Love Your Neighbor, Love the World

Love your neighbor, Love the world I had time on my hands. I was recovering from enforced rest following a back sprain. Let me talk to my God, I decided. So I visualized my God, my six foot tall Master, Nithyananda, with flowing mane, saffron robes and forever laughing. Were I to meditate, I have to drop His form. But, I wanted to talk, so the form stayed embedded. ‘May I ask you something?’ I asked. ‘When did you ever stop?’ He threw his head back and laughed. I refused to rise to that bait. ‘Why do you laugh so much, all the time?’ I asked. ‘Why is the sky blue, why is the rose pink? That’s my nature, that’s why! In any case, what do you want me to do, Look at all your monkey faces and imitate how serious and stupid you all look?’ This was really leading nowhere. I decided to try a different tactic. ‘Life is so full of contradictions. I want to be loved by everyone, but I do not seem to be able to love everyone. There are so many people I do not like. You say, let go. So, do I continue to dislike all these people and yet want them to like me?’ I asked. ‘So many things I say that you never follow. When I say let go, I mean let your likes and dislikes go. Who are you to judge others and say I like them and dislike them? On top of it, you want those who you dislike also to like you. Are you an idiot?’ My Master was just warming up. ‘I am not trying to dislike them. I can’t help it if they are so different from me. We have nothing in common. Their beliefs and value systems are so different’, I was getting defensive. ‘I see, and that gives you the right to dislike them, and yet demand that they like you. Do you know what you sound like?’ He queried. I knew I was getting into a deeper hole, but didn’t know how to get out. ‘Like what?’ I tried to be cool. ‘Like every other human being, animals are intelligent. A lioness kills sheep but doesn’t ask that the sheep love her. She understands the law of nature. Humans are idiotic. You will kill and say that you will not harm even an ant! Does even one word of what you say make any sense to you? the words came like hammer blows. 'Yes, I know that I sound confused, but what can I do? That's how I feel. I want to be loved, yet I cannot love everyone. Isn't that true of everyone?' I was pleading. 'You may be right, but that does not make you right.' His voice was deeply compassionate. 'Beneath the surface, deep within you, you are the same as every other human being; the same energy. Once you realize this truth, everything else will fall into place. You will have no negativity towards anyone, since you will look at them the same way as you look at yourself. They in turn will reciprocate your love.' 'What happens when people are so unhappy that they can no longer love themselves, let alone love others?' I ventured. 'Unfortunately this happens more often that you imagine. We all have high levels of attention need. From childhood we are taught that we need to be approved by elders to feel complete. When they disapprove, we are unhappy. That childhood experience continues into adulthood. If someone smiles at us, our day is made. If someone scowls at us, our day is ruined.' He continued. 'We depend so much on opinions of other people because we have no opinion about ourselves. This is not about the self esteem that is so prized in Western countries. That self esteem is often a false mask of rebellion. True self esteem and self love happens when you are brought up in an environment that accepts you for what you are. In turn you accept others as they are. You receive love and you give love. Meditation is an excellent technique that helps you to go within yourself and make you aware of your true self. Your true self is so pure that loving it, being in bliss with it is so easy. It is then simple to love others.' You know what! I find it difficult now to find fault with people; along with any perceived fault lines, more 'goodness' lines open up. There is nothing to judge or feel guilty.