The human body is a holy book of God. Study it! Search it! Those who rose above the plane of senses and realized themselves, they realized God. This is the highest ideal of all.

Sant Kirpal Singh

Whom should we love I

From the book "Morning Talks", written by Sant Kirpal Singh

1967-10-31, Delhi, Sawan Ashram
Talk available as mp3 at audio.sant-kirpal-singh.org

 

God is ­love. ­Our ­soul is of ­the ­same ­essence as ­that of ­God, so ­love is ­innate in us, ­and ­must ­have some­body to ­love. We ­are con­scious enti­ties ­and we ­have to ­make ­our ­beloved an ­all con­scious ­God. ­But we ­are ­attached to ­our chil­dren, ­our fam­i­lies, ­our ­own soci­ety, relig­ion ­and coun­try.
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There ­are ­some peo­ple ­who ­are ­Nero-­like. ­When ­Rome ­was burn­ing, ­Nero fid­dled. In ­India ­too we ­had a ­king ­like ­that. ­His ­name ­was ­Mohammed ­Shah ­Ramila. ­The ­whole ­town of ­Delhi ­was on ­fire ­and ­the peo­ple ­sent in a peti­tion to ­him to ­save ­them. He ­was tak­ing ­wine at ­the ­time ­and ­was intox­i­cated. "­All ­right," he ­said, "­put ­this peti­tion ­into ­the ­cup of ­wine." Such­like peo­ple ­are eve­ry­where. ­Their ­type is ­the low­est ­class. ­They ­are con­gealed ­with ­their ­own ­selves.

If ­your ­love is ­for ­your fam­i­lies ­only, ­then ­you ­will ­think ­only of ­their ­good. If ­each ­man ­has ­the atti­tude ­that ­his chil­dren ­must be ­fed prop­erly, ­but oth­ers ­may go hun­gry, ­there ­will be a ­clash ­between fam­ily ­and fam­ily. ­The ­police sta­tions ­are ­full of such­like ­reports. ­Their atti­tude is ­good ­for ­their ­own fam­i­lies of ­course, ­but ­they ­will ­clash ­with oth­ers. If ­our ­love is ­for ­our ­own soci­ety or ­for ­the relig­ion to ­which we ­belong, nat­u­rally we ­will ­love ­the ­men of ­our ­own soci­ety ­and relig­ion ­more ­than any­body ­else. In fam­ily strife, ­some peo­ple ­are ­hurt, ­their ­heads ­are ­broken. If we ­have ­love ­for ­our ­own com­mu­nity or relig­ion ­only, ­what is ­the ­result? Thou­sands ­will be ­killed. We ­had a ­clear ­show, a dem­on­stra­tion I ­would ­say, ­when Paki­stan ­was ­formed. ­More ­than ­one mil­lion ­two hun­dred thou­sand peo­ple ­were ­killed on ­both ­sides, ­because ­they ­loved ­their ­own ­outer ­forms of relig­ion. It is bet­ter to be ­born in a tem­ple, ­but to ­die in it is a ­sin. So ­that ­results in ­the ­loss of thou­sands of ­lives. If ­our ­love ­expands, we ­love ­our ­own coun­try. We ­think ­that a ­dog of ­our ­own coun­try is bet­ter ­than a ­man of ­another coun­try. ­The ­result is ­that we ­fight, ­and mil­lions of peo­ple ­are ­killed. So ­this expan­sion of ­love, of ­the ­love of ­self, of ­the fam­ily, of ­the soci­ety ­and coun­try is ­fraught ­with dif­fi­cul­ties ­and dan­gers. ­The ­cost to ­life is ­more ­and ­more. ­Unless ­the ­love of ­our ­soul ­expands to ­love an ­all con­scious, an ­all per­vad­ing ­God, ­there ­can be no ­peace.
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Our ­ideal is, ­God is ­love ­and we ­have ­got ­love ­innate in ­our ­own ­selves. It ­must ­have some­thing to ­love. ­Whom ­should we ­love? ­Guru ­Nanak ­said, "­Peace be ­unto ­all ­the ­world ­over ­under ­Thy ­Will O ­God". ­God ­resides in ­every ­heart ­and ­our ­souls ­are of ­the ­same ­essence as ­that of ­God. So if we ­love ­God, nat­u­rally we ­will ­love every­body. ­The ­tenth ­Guru of ­the ­Sikhs ­said, "I ­tell ­you ­the ­truth, ­those ­who ­love, ­only ­they ­can ­know ­God". ­Christ ­said, "­Those ­who do ­not ­know ­love can­not ­know ­God". So ­love is ­the ­way ­back to ­God. We ­speak of ­love. On ­the pul­pits every­body ­speaks of ­love. ­But ­how ­many ­are ­there ­who ­really ­love? ­They ­love ­their fam­i­lies, soci­e­ties ­and coun­tries. ­For ­their ­sake ­they ­will sac­ri­fice hun­dreds of ­lives. ­There ­can be no ­peace in ­the ­world ­unless we ­love ­God.
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God ­resides in ­every ­heart, ­but ­where He is man­i­fest, we ­should ­have ­more ­respect ­for ­Him, ­for ­the ­God in ­Him of ­course, ­not ­for ­the ­son of ­man. We ­love ­and ­respect ­Him ­because ­God is man­i­fest in ­Him ­and He ­helps oth­ers to ­make man­i­fest ­the ­God in ­them. So ­whom ­should we ­love? ­That's ­the ­point, ­where we ­can be ­all at ­peace, ­all at ­rest, ­all ­bliss ­filled. ­This ­will hap­pen ­only ­when we ­love ­God. He ­should be ­our ­Beloved. ­That is ­why ­Christ ­said, "­Love ­thy ­God ­with ­all ­thy ­heart, ­with ­all ­thy ­soul, ­with ­all ­thy ­strength." ­This is ­the ­first com­mand­ment ­and ­the sec­ond is ­not ­less ­than ­that – "­Love ­thy neigh­bour as ­thy ­self". ­All ­the ­saints ­who ­come ­say, "­God ­says ­you ­should ­see me in ­all ­and ­all in me. ­You ­are ­then a ­true fol­lower ­and I ­will ­love ­you". ­This is ­the ulti­mate ­goal. If we ­have ­that ­ideal ­before us, we ­will ­earn ­the ­full ­fruit of hav­ing ­the man-­body. ­The man­-body is ­the high­est ­rung in Crea­tion. It is ­here ­that we ­can ­turn ­our atten­tion ­and ­unite ­our ­souls to ­God ­and in no ­other ­form. We ­are ­blessed to ­have ­the man­-body. We ­have to ­see ­how ­far we ­have ­advanced. ­Unless ­you ­love ­God ­and ­God in ­all, ­there ­can be no ­peace. ­God is ­within ­you. ­You ­are ­not to go else­where ­but ­are ­just to ­invert ­inside. He is ­the Con­trol­ling ­Power ­within ­you. ­Our ­body ­works so ­long as we ­are in ­the ­body ­and we ­are con­trolled in ­the ­body. ­There ­are so ­many aper­tures in ­the ­body, ­two ­eyes, ­tow ­ears, ­two nos­trils, ­the ­mouth ­and ­two aper­tures ­below, ­but we can­not ­run ­away ­out of ­the ­body. ­Some ­Power is con­trol­ling us in ­the ­body. ­The breath­ing ­goes ­out ­but ­there is ­some ­Power ­that ­pushes it ­back. As ­soon as ­that Con­trol­ling ­Power is with­drawn, we ­have to ­leave ­the ­body. ­That ­very ­Power con­trols ­all ­the Uni­verse. ­When ­that ­Power with­draws ­from ­the Uni­verse, ­the ­result ­will be dis­so­lu­tion ­and ­grand dis­so­lu­tion.

