If you are loved by the Lord, you will be a liberated soul

[dattaswami]

If you are loved by the Lord, you will be a liberated soul

If you are loved by the Lord, you will be a liberated soul belonging to His inner circle and you will attain eternal bliss by being close to the Lord. Ananda (Bliss) means continuous happiness without any break by misery. Brahmaananda means the continuous happiness of God, which is several times intensive than the continuous happiness of a realized soul here (Manushaananda). Bliss of God is not only continuous but also has the highest intensity.

Suppose a person got one lakh rupees ( 1 billion) and another person got one crore rupees ( 1 trillion dollars) by lottery. Both celebrate their happiness on that day continuously. Since their happiness is continuous, it is bliss (Ananda). But there is difference in the intensities of bliss of these two persons. By self-realization, you can get the bliss of the soul (Atmaananda) but that is not the bliss of God (Brahmaananda), which is millions and millions times more intensive. Mere continuity of happiness, which is common in both, cannot be misunderstood to unite both these as one.

Actually you are attaining the peace only by self-realization because by this you are detached from the body and the external world for some time by limiting your self to the soul. By this you are avoiding misery and absence of misery is not happiness. Moreover, when you avoid misery, you have to avoid the happiness also in the detachment. In such case you are assuming the peace as happiness relatively with reference to misery. Zero is plus with reference to minus. Such assumed plus cannot be the real plus. Therefore, the peace assumed as happiness in the self-realization is not even the real worldly happiness (Manushaananda) and you cannot think it as Brahmaananda even in dream.

Even a saint sitting in the meditation with self-realization enjoying the peace as assumed happiness will suddenly leave that state if you tell him that he got a noble prize for his spiritual knowledge and he starts enjoying the real happiness from that worldly affair! When Uddhava started preaching Gopikas about self-realization to attain constant peace and get rid of the misery caused by separation from Krishna, one Gopika asked him whether such peace is not the silence of a dead body! She told him that even in the misery due to separation from Krishna, bliss is enjoyed by her in the love of the Lord! She concluded that even misery in the love and service of the Lord is the highest bliss, which is far better than the peace of self-realization.

Therefore, your aim should not be to attain the bliss from the Lord but it should be your service and love (even if it ends in misery) that gives bliss to the Lord. Then, in turn you will receive the infinite divine bliss since you are not selfish at all in the Nivrutti.


At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

Universal Spirituality
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

[The Pilgrim]

And yet, it is my belief that both that staement and the vice versa are the perspective of he that is at the point zero, where minus is God-loves-me-not, and plus is God-loves-me.

Now that love is unconditional. There are people, as every parent knows, who can love unconditionally. You can take it as read that God's love for us is greater than our love for each other and you know that it is unconditional love.

So "If" doesn't really come into it.....

The liberated soul is the person who has discovered that no matter what, God loves you, even if you are despised by every other living being. That love won't fail you. Interesting thing is that when you become aware of that enormous commitment, you would not want to live in any way that causes disharmony.

Let me explain what happens to me. I dance. In particular I have danced on a beach near where I lived that is 25km long. I used to walk about three km along and there all by myself I danced. Eyes closed. The waves were too loud to hear music so I carried the beat in my head. And danced. I would drift into a light trance and my rhythm would match that of the environment. Between the crisp cold energies that sweep in from the sea and the warm soft energies that come from the land I found a happiness. A happiness deep enough because I know how profound God's love is. No, I am not a Christian or affiliated to any religion. My experience has been entirely my own and I have interpreted that by comparing what I learnt with what the various religions teach. But for cultural differences they are the same. My experience has taught me a little different from your interpretation. That does not mean that I think that you are wrong. On the contrary you are right. Your experience and mine are the same, but you interpret it according to your cultural background - the way you have learnt on your path.

May God send you His blessings and keep you well.