8 Sep 2008 —
Question
Q80: Loving everyone?
Question 80:
“What stops you from loving everybody in the same way? How to get closer to that ideal?”
To post your answer, click on ‘Add Comment’. Please think well before you answer, and make your answer brief and clear.
The only reason is the outer appearence of a person. then i say to myself, ‘hey, what if they’re our Kanna in disguise? what if this is a test’ and then there’s no barrier.
Selfish thoughts prevent us from loving all equally, and if we take Amma’s advise and involve our thoughts and actions in selfless service dedicating it at Amma’s lotus feet with devotion, our ego will wither away, and compassion for all will become our true nature, at the same time we will transcend spiritually.
– Ego, selfishness and fear (identity protection) stops me from loving all.
– Practicing spiritual principles and seeking divine grace is the path that pushes us towards that ideal.
… In the meantime we have a rare and unique chance to witness before our eyes, the miracle of a great soul truly embracing the whole world by Her caring and uplifting love, and daily!
Ego blocks us from loving others selflessely. Ego hurts not only the person who is egoist but also the fellow-men.
Ego is the big obstacle. The GURU targets the ego and most compassionately removes it and thus transforms us into the Blessed Self that we truly are. An embodiment of Pure Love and Conciousness.
I think we are brought up like that in this competitive world from childhood. Now it has become a habit. After seeing Amma, though we know that it’s wrong, we are unable to make it practical in life. I strongly believe that with amma’s grace it’s possible in our life to practice it. For that grace, we have to score………..
I think our attachments to some people prevent us from loving everyone equally. If we try continuously to see Amma in everyone, then slowly we will love only Amma in every form.
Probably self-oriented thoughts like I, mine etc. stop me from treating everyone equally. It is very well to say words like selflessness, unity etc but a totally different thing to act it out when confronted with situations. I do think however that one can have the inner attitude of love for everyone and approach each situation as needed.
My expectations and my misstrust. The fact that i identifiy with the things i dont like from other people and i cling to my ideas of how someone should behave to deserve my love. Very arrogant i know. Anyway its a step facing what is!
Compulsions & conditionings of the society’s collective mind could prevent from loving everyone equally. But dharma comes first! For example Krishna could not love his own cousin Sishupala, because he was against dharma by his actions. Also Krishna could not love his own kinsmen Yadhavas when they went against dharma, during the end of the Dwapar yuga.
Hatred and ignorance.
Ignorance of Self. Once you realize that all of us are one and the same then there is no difference. I remember the story told by AMMA that Atma comes from Parmatma. Like we see different ornaments one is shaped as ring the other as bangle so on. But if we look at it what it is made of it is made of : Gold : we will say it is a gold ring, gold bangle so on. So in reality it is the gold but in different shapes and sizes. likewise when you are in a forest when you see say there are variety of trees etc. but when you see from far away you can only see the greenery and cannot distinct between them.
Love, or what I believe love is, is a ‘give and take action’, that is why I can’t love equally. As people ‘give to me in different proportions’ so I love them back.
The moment I can ‘ONLY GIVE’ there is true love. That is when I love everyone the same way. Amma is working on me and bringing me closer everytime I cooperate with her.
There is nothing that stops anyone loving everyone in the same way.
Discrimination, I, Me, and Mine, stops from loving everybody in the same way. Once the I vanishes get closer to that ideal.
Our ignorance stops from Loving everyone alike.
Only continous praying for AMMA’s grace will help us to move in this direction. It is not easy but possible when we try again and again.
To see AMMA in everybody is the real sadhana to attain the supreme goal. For that we can start practicing to love our fellow beings like our own brothers and sisters. We can follow the example from Amritapuri ashram where everybody shares love equally
with everybody.
it is difficult to love everybody equally because our mind reacts to each and every action through the stored history of the different people. With mind working, it is not possible.
When I am completely centered in myself, I feel what others do does not affect me, and I feel like I am loving everyone equally. Unfortunately, I find that I can be in that state of centredness only when a Mahatma allows me to tune into his/her connection with the divine. Then it is so beautiful to walk in love! Now, how to do it on my own? Only Amma knows.
Ego with different aspects stops me to love everybody equally. Amma …… just follow Amma’s instruction and over a period of time you can see that negative qualities / tendencies are over-written.
‘I’ and ‘mine’ feelings stops us from loving everybody in the same way. When a calamity affects someone within the circle of ‘mine’, we’re loving and we try to be helpful ; when it happens to someone outside the circle, we are untouched and dismiss it with gross indifference. So long as these antics of the ego are considered valid and proper, we cannot grasp the Supreme Self that is in us. In order to recognise the Atman, we must practice the spiritual discipline of Unity and Universal Love and give up the distinction of those within and without the circle.
