All we need is love
Recent studies into human well-being have increasingly identified loving relationships, meaningful connections, and a sense of belonging as among the greatest contributors to happiness and quality of life. This insight echoes a truth that saints and mystics have proclaimed for centuries. At our core, we are soul, a drop of the ocean of love that is God. The soul is standing patiently at the doorway of the inner eye, waiting for its Eternal Beloved. While much of life revolves around family, career, and daily responsibilities, the soul is longing for its Creator. Meditation is the process of turning to our inner doorway, stilling the body and mind, and waiting patiently to experience the divine Light and Sound already resounding within.
As such, love is our very essence. The secret to a life well lived lies in experiencing that love within us, in our relationship with the Divine, and in our relationship with all of creation. Meditation is not about demanding experiences from God or attempting to impose our will upon the Divine. Rather, it is about collecting ourselves inwardly and waiting with an empty cup at the threshold for the Omniscient. Spiritual growth begins when we surrender ego and place our trust in God’s wisdom, recognising that the Divine knows our past, present, and future far better than we do.
True faith grows through personal experience and through learning to trust God’s guidance in every circumstance of life. Returning to one of the central themes of saints, although human beings appear free, they often remain bound by desires, attachments, and dictates of the mind. The challenge is a restless mind, which continually pulls our attention outward through thoughts, desires, and distractions. The saints have described this condition as an open prison.
The spiritual path is, at its heart, a journey of love, a journey that begins with longing, deepens through experience and remembrance, and culminates in reunion. Drawn by the invisible pull of the Beloved, the soul continues its journey Home, guided by the current of divine love. And when veils of separation finally fall away, the soul realises that the Beloved had been waiting within all along. What began as longing and was sustained by love culminates in the sweet joy of reunion, the soul’s long-awaited Homecoming to its Eternal Beloved.
As meditation deepens, the beauty of the Beloved unfolds before the soul in greater splendour, and with each glimpse, its longing grows stronger. The more we behold that beauty, the more enchanting it becomes. Drawn by the radiance of the Beloved within, the soul gradually loses its attachment to fleeting attractions of the outer world.
The things that once appeared so compelling are recognised as temporary and passing. In their place emerges a deeper source of joy and fulfilment, born of direct experience of the Divine’s love.
As we turn our attention towards the Divine within, we discover the inexhaustible source of love, peace, and joy that has always been present in us.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
