Friday, November 30, 2012

Nature of love and sexuality

In the Bhagavad Gita in Chapter 3 regarding Karma Yoga, we find this verse:

Bg 3.37 — The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.

In this world we commonly associate love with sexuality as well as lust with sexuality.  However, the Bhagavad Gita refers to lust in a much more broad context.  Lust can be manifested in a variety of ways including lusting after possessions or material wealth.  

However, in the most common context of lust regarding sexuality, we can curb this desire through transformation of this into divine love.  In the 1960s, there was a concept or notion of "free love".  Though that was commonly meant to mean uninhibited sex, it could also mean the concept of unconditional and selfless love.  In married or committed relationships, love and sexuality are generally considered synonymous.  Only outside of committed or loving relationships is the concept of sexuality without love considered.

There is a common saying that "everyone wants to be loved".  Everyone is looking to find love in some form or another.  Some humans find it through sexuality, other through relationships and yet others find it through God or religion.  

But as the Bhagavad Gita states, if we attach ourselves in loving devotion to God, all other love will come to us.  God always loves unconditionally since all human beings are created in his image and are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord.  If we love our fellow human beings in a manner similar to God (unconditionally), we will always be supremely happy.  Common literature including books such as A Tale of Two Cities speak of unrequited love, but unrequited love can really be considered synonymous with unconditional love or the love of God.  Love is always believed to require reciprocation, but that is not the case.  Those who do not know God or do not even have the capacity to know and realize God (including animals, plants etc.)  are all still loved by God.  

Therefore, if we love and are attached to God and consequently love human beings regardless of whether or not that love is reciprocated, we will always be supremely happy.  We will always be able to find love.  And if we share that love with all other human beings, we will eventually find that one love which is reciprocated and makes all the love shared with other human beings worthwhile.  

This is clearly evidenced by the tremendous number of songs and writings all centered on the concept of love.  In the words of the Beatles, "All you need is love, love is all you need, love is all you need."

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