The body is impermanent
All one's wealth is transient. Children and Wife are shadows. Only one's good
deeds are lasting companions. Who realises this truth is a true man.
EMBODIMENTS of love! All
beings in creation, except man, live according to the laws of nature and carry
out their functions. Without any concern for the morrow, they lead their lives,
content with whatever they can enjoy. Nature sees to it that they do not lack
anything needed for their existence. Man, on the contrary, is never contented,
however much he may acquire and whatever comforts he may enjoy. He yearns for
various things and looks upon the desire for these objects as love. But if such
attachment to objects is fostered, there is no end to the process. He does not realize
that such love is based upon self-interest and self-centeredness.
It should be clear that
what passes for love today in the world is really selfishness and
self-interest. In every thought, every word, every action of his, the demon of
self-interest is present. Man has become a plaything of selfish impulses.
Caught up in the coils of selfishness, his entire life becomes a delusion and a
snare. He is prisoner of his selfishness. Such a person can never experience
what is real freedom.
True Love Will
Remain Unaffected
What, then, is true Prema
(love)? Pure, unselfish love towards all living beings,
considered as embodiments of the Divine, with no expectation of reward, is true
Love. "Adweshta sarvabhootha-nam. Maitrah, Karuna evacha" ("Free
from dislike, friendly and compassionate towards all beings"). With this
attitude, when one regards divinity as present in all beings, only then he can
have true love. Whatever be the vicissitudes one may face, whatever be the
personal sorrows and privations one may undergo, true love will remain
unaffected. Today, when any difficulty arises or when some trouble crops up,
love turns into hatred. True love is the sweet fruit that grows out of the
fragrant flower of good deeds. Love rules without recourse to the sword. It
binds without laws.
Only one who has such
true love can be described as human. The man without such love is only human in
form. Like the lotus which blooms when the sun rises, the heart of man blossoms
when love enters it. Like the glow of the flame in a fire, like the rays of the
sun, like waves in the ocean, divine love is the basic quality of a true human
being. It is only when one is filled with pure, unselfish love that he can be
called a human being.
Sri Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. 18
May 06, 1985
