Causeless Love

By Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Deva Goswami

Love is an Inside Job

In the material concept of life, there is a tendency is to assume that the impetus for love resides in someone or something outside of ourselves. This illusory propensity is due to the influence of passion and ignorance. Love is in goodness. Love is independent. And love is self-satisfied.

Love is an inherent faculty. We have the freedom to turn it on, to cultivate it, and live in that mode. If we don’t invoke and exercise it, that is like having millions of dollars in the bank and not spending it.

Expressions of concern for family members, one’s race or country are generally accepted as love. But the false conception of “I and mine” may be at play. Real love has no boundaries. It is causeless. It is in-dwelling and when present it is naturally extended to whoever and whatever we interface with.

Mirror of the Mind

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Each of us actually lives in their own world. Some say that the world is our mirror. But the world that we see is actually reflected to us from the mirror of our minds. There is beauty in the world about us. There is beauty in the people we interface with. Beauty in the spiritual topics that we contemplate. Beauty in the form of the Deity on the altar. And beauty in ourselves as spiritual beings. All of this beauty comes into focus, as we cultivate the faculty of causeless love in our hearts.

The Environment is Friendly

We have been told that our environment, the world about us, is friendly. This is the truth. The indifference, opposition and hostility that we sense in the world around us is largely a reflection of what we carry in our own hearts. When our vision is beautified with the quality of love we exercise a power that can bring out a similar response in others. And we naturally begin to feel that the world is more kindly disposed towards us.

Sometimes, however, other beings and external circumstances will be at odds with us. But when there is love in our hearts we are blessed with the ability to sense that Krishna is the doer in all beings and the controller of all circumstances – and that all of our interactions are Krishna’s embrace. This vision is the wealth of those who love.

More Humble than a Blade of Grass

In this way the mystery of “trinad api sunicena….” gradually becomes illumined. The mode of passion is naturally competitive and egotistical. It craves superiority and compels us to find fault and cultivate a sense of opposition. But when we cultivate love in our hearts, feelings of affection, compassion and humility arise naturally. And the knowledge that we are dealing with Krishna begins to come into focus. Our ability to chant Krishna’s holy name with affection and gratitude begins to evolve.

Living In Present Time

Srila Bhaktivenoda Thakura advises us to “forget the past that sleeps and ne’er the future dream at all.” Similarly, Krishna advises , “Na socati, na kankshati” – give up hankering and lamentation. Today people talk about living in the present moment. Because love is self-satisfied, it empowers us to live in present-time as hankering and lamentation evaporate without separate endeavor. The mind becomes quiet and peaceful. One can chant and hear without distraction. The serving mood begins to blossom. And we naturally sense Krishna’s loving reciprocation. The instantaneous antidote for inattentive chanting is simply the presence of love in our hearts.