I have been very fortunate to have received love and able to give love and it has been the best feeling ever...the best state ever.. You are just happy being!
But just like most of us, I have lost love, or that is at least how I used to think - lost love - when either me or the person I loved couldn't respond in the way I expected, wanted. What happened next? Misery, suffering, pain, longing followed. The same beautiful feeling of love transforms into an overbearing, exhausting, draining, stressful feeling. The state of happiness in just being, now becomes a long never ending indefinite state of hopelessness, restlessness and a desperate want to get out of that state. We travel from a state of joy abundance and content, to state of anger, to a state of pain, to a state of breathlessness, to a state of being completely lost, to a state of nothingness, to a state of wanting, to a state of illusion. All of a sudden you go from a state of Just Being to a state of Wanting to Be.
We know we want to get ourselves out of the state we are in, so we try to get rid of the love in us by some means. We think and believe, that by removing the love we have for that person, we will be able to set ourselves free. What happens? It keeps haunting us, we feel even more pain. The truth is we can never get rid of love. I finally realized it's not possible, 'coz we are love, we are joy, we are peace. Our natural state of being is love, and joy and the natural thing to do is to love. Anything besides that, is a digression from our natural state, and when that digression happens, our body reacts in an unpleasant way, and the same pleasant sensations transform into unpleasant sensations and feelings.
We misunderstand that the pain and suffering that love brings along, will leave us empty to die. Not true, You die when you try to remove the love. Yes Love does not change. It only takes different forms. Don’t try to resist it, get rid of it. It’s for sure not going anywhere. It’s there to stay forever. It has been in you forever, so don’t try to let go of it. Love the love, and the changes that come with it.
It was a small and simple realization, yet a very strong one. Instead of Wanting to Be something, I started just Being. I started accepting myself, the other person, the situation, and everything around me, and just reposed in Being. Even though it was sad and depressing, and not what I wanted to be, I just continued Being and somehow with time, the stress, the needs started disappearing, and once again I started experiencing the freedom of Just Being! And now I will reveal to you the secret of Just Being :-) - Because you ARE Love, because you ARE Joy, when you are just Being, You exude Love and Joy. And what you send out is what you receive! So Love and Joy returns in manifolds! Simply enjoy the story happening in your life as an observer.
Every time in the past when I was happy, the excitement and anxiety wore me down after some time. It's this Art of Living journey that has helped me discover the joy within myself. I am happy yet peaceful, I feel enthusiastic, yet content!
It’s ok to bloom in a season, wither in another, and bloom again. Don’t try to look farther out into the distance from where you are standing. It’s hazy. When I was at the Boone (North Carolina) Art of Living Ashram recently in September, it was heavenly - We were nestled among a cascade of green mountains and cuddled in the clouds. The second day we were actually walking in the clouds. You could barely see 5 feet ahead of you and everything else was blurred by the clouds. As I walked past the clouds, things emerged. But it's that simple faith, that there is a road ahead, that I kept walking. Just like that, unhappy moments in life are like clouds. Welcome them, be with them, soak in them, have faith that the clouds are there for a reason, and they will fade away. And when you emerge on the other side, you realize the wonder and beauty of those clouds and appreciate what's in front of you.
Keep Loving, Keep Living!
Dedicated to my Guru - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - who found me when I was lost.