So ­what ­should be ­the ­ideal in ­the man-­body? We ­should ­love ­God ­because we ­are con­scious enti­ties. We ­can ­become ­more con­scious by absorb­ing our­selves in ­the ­all Con­scious­ness, in ­the ­God Con­scious­ness. ­This is ­our ­goal. ­Christ ­said, "The ­Son ­knows ­the ­Father ­and oth­ers ­whom ­the ­Son ­reveals". ­Where ­God is man­i­fested, ­such a ­human ­body ­helps oth­ers to man­i­fest ­God, ­who is ­already ­within ­them. He is ­not to ­put in some­thing ­from out­side, it is ­already ­there. So ­the ­body is ­the ­true tem­ple of ­God. ­Here ­you ­can ­open ­your ­inner ­eye to ­see ­Him. In ­what ­Form? ­Not in Abso­lute ­Form, ­but in ­God-into-Expres­sion, ­which is ­Light ­and ­Sound prin­ci­ple. ­You ­can ­have ­your ­inner ­eye ­opened, ­the ­third or sin­gle ­eye. "When ­thine ­eye be sin­gle, ­thy ­whole ­body ­shall be ­full of ­Light". To ­see ­Him, ­you ­will ­have to ­invert, with­draw ­from out­side, with­draw ­from ­the ­body ­and ­rise ­above ­body-con­scious­ness. He is wait­ing ­for ­you. ­You ­are sim­ply ­going ­astray. ­For ­the ­love of ­the ­world ­you ­have for­got­ten ­God.

So ­today's sub­ject is, "­Whom ­should we ­love?" We ­should ­love ­God. ­Remain in ­any ­form or relig­ion ­you ­like. ­The high­est ­aim of ­all relig­ions is to ­see ­God, ­and ­that ­you ­can do ­only in ­the ­man-­body ­and ­nowhere ­else. It is a mat­ter of see­ing, ­not of emo­tions, feel­ings or draw­ing infer­ences, ­which ­are ­all sub­ject to ­error. See­ing is ­above ­all. We ­can ­achieve ­this ­ideal in ­the man­-body ­only. We ­are ­blessed in hav­ing ­the man-­body. ­For ­that ­very pur­pose, we ­have ­joined so ­many ­schools of ­thought, ­but ­where do we ­stand? ­that's ­the ­point. So we ­must ­make ­the ­best ­use of ­the man­-body ­that we ­have ­got, ­with ­the ­grace of ­God. If an ani­mal, ­whose ­head ­God ­has ­made down­wards, ­always ­remains enjoy­ing ­the down­ward ­things, ­that's ­all ­right. ­You ­are a ­man ­after ­all, ­look ­above.