I was asked recently about love and the role of love in the life of the devotee. Sadly this word is abused. In modern culture people often speak of "loving" a film, "loving" a food, or what have you. New Age types like to talk about "universal love". However, few know what love really is. Love is not simply an emotion. Emotions are subject to the material nature and often ebb and flow with whatever emotional state one finds themselves in at the moment. Thus we see marriages end because one of the partners isn't "in love" anymore. Love becomes nothing more than an emotional high.
True love is a firm resolve to serve Krsna. Thus love is bhakti. We cannot love anyone else until and unless we first love God, the true Source of real love. Love for others is predicated upon love of God and arises out of love of God. When we love God, we are really seeking God's highest good and pleasure. This in turn brings about our highest good, and then we can reach out to others, helping them in their pursuit of their highest good- Krsna. This is love! To offer the transcendental mercies of the Lord in His Holy Name!
Bhakti (love) is to self-sacrificially commit oneself to delight in Krsna, to rejoice in serving Krsna, to desire continually to please Krsna, to seek one’s happiness in Krsna, and to thirst day and night for a fuller enjoyment of Krsna.
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https://www.tsu.co/Tamoharadasa
The above article as is was copied and posted at the above site. Nice preaching, we are trying to expand it in ever widening circles...
Thank you, Tamohara dasa.