Guiding Light: Becoming hollow and empty

The world would be free of trouble if there were no love! All the problems in the world are caused by love! If there is no love, you can’t be jealous. Jealousy is because of love. Greed comes because you love objects too much. Anger is because you love perfection; that is why you are angry at imperfections. You love yourself too much and that’s why pride and arrogance come to you.

Every distortion of love causes problems, yet life will have no meaning without love. Suppose you are immensely successful and have all the riches at your command, but love is missing from your life. But life will not really be worthwhile; it would appear barren. Whatever angle you look from, all we long for in life is love; a divine love. The purpose in life is to blossom in that ideal love.

So how do you get to that point of love where it is free from the distortions and you are at ease with yourself?

You have to see that what is really obstructing you from that innocent love is your ego. What is ego? Ego is like a dream. A dream exists until it doesn’t exist. You can’t call a dream real, but you can’t call it unreal either because you have the experience. Ego is simply being unnatural. The ego is not a substance. You could say it is just a lack of maturity or the lack of pure knowledge. Knowledge is an aid to develop the innermost state within you, which is of love. Love is not an act; it is a state of being. We are all made up of love. When the mind is in the present moment, we are in a state of love. Train the mind a little to live in the present moment.

If everything is God and all is love, then where is life heading to? Life is heading towards perfection. You look for perfection; that is why you are angry at imperfections. There are three kinds of perfection: perfection in action (kriya), perfection in speech (vachan) and perfection in feelings (bhaav). Suppose someone makes a mistake and when you see that mistake you get angry. Then you are no better than the person who has made the mistake. Your feelings have become imperfect because of someone’s imperfection in action. Any action will have some flaw. But when the feeling becomes imperfect, then it stays for a longer period. The innermost perfection is lost. Spiritual practices help you maintain your centeredness and not be shaken by small events. Every individual is bestowed with all the virtues in the world. They simply get covered by lack of understanding and stress. Breathing techniques and meditation are very effective in calming the mind. Learning something about our breath is very important. For every rhythm in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath and for every rhythm in the breath there is a corresponding emotion. So, when you cannot handle your mind directly, through breath you can handle it better.