WHAT IS LOVE?

 

          WHAT IS LOVE?

            Love is defined as : (i)  An intense feeling of deep affection, (ii) A great interest and pleasure in something, and (iii)  A feeling of deep affection for someone.

            Some synonyms of love are: fondness, care, concern, attachment, regard, warmth, intimacy, devotion, adoration, passion, ardour, desire, lust, yearning, infatuation and adulation.

            Give and take policy is not love. It is business. It is based on profit and loss.

            True love is not a commercial venture; it is a spiritual relationship. It is not physical or material. It belongs to the mind as also the soul. By and large, it is unselfish. It is not like a gain or loss in business. Its main concern is with a heart that believes in selfless attachment.

            According to some famous quotes, it is: (i) It is a beautiful necessity of our nature; (ii) There comes a time when the souls of human beings begin to faint for the atmosphere of the affections they are made to breathe; (iii) If you love one human being purely and warmly, you  think of loving all; (iv) We are shaped and fashioned by what we love; (v) Mutual love is the crown of all our bliss; (vi) Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; (vii) There is nothing holier in this life of ours than the first consciousness of love ---the first fluttering of its silken wings ----the first rising sound and breath of that wind  which is so soon to sweep through the soul, to purify or to  destroy; (viiii) Love is like a beautiful flower which we may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same; (ix) Love never reasons, but profoundly  gives like a thoughtless prodigal, its all, and trembles then lest it has done too little; (x) Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.

                  Finally, true love is not a temporary affair. It is an everlasting bond between two hearts. No excuse is strong enough to break a love relationship. As Shakespeare said: Love is not a Time’s fool.

                                                ******

G.R.Kanwal

4^th December 2025

 

GREAT THOUGHTS

 

                GREAT  THOUGHTS

 

      1.‘Father, thy name be hallowed

 Thy kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread;

And forgive us our daily sins,

For we too forgive all who have done us wrong.

And do not bring us to the test.”

2. Torment not yourself, lest God should punish you.

3.  One learned man is harder on the devil, than a thousand ignorant worshippers.

4.  Throw away Thy rod, throw Thy wrath.O my God, take the gentle path.

5.  The heart is the home of God; purify it of whatever is there other than Him.

6. Oneness is an Essential Attribute of God in the sense that God Almighty has no peers, equals, rivals, or opposites in either His Essence or His Attributes.  

 7. Only the actions of the just smell sweet and blossom in their dust.      

8. My heart can never find its way to where thou keepest company with the companionless among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost.

9. Believe in yourself and your abilities.

10. The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

11. Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.

12. Never let yesterday use up too much of today.

13. Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.

14. If you want something said, ask a man, if you want something done, ask a woman.

15. The glories of our blood and state are shadows, not substantial things; there is no armour against Fate ; death lays his icy hand on kings;

sceptre and crown must tumble down, and in the dust be equal made

with the poor crooked scythe and spade.

                                                            **********

 

G.R.Kanwal

2^nd December 2025.                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

RIUALS

 

                          RITUALS  

            A ritual is defined as a religious ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order

            It is also defined as the performance of ceremonial acts prescribed by tradition or by sacerdotal decree.

            It is further described as a specific, observable mode of behaviour exhibited by all known societies.

            Some modern saints and sages having  a rational, evidence-based  mindset don’t believe in old rituals. They regard  them as superstitious based on  blind faith.

            In a song contained in his book of songs titled Gitanjali, the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) says to a temple priest: “Leave this chanting and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path-maker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil !   

            The Indian saint, mystic and devotional  poet Kabir (1398-1518) was a devotee of Lord Rama but did not see him in any personal form or attributes.

            Here are some of his devotional lines:

“The harp gives forth murmurous music,

And the dance goes on without hands and feet.    

It is played without fingers, it is heard without ears;

For He is the ear, and He is the listener.

The gate is locked but within there is fragrance;

And there the meeting is seen of none.

The wise shall understand it.”

 

            Finally, his affidavit-like words:

I do all works, yet I am apart from all works.

Few comprehend my meaning:

He who can comprehend it, he sits unmoved

Kabir seeks neither to establish nor to destroy.”  

                       

                                                ******

G.R.Kanwal

1^st December 2025