Prema is a Precious Diamond
Prema (love) is like a most precious diamond. It will not remain even for a single moment with selfish persons. It will not stay for even half a moment with egoistic persons. It will not remain at all with ostentatious persons. Love is alien to persons who are selfish, conceited, or ostentatious. … Prema cannot be associated with the body, the senses, the mind, and the intellect. Anything associated with these is only anuraaga (attachment). The atmic (spiritual) life alone is a love-filled life. Therefore, people must lead a spiritual life, not a life subject to the body, the mind, the senses, and the intellect.
To experience real prema there is no need to practice any kind of meditation, worship, or rituals. That is because in the practice of all these there is an element of selfishness. Prema can only be obtained by complete absorption in spirituality. … It may be asked whether in this mundane world it is possible to develop such a spirit of complete surrender. It may not be possible for all to be free completely from selfishness, self-interest, and self-conceit. But there should be a limit to all of them.
When the Divine is present in everyone it is not fitting that one should fail to recognize this. One may have the faith that God resides within him, but this is not sufficient. It is not a great thing to feel that God resides within you. You have to see yourself in God. That is the true prema tattwa (principle of love). As long as you do not see yourself in the Divine, you remain selfish and self-centered. …
The gopikas, however, dedicated their hearts to one person alone. All their thoughts were centered on Krishna. All their senses were dedicated to the Divine. They spoke only about God. Their thoughts were centered on God. They listened only to the Divine words. Their hands were engaged in Divine work. All their limbs and senses were dedicated to the Divine. They did not consider anything as their own. Krishna was their all.
The prema tattwa is the essence of Krishna tattwa (Krishna principle). It is associated with the Divine. Worldly love cannot be equated with Divine love (prema). The term prema is used in ordinary parlance to describe what is really worldly attachment. People are attached more to names and forms than to the inner spirit of things. To get over this false attachment to external forms and names, it is essential to cultivate love in its purest form. There is no greater path to the Divine than this love. To manifest this love, the first requisite is to get rid of selfishness and self-interest.
Source: Excerpted from a Divine Discourse, August 21, 1992
