The Greatest Love Story of All

What is the most enduring love story of all time, the greatest romance that has ever existed in the entire history of the creation?

A good love story begins with an initial irresistible attraction. This allure grows stronger as the intense longing of the lover to be with the beloved increases. The lover feels a deep yearning to have his intense love returned. Because the pain of separation can be excruciating, lovers crave union with one another. A love story is an account of the journey of the lover towards the beloved. It is filled with joys and sorrows as the story moves through various trials and tribulations.

Surely the greatest love story of all is the love of the soul for its Creator. And the greatest fulfilment must be the realization that this love is not unrequited. In fact, it is the beloved who draws us closer and, in fact, loves us more deeply than we could ever imagine.

Yet we have no understanding of this or of how much our soul aches for union with its greatest love, the supreme Lord. This, the oldest and most profound love story, has its foundation in the eternal and unbroken bond of love between the soul and God. Despite all we have accumulated in life, we experience a loneliness that yearns to be satisfied. Maharaj Charan Singh explains:

This constant feeling of loneliness and missing something is in reality the hidden unquenched thirst and craving of the soul for its Lord.… This feeling has been purposely put in the heart of man.
_{Quest for Light}

So it seems we were designed to yearn, to seek union with the Lord. For some the journey to contentment and eternal peace may be longer and more arduous than for others. And many may feel as though they have journeyed in this direction before. Our Masters have completed this journey and personally experienced this great love. They share with us the eternal truth of the bond of love that has existed between the soul and its Creator since the dawn of time.

The individual soul wants nothing more than to merge again with that great soul, and there is a very specific method to bring about such a merging: through our meditation. Simran is the first part of our meditation, with the power to move us inward to the eye centre, where in due course we will be able to experience our Master. Simran is our knocking at his door as we gently and longingly call to him. It is the sweetest love song ever sung to the beloved – but how often do we sing it?

If we want the experience of this love story, we need to develop an inner relationship with our Master, through the song of our simran. He is our only hope of liberation, and we will only succeed if we follow his instructions implicitly.

He has taught us that through our meditation we will be able to perceive the Shabd, to hear the divine melody. That melody will draw us out of this world and back to him. We have been connected to the Master for the benefit of our soul, and we should take advantage of this and use every opportunity we get to dedicate this precious life to him.

It is our Master who, during initiation, hands us the key to freedom, the key that will unlock the prison cell of misperception and suffering that we are trapped in. So it is our Master to whom we should devote ourselves. Every step we take, every breath we breathe, should be dedicated to him. Every thought, word and action should be an expression of our enduring love for him – the one who loved us first.

We should want nothing more than to sever the bonds that keep us in duality and keep us separated from him. This separation creates the intense yearning in us to be reunited with him, to once again be immersed in his love. We need to forge the bonds of love that unite us with him, because it is love and love alone that will draw us back to him on our quest to finally return home.

The only way to achieve this is by doing our meditation. In Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III, Maharaj Charan Singh told us that meditation creates love, increases love, and helps the love grow. What better way is there to show our gratitude for this love – which exceeds all human understanding – than through meditation?

We give our hearts and minds, our time and our effort, to reach that depth of love where we become receptive to his divine love and grace. In doing so, we open ourselves to his divine love. As Maharaj Charan Singh said: “He gives the love – we have only to become receptive to this love.”

As this great love story unfolds in our lives, we come to realize it is a process of give and take, a circle of love in which we are simply returning the love that he has already given us. The circle has been set in motion by him, and is the ceaseless flow of love sustained by the grace of the Lord himself, as explained by Maharaj Charan Singh in Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III, when he said: “He is the one who is within us, who’s helping us to give and then helping us to receive his grace.”

By doing our meditation, we place ourselves in a position to receive this love and grace, and to finally be able to perceive the blissful Shabd – to merge with it and revel in its loving embrace for all time.

Let’s ask nothing of the Lord but the Lord himself, as we immerse ourselves in that great love that is so freely on offer. So little is asked of us in return. What are we waiting for?

Meditation is the only way to get to the happy ending of the greatest love story of all time – the eternal tale of longing for a love that endures all and conquers all, and ends in bliss.