The Treasure of Divine Love
Love is a state that possesses every fiber of our being. When in love, we think only of our beloved. Many people who describe this state of love will say that they are not interested in sleeping or eating. They see their beloved's face everywhere.
They think they hear their beloved's voice everywhere. They may call their beloved a hundred times a day. Everything they see reminds them of their beloved. If they notice a particular flower or smell a particular fragrance that they once received from their beloved, their memories come alive. They see their beloved in every dewdrop and in every star.
If the power of love is so great on this physical plane, imagine how far greater it is when we are talking about love for God on a spiritual level. This is the power of love that helps us transcend this physical world and soar back to God. Because we cannot see God, the God power manifests on a human pole. God's love pours out to us through the spiritual Master.
There is a wonderful example from the lives of the Sufi saints that illustrates the devotion of a true lover of God. Once a Sufi saint was having a discussion with some disciples about the qualities of a true lover of God, and each described what they thought the life of a true devotee would look like.
One of the disciples said, "A true lover is one who welcomes troubles and accepts them with joy and gratitude as coming from the Lord."
A sheikh, listening to this answer said, "My opinion is that a true lover of God is one who is so deeply absorbed in divine consciousness that he feels nothing, even if a hundreds swords were to fall on his head."
Another devotee spoke up, "The true lover is one who, in the midst of troubles of every kind, would be so lost in the inner spiritual vision that he would not leave off his meditation and would be totally oblivious of all troubles."
Then the saint made this reply to his disciples. "The great mystic saint, Rabia Basri, once said that a true lover is much higher than all these things. A true lover is one who is so much in love that he or she makes no distinction between pain and pleasure. Everything that happens to the lover is welcomed as if it were coming from the Beloved.
The great saints and mystics all advise us that divine love is best kept in the chamber of one's heart and not publicly revealed to the world. It is an experience each one has in the soul. When meditating on the inner Light and Sound of God, we are asked not to divulge our inner experiences, because love needs to grow. Like a seed, you do not take it out to inspect it daily. You just keep watering it, and it finally turns into a tree. Similarly, love grows in the heart over time. It develops more and more, deeper and deeper. We do not want to let it out to the public lest others interfere with the growth process.
The experience of love is happening at the level of soul and cannot be adequately put into words. Few can understand the love that happens on the inner regions between Beloved and lover. It is an experience beyond this world. We may talk in generalities of the intoxication we receive from the Beloved, but the gifts that the lover receives from the Beloved are treasures best kept in one's heart.
Divine love is a world unto itself that has no parallel in this physical world. It is the world of the mystic lover and Beloved. We, too, can experience that world the more time we spend in our holy meditations. The more we evolve spiritually, the more the inner secrets and mysteries are revealed. By going within through meditation, we will deepen our love for the spiritual Master and in turn find the love that helps us soar within toward our eternal home.
His Holiness Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj is an internationally recognized spiritual Master who teaches the oneness at the heart of all religions, emphasizing meditation on the inner Light and Sound of God as building blocks for achieving peace. Social, civic, and religious leaders throughout the world have praised him for his deep wisdom and efforts in promoting peace. Visit our website at www.sos.org.
