SURPRISED BY LOVE
The One Being is never absent. How could He be, when only He exists? Deep in the heart of every little being lies the big Being. The Silent One. He who cannot be named. And He is love. At the centre of every conscious being and at the heart of every inert particle of existence lies the same essence of love. And love means bliss and supreme consciousness. It is the essence of life and existence. Without it, we wouldn’t exist. Every being, no matter who or where, has love. Can a wave exist without the ocean? A sunbeam without the sun?
We may have got ourselves into one heck of a pickle, become so wound up that we have forgotten what really makes us tick, but He is still there. The One Being giving existence to our little being. That’s a part of His purpose in this whole affair, remember. Having created us, He has not gone off on holiday. He is waiting for us to turn to Him. And He is very loving, very intimate, very caring, very patient.
Without doubt, He has done a strange and inexplicable thing by creating the illusion of separate identity and free will – which He also honours by not forcing an awareness of Himself upon His little beings. Yet He constantly seeks opportunities to flood us with an awareness of His inner presence, if only we will acknowledge Him just a little. He has done everything out of love, so that He can love Himself through us. He cares for us, and is always ready to nudge us, to give us a gentle reminder of His presence.
His reminder can come at any moment, often when we least expect it. Maybe we are driving along a country road, just minding our own business, when suddenly the beauty of a shaft of sunlight breaking through the overhanging trees catches our heart, and turns it over with an unexpected joy. Then, suddenly, the whole of our being seems infused with a radiance that hints of the Unseen. The veil between this world and the next seems to have become like gossamer. Everything glistens and vibrates to a hidden harmony. We sense the unifying oneness coursing through all things, and present in our own heart. Something inside us starts to sing. For He has touched our being, illuminated us from within, and we are glad.
Or maybe we are in distress. Life has hurled its javelins at us, piercing our heart. We may even be wondering how we can go on. There is no clear way forward, and present circumstances are almost more than we can bear. So we contract in upon ourselves. The suffering makes us focus inwardly, and suddenly, like a light in the darkness, a breath of love courses through our inner being. It may bring tears to our eyes with its poignancy. We may not even understand its source, yet we are grateful for the respite.
Or perhaps we have been practising meditation for many years, yet seem to be up against a brick wall. How can we break through to the vast open meadows of being that we feel sure lie just beyond? Then, somehow, we just relax, and let go. And we find that what we had come to think was so far away and difficult to find is already in our possession. We were simply looking in the wrong direction.
Or maybe we need to develop greater inner depth and sincerity. And with the kind of love we find so hard to understand, He sends us pain and hardship. And without our knowing, He simultaneously sustains us. And we learn compassion. We come to a clearer understanding of what is important and what is insignificant. We become more humble, and that, we must admit, is always a good idea! We come to realize that He is always there for us, all the time.
Or perhaps our heart is dry, even disconsolate and, without our even thinking why, we pick up a book and happen upon a sentence or a passage that strikes us so precisely that our heart is suddenly set aglow with bliss, and love, and yearning. And inwardly, we are refreshed.
Or it could be an entrancing moment in nature, a picnic with friends at some beauty spot, a chance encounter, an inspiring conversation. In so many ways, each particular to our own selves, and to our own inner state at that time, He reaches out to us. Or rather draws us in – into the orbit of His love.
Human perceptions are all awry and very limited. When we think we have been abandoned, He may be protecting us. When we wonder where His help has gone, He may be supporting our every step. When we think we are unloved, He may be cradling us in His arms. When we think we can never be forgiven, He has already forgiven us, and is only waiting for us to forget ourselves and our guilt. When we think we have doubts, He may be deepening our faith.
Such is the magic of the love with which He tends us, and which He weaves around us. But since He Himself has given us this illusion of freedom and separateness, He plays the game of letting us slowly discover things for ourselves. Time is no problem for the Being who has created time. And in the end, we discover that we have never had a separate existence, but have always dwelt within the sanctuary of His love.
So we evolve spiritually. And as our consciousness expands, as our little being merges increasingly into the One Being, so we come nearer and nearer to what folk have called nirvana, enlightenment, God-realization, union with God, merging with the Ocean of Love. And when we experience Him within, we find Him everywhere. Then we come to understand that every thing and every place is sacred and holy.
