it seeks nothing in return.
However, something to realize is it gives of itself! Just giving – or the giving of things – doesn’t necessarily mean one loves. Giving of gifts doesn’t necessarily mean one is loving or has a pure intention. And giving to every request that is asked doesn’t necessarily mean one loves in the highest fashion.
So, while true love gives – it gives with discernment. It doesn’t just give to everything that is asked because it knows that sometimes getting what is asked for can be harmful. For example, a mother doesn’t let her child eat a while bag of candy or a half gallon of ice-cream just because that’s what the child wants or asks. Spiritual love wouldn’t give to a beggar if they knew they were just going to go buy drugs or alcohol. For, true spiritual love gives as long as no harm comes from that giving.
True love doesn’t give into someone’s selfishness & egoic desires. Also, love doesn’t allow one to be used, manipulated, abused, or taken advantage of because then that shows that one doesn’t care about one’s own well-being. And self-love is also a necessity! Self-love is not selfish.
So true love gives what others need – physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually — as long as what is needed doesn’t bring harm to anyone or anything – including one’s self.
However, as paradoxical as it sounds true love is manifested when we surrender ourselves. Surrendering ourselves makes it sound like we do not care about our selves or our needs, but this is not truly the case. For, what we surrender is our selfishness.
We seek to forgo the ego desire of seeking something in return for the love we give. And when we remove selfishness from our giving we become channels through which this pure & unconditional spiritual love can flow to others & the world.
Through this love we become expressions of the Spirit of God on this earth. For, this love is a sharing in God’s own spirit. And there is no transforming power which surpasses the power of this type of love. Manifesting this love is the highest law & the strongest force in the Universe. And unconditional, unselfish love is the love of God.
Meditation is a way through which we connect to this love and a way for us to nurture or manifest our love to the highest potential. When studying with one of my teacher’s, Jack Kornfield, these words of his have always stuck with me:
“The purpose of our meditation or any spiritual practice is not to perfect ourselves but to perfect our love.”
This saying is quite similar to one of Jiddu Krishnamurti’s definitions of meditation which is:
“The flowering of love is meditation.”
Meditation helps our love to grow & manifest into it’s highest potential. It loosens our attachments to egoic desires, it peels back layers of the false self, and helps connect us to our true nature which is the infinite love & compassion of God.
Paramhansa Yogananda once said,
“The greatest love you can experience is found in communion with God in meditation. Meditate deeply and a love will come over you which no human tongue can describe.”
This love that Yoganada is referring to – this love which he says is found in meditation – is the direct experience of God. This is the direct experience of the love from which you are made. And therefore, through meditation, you get to actually taste the “mango” for yourself.
Blessings on your journey! May your days be filled with love, happiness, & peace! ~ Anthony
