Love

Hislop: Swami says that He cannot give to a dry heart. Why is the heart dry?

Sai: Even that, God gives for our own good. When you don’t have hunger, why should He give you food? When you have hunger and receive food, it is useful, but if you don’t have hunger and He gives food, you will have indigestion. Sometimes, even if you have hunger, God does not give food to you, just to keep you in check and in control. Suppose you are in the hospital. They can’t give you everything you might ask for. There is a proper time and the proper way for your own sake. Even a spiritual experience, sometimes God withholds it, because God does everything for man’s good. He never does anything to harm man or give him sorrow. But that faith you must have. First, you must grapple with the fact that duty is God, and start doing your duty.

Hislop: Is it that the heart is dry because one is not doing his duty?

Sai: No, man’s heart is really dry. At least men have “sense” love. You have worldly love for children, family, and others. It is the same love, but only given to some. Only you have to take it all and give it to God.

A Visitor: If his heart were completely dry, he would not want to come to Prasanthi Nilayam.

Sai: Even in coming to Prasanthi Nilayam, you could love your wife and family. Live in love. Love itself is God. He is nothing else but love. There are different forms of love, love for family and love for money, but love for God is devotion. There is a glass of water. An English man will call it water, an Andhra man will call it by another name, and in Tamil still another name is given. But the water is the same. We just call it by different names. The names of love for wife, children, and objects differ, and love for God is called devotion, but the love is one. The most important thing you have to develop is love. If you develop love, you don’t have to develop anything else.

Hislop: But love is not something made by man. Love is not something created by man; how can I develop love?

Sai: You have love for the tape recorder. How is it that you have that love? When the tape recorder was in the shop did you love it? But because you have got it now, it is yours, ‘my’ tape recorder. You did not love it in the shop; you love it now because you feel it is ‘mine.’ So, when you think God is ‘mine,’ you love Him.

A Visitor: I make an effort to strengthen love, but I know it does not happen.

Sai: It is a question of practice. Intellectually you understand. Say you have a temperature, a 105-degree fever. If you keep on chanting 100 times, ‘I want a penicillin injection,’ it won’t cure you. You have to have the injection. You don’t have to chant that you want penicillin; you just have to have one poke and you are all right. Instead of thinking of ten different things to do, if you do one thing correctly, that is enough. When you are thirsty, you don’t want all the water from the well. One glass will suffice. You don’t have to take all and try to practice everything. Take one. Here is a matchbox with some 60 matches, if you want to light a fire you need to strike one match, not the entire box of matches.

Source: Conversations with Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba