True love

(Hanuman, Hindu monkey-god of devotion.)

Why do we put up barriers in relationships? We put up barriers out of fear, right? Because we want to avoid the pain - the "unpleasant sensation" - we feel when we have been hurt. But who is it that has been hurt? It is the ego, the "I," the thing that separates us from others. If we just loved ourselves a bit more, and felt that universal love, then the ego would be less, and we'd have less need to fear and put up barriers.

Excerpts from Swami Muktananda's "I Love You" :

Meditate on your Self.

Honor your Self.

Worship your Self.

Understand your own Self.

God dwells within you as you.

Love is not something new which we need to acquire.

It is a place in the heart within every one of us.

One who merely gives and takes in the name of love is only imitating the state of love.

Love doesn't exist for the sake of an object.

It is supremely free.

We are searching everywhere for love because we do not go inside.

The inner Consciousness is of the form of love.

It is only because of this love within us that we look for love in others.

When you meet a friend after a long time and embrace him, you close your eyes and go within, and for a fraction of a second you feel joy within yourself.

That joy is nothing but a shadow of the inner love - the love of the Self.

It is in search of this love that some people turn to renunciation.

You don't have to renounce anything to find love, anymore than you have to renounce anything to find sleep.

You can easily attain it if you go within.

True love is free from limitation.

It doesn't know high from low, man from woman, friend from enemy.

True love is an impulse which wells up independently from within.

If you want to live in bliss, you must go within and discover the love in your depths.

It is essential to love your own Self.

First you have to love your own body.

You have to learn to take care of your body, the body doesn't have to be tortured through austerities, but at the same time it doesn't have to be inundated with sensuality.

It can function well only if one lives a disciplined life.

And then you have to love your mind.

You don't have to torture the mind with all kinds of inhibitive, suppressive techniques.

The mind is nothing but divine Consciousness.

Once you attain love from within, you will also get it from without.

It will manifest in all for you.

It will manifest for others, too.

Your inner love will naturally flow out to them.

You won't have to make an effort to give it to them.

You won't even have to think about others.

The fragrance of a rose spreads in a natural manner, and everyone who passes by enjoyed it.

You are nothing but a flame of love.

All the creatures of this cosmos are nothing but vibrations of love.

They are sustained by love and in the end they merge into the same cosmic Being.

That is why it is essential to love.

Always remember one thing: God is not far from you and you are not far from God.

If you understand your own true nature, you will know that you are God.

If you don't understand your own true nature, you are still God.

Never forget this.

Look for everything within yourself.

Everything is inside you.

Increase and enhance this awareness, learn how to become ecstatic inside yourself.

The one you are looking for is you.

The one you want to attain is you.

I love you.