When you put the Divine on a high pedestal, there is submission

Yatha vraj gopikanam - if the Gopis could have it, you, too, can have it. Gopis were very simple maids, they were not scholars, they were not intellectuals.
When you put the Divine on a high pedestal, there is submission

Yatha vraj gopikanam - if the Gopis could have it, you, too, can have it. Gopis were very simple maids, they were not scholars, they were not intellectuals. Neither did they do a lot of penance or practices. They were very simple household women. And if they could have it, you can have it, too. It is possible, it is practical - such a love can dawn in you. Wake up, don’t

under-estimate yourself. Your love is unconditional, your love does not depend on your external situations, circumstances or people. Like you can breathe anywhere, wherever you are, can’t you? You don’t need a condition in order to breathe. You can blink your eyes anywhere. Like blinking your eyelids, like taking a deep breath - such simple actions of your existence. Love is even simpler than that, because that is what you are.

Love and business are opposite in their nature. In love, you give more and take just little bit, just for exchange. In business, you give a little bit and take more. They don’t go together. Business is a subject of your head and love is a subject of your heart. They have completely

opposite values. You should never do business with your heart and love from your head. When you are in love, don’t go on judging, don’t be manipulative in love - you will destroy love. But when you are doing business, don’t do it from your heart. You will be a failure in your business. Keep them in their place - you cannot mix soup and ice cream. You can have them in the same meal, but a little apart. You have to keep them apart otherwise you will neither be able to enjoy the ice cream nor the soup. Love and respect need to be enriched in life. The greatness and glory

need to be appreciated. Each particle in this universe exhibits the glory of the Divinity. Look at the variety in this creation. If you keep looking at the variety, where is the time to worry? Where is the time to sit and grumble? So many types of people, so many types of flora and fauna, so many types of animals. You can be busy the whole time, appreciating,wondering about this universe!

In love, the gopis never forgot the glory. Often, when one is in love, one starts demanding, one starts feeling jealous about the other. Jealousy, demand, anger, all these come when you do not keep your beloved on a higher pedestal. When you put the Divine on a higher pedestal, then

there is a sense of surrender, then there is a sense of submission and there is a sense of unconditional love. That is called mahatmya, the greatest, the glory. Often, when you glorify someone, you just idolize them, but there is no love connection between you and them. You only love those who are on your same level.You cannot love someone above you; you simply appreciate them, glorify them. But you cannot feel that oneness, the connection, because you feel that there is a distance. “Oh, they are up there, how can I be one with them? Then how can I be one with God? How can I be one with the prophet? How can I be one with the saint? He is a saint and I am just a normal human.” When you put yourself down, you cannot have a total communication, a total rapport. That becomes a hindrance. But when you feel one with them, then all this other paraphernalia of negativity begins. Demand comes and you forget the glory. In spite of having such a personal love for the Lord, for Krishna, in spite of having such oneness, friendliness, the Gopis never forgot the glory aspect.

They did not forget the greatness. This is a combination of greatness and intimacy that you see in Buddha, in Krishna, in Jesus, in the Prophet. The closer you go, the glory never diminishes, it only increases. When you are centred, the closer a person comes to you, they appreciate you even more. When you are not centred, the closer they come, they start losing respect for you.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation

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