Love is God and God is Love. There is no quality that can be higher than Love, no treasure more precious than Love, no power greater than Love. This world has been created from Love, its very existence is based on Love, and finally it will dissolve in Love. In every inch of God’s creation, you can see nothing but Love. Stop a little, and try to look at the magnificence of God’s love. Look at the sunrise, sunset, sky, sun, moon, stars, valleys, mountains, oceans, rivers, so on and so forth. Look at the fruits, flowers, vegetables, plants, trees, herbs, insects, birds, animals, and the other innumerable number of God’s creations … all are expressions of His immense love. God is but an ocean of love!

We have yet to understand and absorb the profound Truth … that Love is the fulfilling element of this universe. The aim of expansive and embracing acts like charity, social service, generosity, etc. is only for man to develop universal love, to expand the heart in such a way that individually, each one of us is able to enfold the entire universe within our hearts. When one possesses pure love, a love that is all-embracing and all-inclusive, be sure that it is the result of good work done in many, many lifetimes.

Pure love is expansive enough to include the entire range of creations within its fold. From the tiniest to the largest, from the weakest to the mightiest, from an ant to an emperor, from the worst criminal to a renowned saint, every being is embraced within this cosmic love of God. When man is born on earth, he is bestowed with everything that he needs air, water, plants, animals, birds, etc. Love reigns in the very nature of the cosmos. As an initial step, start by being grateful for the beautiful things that have been showered on us by the Creator.

Man is a strange creation of God. Even in the midst of such expansive and all-embracing love, he learns to hate, to be jealous, to possess, to destroy, all this, without even a thought about God’s benevolence. It is only lack of love and feeling of hatred that divides and separates, men from men, and nations from nations. It is only the egoistic nature of man that causes his downfall. Hatred, arrogance, egoism are all creations of the mind, and products of ignorance. The only way to destroy these negative traits is by developing universal love.

We find it easy to talk of all-encompassing and all-embracing love, but when we actually gets down to practising it, it becomes extremely difficult for us to rise above the I, me and mine. We are in the grip of our attachments. When somebody insults us or speaks to us angrily, what do we generally do? … pay him back in the same coin. We often find it difficult to part with our possessions, even when we see people in distress, those who need them more than we do. So then, how can we develop universal love, the all-encompassing, all-embracing love?

If we are desirous of cultivating universal love, we must first learn to live a life of minimal wants and comforts. We must be willing to forgo the ego and should be prepared to love and serve even at the cost of our discomfort. We must be happy that we have received an opportunity to serve the needy, and must serve without any complaints. Pure Love is infinite and continuous. Anything that is conditional cannot be love. Love cannot be measured or directed. It has to blossom from within ourselves. When we take up meditation and such other spiritual practices, these practices help us to develop our inherent divinity.

Our Ashram lays much importance upon the practice of Meditation, Kriya Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Gau-seva, and other allied spiritual practices. Any of these practices may be taken up, according to one’s own natural inclination or preference. You must have noticed that due to constant interactions with the outer world, people have lost many of their inherent virtues and instead have cultivated many unrequired cunning traits. For example: it often happens that a naturally innocent and straight-thinking person, steps into the commercial world for work or business, and on account of various experiences cultivates a cunning mind in order to tackle the commercial world.

Spirituality is all about restoring the inherent divinity within us. So, when you become tired and distressed with the outside world, and start yearning for peace, it is time to turn inwards. The peace that we seek outside lies within us. It can be achieved through meditation and such other spiritual practices. As one starts meditating, the thirst begins for more and more meditation. Soon one starts seeking a Guru, an enlightened Master who can guide the spiritual beginner on the path of spirituality. It is very important to clear up the accumulated dirt and irregularities of one’s mind. Each individual has different levels of cleansing to carry out. Our minds are filled with impurities that may have gathered in this lifetime, and also in earlier lifetimes. The best method of clearing these impurities of the mind, is to practise meditation.

It is important to note that the Guru can only be a guide, a precept. He or she cannot remove all the impurities of your mind. This hard work has to be carried out by you. Your dedicated efforts on the spiritual path will definitely earn you results. If you strive hard at it, you will soon start experiencing peace and grace in all spheres of your life. Many of the obstacles that had appeared to trouble you will vanish. As you continue to work on yourself through meditation or other such spiritual practices, your original divinity will be restored, any negative traits that caused you trouble in the past, such as ego, hatred, jealousy, cunningness, etc. will appear to be no longer present. Instead, you will find yourself to be a caring and compassionate self, with an overwhelming love for all of God’s creations. Love you all, bless you. May you continue with your spiritual practices earnestly.