Meher Baba on Love VIII

What is love? To give, and never to ask. 
What leads to this love? Grace. 
What leads to this grace? Grace is not cheaply bought. It is gained by being always ready to serve, and reluctant to be served. There are many points which lead to this grace: 
Wishing well for others at the cost of one's self. 
Never backbiting. 
Tolerance supreme. 
Trying not to worry. Trying not to worry is almost impossible - so try. 
Thinking more of the good points in others, and less of their bad points. 
What leads to this grace? Doing all the above. If you do one of these things perfectly, the rest must follow. Then grace descends. Have love - and when you have love, the union with the beloved is certain. 
When Christ said, 'Love your neighbor,' he did not mean fall in love with your neighbor. When you love, you give; when you fall in love, you want... 
Love is pure as God. It gives and never asks. That needs grace....


Trying leads to grace. What is God ? Love. Infinite Love is God.

Meher Baba on Love VII

"Love is a mighty force. It not only enables one to put the ideal of selfless service into practice, but would transform one into God. With love, one can follow any of the yogas most suitable to his or her temperament. It will enable an aspirant to follow the rigid principles underlying the spiritual Path, and where and when necessary, make him turn his back to the worldly pleasures for the sake of union with the beloved. Where there is love, there is oneness, and there can be no question of any particular religion or caste or system, superiority or inferiority, and touchability or untouchablity. That these distinctions are not real has been proved, in a way, by the recent earthquake tragedy. The earthquake in Bihar was simply a manifestation of one of the laws of nature. And that disaster spared none, rich or poor, high or low. belonging to this religion or that. It was not divine wrath. It is an eye-opener to the fact that where God and his laws are concerned, there is no question of caste, creed or country. But to realise this natural equality permanently, one has to submit to the greatest law of God, which is love. It holds the key to all problems, inasmuch as under this law the Infinite is realised completely at all times, in every walk of life, be it science, art, religion or beauty. May the world realise this highest aspect of divinity more and more."

Meher Baba on Love VI

The aim of life is to realize God. How? By making the highest ideal of religion our conduct in life. This noble ideal is love. Only the way of love is the best and easiest path. It means to love only God, and none besides him.

Material love is good, but it should be selfless and desireless. Love should be absolutely devoid of lust, and it should be steadfast and unchanging.

If a woman is in the mood, she will be after one man today, another tomorrow, and a third the day after. This is not love, it is lust. Mind's tendency is that it always hankers after change - from one thing to another, one person to another, one place to another. Have love for only one and one alone.

Meher Baba on Love V

People pray to me to solve their difficulties, saying that they love me. But there is a vast difference between love and prayer. In Persian to pray means to beg, to want, to desire something, even the blessings of God. But when a person really loves, he gives himself over to his beloved completely. This is true love. In that there is no begging, no wanting, and no room for desires. Only the longing to unite with the beloved remains. Love means the renunciation of the self. Prayer means selfishness, no matter how high the prayer may be. So there is a vast difference between when one prays and when one loves.

Meher Baba on Love IV

"Love is the divine gift given by the Sadgurus. Even if the whole world wants to, it can never bestow such a gift. And once it is granted, not even all of humanity can snatch it away, no matter how hard it strives to do so. Love is the divine gift. Once you know how to love, there is no trouble. Once you have adapted yourselves to the way, your hardships disappear."

Meher Baba on Love III

"Love means longing. Love means restlessness. Love means harassment. Love means separation. It is all necessary. But love entails pain - the pain of the pangs and thirst of separation while constantly burning. This gradually minimises the strength of the ego and eventually destroys it, because love never thinks of or cares for itself. It just burns its victim in love for its beloved. This burning gradually diminishes the ego and thus it is eventually totally annihilated. In his fire, love makes its victim realize the self. "

Meher Baba on Love II

"Just as a thirsty man in the desert under the hot sun values water more than a heap of pearls and diamonds placed before him, so also, a true lover of God wants him alone, and considers every other object as a trifle before him.

The real lover desires no name, fame or money, but his beloved. He who does not possess such an attribute is a man full of self-interest."

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Meher Baba on Love I

Love is the fountain of life-giving water. No one and no thing can live without love. Its expression varies according to the capacity of the receiver and the giver, and in its highest form, love is divinity. To love is to live. You cannot really live without love. The omnipotent laws of nature have this power in its divine potency pervading the universe. The right to strike at the chord of love only belongs to the brave and sturdy at heart. Hectic search for exhilarating experiences should not be mistaken for love. They are the forerunners of grim, relentless penalties and intense suffering. Love from its lowest to its highest expression has its ups and downs. Love suffers the pangs of separation, the stings of jealousy, and all the little pricks that a lover has to endure are the different helpmates in disguise. They stir you up and bring forward to life the most important parts of your nature. Then they no longer maintain their individual life, but merge in one common longing for the beloved. One in love tastes the glories of life to the full. The blissful heights of joyousness and the buoyant feelings of heavenly delights are the steady steps towards divine oneness. Love surrenders to the will of the beloved, gives all to the beloved, sacrifices all for the beloved, lives for the beloved, dies for the beloved. This supreme state of love is the God-state, for what is God but love - infinite, unbounded, eternal love? Love annihilates the lower self, and expresses the higher self. So, dear soul, long for your divine beloved till you become one with your beloved.