It is a difficult task to love all equally at the same time and that is the reason for the misery that is happening in the world now.Real understanding and self realisation that all beings are equal and religious leaders must constantly inculcate these noble values in their sermons. Thank you
I love this blog. It’s low on pretense, high on real feeling. I remember when I was in my twenties and a dear friend said he wasn’t sure what love was but I absolutely “knew.” Now I know more about what it isn’t than what it is! I agree that you can’t get the mind involved in it as an ideal way to feel toward people. We’ve all seen the “reasons” for loving collapse under stress … and even in ashrams! It could be that it is a state of grace that comes when the “me” is out to lunch, and we simply can’t “arrange” to feel it because we think we should. At least some degree of conviction that all must be God-ordained makes it harder to blame individuals for their unloving behavior. Loving God, for me, is still very difficult because the limited ideal is still there of some sort of super-personality passing out the good but also the bad.
I think it is all the special little hooks and holes in our personality that are the special creation of our egos that make us feel separate and selfish and, deep down, afraid. What I try to do, when I am able to be aware enough, is to do what one of Amma’s swamis said he did when he was annoyed with the man in the bank – he imagined that person was Amma. This is a great trick for me – I try to imagine that the person I have difficulty ‘warming’ to is Amma in disguise.
What stops me from loving everyone the same way is that i still have my ego. My ego likes some things about me and hates some other things. So naturally, the ego will locate these things in other people and love or hate them accordingly. I am getting close to the ideal of loving everyone equally by starting to be aware of my ego and his little tricks.
Ego is the main culprit which hinders us from loving everyone…sometimes it happens that we tend to be loving to a person but the person in return acts shrewdly with us.. this flicks our ego and we tend to think ‘ why should ibother to love that person when that person doesnt behave well with me ‘.. now this love should be named as selfish love and not the selfless one as our Amma says.. The people who live a worldly life are bound to hav competitive atmosphere around them.. and it is quite obvious that people will try to keep themselves ahead.. but in this competition we shouldnt bring our heart but be practical and take it only in the competitive spirit.. and one of the other reasons would be the jealousy..overcoming both these drawbacks will ease us to loving others.. mainly.. let Amma be the role of your life.. and there you are.. being the epitome 🙂
only when i see myself in “you” can i love you as much as i love myself…only when i realize that your heart is as tender as mine can i not hurt you…….but my feeling that iam superior or inferior to you makes me look at you as something different from me…then i strive to find out why u differ from me….when i realize that “you”and “me” are nonexistent,and that we are “one” with that supreme power,i shall love you,and the world…
I think our ego stops us to love the surroundings including fellow being. When I am not there then I can love everybody.
When we look outside we think that others are not loving us. But I remember Amma’s words always..”we see others’ love only if we love others”. Amma says “its like putting a yellow colored sun glass and see everything as yellow”. The yellow glass are things like ego, selfishness, arrogance, preconceptions etc…
We need to have the courage to remove it and love everyone accepting them the way they are. Then we will see the real World of true love, where we could see only real help, real affection, and real prosperity. That is what I get from Amma. I am so blessed that I have Amma all the time in my heart to make me feel this Love.
i was not able to love everyone equally because my ego had expectations of the kind of response from people. when they did not react the way i expected them to, it ignited irritation or anger in me. But in 2004, when my mother complained to Amma that i was neglecting my family in my spiritual frenzy, Amma said to me pointing to my mother, my child, my husband and the wall “mole you should see Amma in everyone ..this is Amma, this is Amma, this is also Amma” Ever since i have not taken my likes and dislikes seriously. i don’t give up on people or hold grudges. Amma is slowly but surely changing me within. ‘
When a new born baby starts to understand something the parents also start to teach like this “Baba this is ur mother ur father ur toys etc. So from the beginning this only is developing in the mind of the child. And as the child grows these thoughts also grow. So other than ‘mine’ and ‘i’ is different to the child. This is the root cause which stops us from loving everybody the same way. Because we grown up in such way.
In this competitive world I find it difficult to love everyone equally – maybe because of my ego/vasanas. But after entering AMMA’s path, my attitude towards others is getting changed every moment. When “I” am in HER control, how can I hate others!!When I think ill about others, the next moment I feel guilty about it- SHE reminds me that it is not HER path. So,I hope there will be a day on which I MAY BE ABLE TO LOVE EVERYBODY, EVERYTHING IN THIS UNIVERSE.
I am so blessed that I have Amma all the time in my heart to make me feel this Love.I personally don’t have any liking or disliking.Being Amma’s child “Love all,Serve all”equally .