A way to Divine Love

A Zen master was going through a village with his disciples. On his way, he encountered an old man who was pulling an ox with a rope hanging around its neck. Zen master thought it's a wonderful opportunity for him to teach a wise lesson to his disciples. He asked his disciples, "Who is the master between an ox and an old man?" His disciples replied, "An old man". Zen master started laughing. What happened master, asked one of his disciples. Zen master went towards an ox and loosen the rope that was hanging around its neck. An ox started running and an old man started chasing it anxiously. Zen master asked the same question to his disciples. His disciples replied, "An ox". Now his disciples understood the deep lesson.

The lesson is when you force somebody to be a slave, you have become a slave in the process itself. The thing which we try to possess in turn possesses us. At the surface, it appears as if we are the master and the thing is a slave but at the core, we are the slave and the thing becomes our master.

What are those things that you try to possess but ended up becoming their slaves?

Identify those things and reduce your dependency on them. The fundamental delusion is something outside of my body brings happiness to my being. Your freedom and happiness are determined by your dependency on the outside things. Freedom is our ultimate goal. We want to free ourselves from the diseases like suffering, anguish, and sadness.

These diseases can be cured by a medicine called love. Love is the most beautiful thing in the universe. The more you love, the greater will be the manifestation of the divine within you. Love is God. The object of love determines the quality of your being. If you love a thing you become a thing in the process. The quality of your life will be changed when you change the objects of love. It's much better to love living beings rather than loving cars, money, etc. Rise higher and higher in love until you reach the stage where you experience the ultimate bliss.

What is love?

The definition of love is when your inner voice says I am no longer interested in your body but I have seen the bodiless through your divine eyes. By coming in contact with your bodilessness I became aware of the bodiless residing within me. You feel deep gratitude towards her because she helps you to become more spiritually healthy. Meditation and love are the two ways to achieve the ultimate state of oneness. In meditation, the presence of the other is not necessary to experience unity but in love, the presence of the other will help you to attain unity. The flower of love blossoms to its fullest when you become more and more meditative.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Tsu

There are various stages of love and in the final stage, you become the living God. The various stages of love are:

1. I - It

2. I - Thou

3. No I - Thou

4. No I - No Thou

I - It: This is the lowest ring on the ladder of love. Both the individuals are seeing each other as a thing. It's an animalistic behavior, a biological infatuation. The two individuals are exploiting each other for the sake of pleasure. In the beginning, the boy seems to be the most handsome guy to a girl and the girl seems to be the most beautiful girl to a boy. Since there is no depth in their love, after the contact of two physical bodies everything is finished. The flower of love withers away because the individuals are not thinking beyond their bodies. The love that tastes like nectar will become poisonous in the end because the pleasure is momentary. Most of the people will remain stuck at this stage. There exists a feeling of possessiveness within individuals and both of them will be reduced to a thing. Possessiveness won't let their wings fly in the infinite sky of love.

I - Thou: In this stage, both of them are respecting each other and never look down on others as an inferior being. The other is a soul of immense value. They never think about each other as a thing. They are very compassionate towards each other. There won't be any feeling of possessiveness. No one is trying to trespass the freedom of another individual. There is a mutual sharing of love between them. Both of them are growing and loving each other to become the best version of themselves. The foundation of this relationship is to take care of the happiness of the other person. Ego exists in this relationship because of the existence of the two separate individualities. Ego is hampering their spiritual growth.

No I - Thou: In this stage, the lover forgets himself and becomes one with his beloved. He becomes the means and the other becomes the end. For the first time, the lover has tasted the nectar of oneness. The lover is no longer in a love relationship instead his love becomes a prayer. The oneness has transformed him completely. He looks at everyone with so loving eyes that everything seems sacred to him. There exists a subtle ego in this relationship because of the presence of thou which prevents him from seeing the truth.

No I - No Thou: In this stage, there doesn't exist any I or you. The poison of ego is dropped at this stage. Ego exists because of the trinity. The trinity is the lover, beloved, and love. Love is the bridge that connects the lover to his beloved. In this relationship, there is no lover and no beloved only love remains. When individuality is lost, ego also dissolves along with it. The foundation of this love is to experience unity. When love has reached the ultimate peak you will experience the deep silence, peace, and blissfulness in your being. Whosoever comes near you will be enchanted by the divine fragrance. Your presence will mesmerize their being. The flame of bliss will be ignited in others by your flame.

Conclusion: I - It relation is the meeting of two bodies at the surface. I - Thou is the meeting of two minds. No I - Thou is the meeting of two spirits. They are melting and coming closer to each other. No I - No Thou is the experience of oneness. Ignorance is the root cause of suffering. Accept yourself as you are. Sit silently and identify the stage in which you are. There is no problem even if you are at the lowest ring of the ladder of love. Become more and more aware and slowly progress towards the next stage. The day is not too far when you reach the final ring of the ladder of love.

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