Many people try to define "love" and partly do successfully explain what Love indeed is but never have I come across any definition which was able to define love in completeness. Which led me to a quest to understand what "love" indeed is. Maybe it took me to go to the US, to completely understand what love actually stood for. And I know as I have raised the issue of "love" there will be certainly eye brows raised especially when it is Devendra Pai who is talking about it.
Let me take a moment and make it clear that, "love" should not be always connected with "romance." Love is something morre than that. Romance might be a minor part of the "love" between 2 life partners but then
isn't a mothers "love" towards her child - "love?"
isn't a brother's love for his sister - "love?"
It doesn't stop at this. What about the love with which the Warkari community go to Pandharpur with? They go there just because of their love for the God and nothing beyond it.
Does God come and welcome them?
Does God talk to them?
Does God bestow them with riches?
But in spite of all negative answers to the question. The Warkaris go to meet their lord with the same affection which I think only increases by their every experience because their "love" for the lord isn't result oriented and I think if it is result oriented, it would be never called as "love." And it is this time that it struck me that "love" and "selflessness" go together and "love" is incomplete without it.
Think about Ram and Bharat's love where bharat had no intention for being the king or Radha, who continued to love Krishna in spite of Krishna being married off to someone else. And this makes me wonder, why then in the present world have become so selfish and result oriented and then call it "love?" Are they actually being fair to "love"....I had come across a text message saying "I Love you is actually a statement and not a question then why do people expect answers to it."
And it is this western culture of being result oriented rather then being "karma oriented" which actually said "good karma" should be done regardless of any results. If one wins its good enough but then one should not get disappointed with failures. This is what Bhagwad Gita teaches. It teaches that "act" shouldbe done regardless of results for the sake of it and the real result is in commiting the act itself. To stick to the "right" thing. And "Rightness", "selflessness", "justice" and "love" go together in the same direction.
Similar reading -http://divsispace.blogspot.com/2008/03/four-letter-wordlove.html
One on my friends has written a similar piece on her blog. If you liked my article you will like this write up as well.
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10 comments:
Really thoughtful post! Boy, you're
'back to hardcore blogging'! There's just one note where I have a slightly different point of view. I think saying 'western culture is result oriented' is a sweeping generalization. I'm sure you are probably in a better place to know about it, having seen the people up close. And yet, I think, 'culture' is something global - and not limited to western or eastern or oriental. What you say is 'western culture' is more people's attitude, rather than culture, IMO. Some would say it's the effect of growing 'Westernization', but you'd find a ton of people with the same attitude ('result-oriented') in India as well. Is their 'culture' different? I'd think that it's the same, but their attitude is what's different. What do you think?
well it is the culture of a certain society which impacts the attitude of a all individuals in the society. And traditionally western society has been result oriented since the industrial revolution. Western world is a world where people adhere to religion and not dharma or spirituality. "Rugged Individualism" as they proudly call their culture in the US. Well I find selfish people in this country as well but most of them are in the urban areas, the majority of the people in this country still are otherwise. And you see, the trend started with materialism and opening up of markets and giving up our Indigenousness way of thinking and adapting a western approach not just socially but say something like education....what we call education is it really education of job training? But what used to happen Gurukuls was education, there wasn't a result oriented (like getting trained in certain skill in order to be employed) approach but a man making process which it was aimed at. And most western philosophers will also agree with the fact that western culture has been selfish and lack of community but eastern traditions have always encouraged individualism but community oriented. As there is saying, "There is one common antonym for 2 opposite words - property and poverty and that word is community."
i agree that there is a difference in the outlook, in the cultures. I was only making my point regarding your primary topic - regarding love and selflessness. I guess you'll agree that love and selflessness are emotions which are not bound to cultures, rather are part of human nature. I made the comment in that respect - that western culture is not antithetical to love and kindness and selflessness.
Ok sir. My bad. I completely agree with you. And hence we see more of love in Asian countries than in western countries because of the cultural differences. And yes, the language of love is the same in all cultures!
btw, really liked that last line in your previous comment - which is so true - "There is one common antonym for two opposite words - property and poverty, and that is community". Wish more people realize that!
wokay..back to readin ya blog afta long..:) n m welcomed to read a post which quite coincides my thought process:) if only ppl stop babbling about luv being associated onli wid the gf0bf kinda luv...sigh! it gets me nauseating now:P
infact ya post quite reminded me of sumthin i posted long back..
chk it out wen u hav tym:)
http://divsispace.blogspot.com/2008/03/four-letter-wordlove.html
regds,
divsi
hey your write up was too good. Have posted a link of the same below my article. Hope you don't mind.
hey u ve put it up here!!:) how nice!!:)
my pleasure deven:)
sweety pai...a really thoughtful post..luvd reading it!!!
visiting ur blog is a pleasure..
Hey i totally agree with you, when u say that love is not always related.. and we should not always be conditional when it comes to love..
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