"Love is painful because it creates the way
for bliss. Love is painful because it transforms; love is mutation. Each transformation is going to be painful because the
old has to be left for the new. The old is familiar, secure, safe, the new is absolutely unknown. You will be moving in an
uncharted ocean. You cannot use your mind with the new; with the old, the mind is skillful. The mind can function only with
the old; with the new, the mind is utterly useless.
Hence, fear arises, and leaving the old, comfortable,
safe world, the world of convenience, pain arises. It is the same pain that the child feels when he comes out of the womb
of the mother. It is the same pain that the bird feels when he comes out of the egg. It is the same pain that the bird will
feel when he will try for the first time to be on the wing.
The fear of the unknown, and the security of
the known, the insecurity of the unknown, the unpredictability of the unknown, makes one very much frightened. And because
the transformation is going to be from the self towards a state of no-self, agony is very deep. But you cannot have ecstasy
without going through agony. If the gold wants to be purified, it has to pass through fire.
Love is fire.
It is because of the pain of love, millions of
people live a loveless life. They too suffer, and their suffering is futile. To suffer in love is not to suffer in vain. To
suffer in love is creative; it takes you to higher levels of consciousness. To suffer without love is utterly a waste; it
leads you nowhere, it keeps you moving in the same vicious circle."
What Does It Mean to Love Myself?
I
would like you to love yourself, because unless you love yourself you cannot love anybody else. You don’t know what
love is if you have not loved yourself. But before you can love yourself you have to know yourself; hence love is secondary,
meditation is primary.
"If you are not growing your roots into life,
if you are not growing your roots and spreading your roots in love, in trust, you will remain a dwarf. You will never become
the essential man, adhar manush. Grow, grow towards depth - because when your roots grow towards depth, your branches grow
towards height. Depth and height grow together. The deeper you go into the earth, the higher you go into the sky. The deeper
you go into this shore, the closer you reach to the other shore.
Love, love life, love all that surrounds you,
and let your roots spread as far and as wide as possible. You will start touching the feet of God. Your flowers will start
being offered to the divine feet. Otherwise, remember - you will remain a dwarf. Love is a must. It is the only nourishment
for the soul. The body can exist with food; the soul can exist only with love. Let it not remain just a word; allow it to
become a penetrating experience.
"If it does not bring you joy?
then why
are you doing it?"
