The question What is Love?

, is so important that it would be worthwhile to

examine it with an open mind.

This is one word that is much used or abused in all the cultures or societies.
Any serious person would know that what goes around with the name Love
is not so. Yet aren't we all conditioned without our conscious participation.
So whether we like it or not we have certain notions about it. Though I
personally do no like to divide the life into secular & spiritual, it would be a
good starting point to our examining Love. Some may even object to such a
cold blooded dissection for they would say that Love is a matter of Heart.
We are not being anything of this kind and fully realise that it is the kernel
of Spiritual life.

In the Hindu devotional tradition Madhur Bhava or the relation of the

devotee to God is one of that towards the Beloved. This is considered the
highest form of devotion. Yet Shree Ramakrishna Paramhansa the great saint
and Guru of the famous Hindu monk Swami Vevekananda warned against
this practice probably because, any romantic relation between the two sex,
has sexual connotation. Love then to the Puritans was something passionate
but devoid of sex.

Love is God goes the famous saying of the Gospel yet we can safely assume
that even this definition of Love had nothing to do with sex. Why was one
supposed to sublimate this sexual energy and convert it to a passionate affair
with the Lord. It would do no good to dismiss it as a fad of Puritans. There
could be many reasons that sincere seekers would know but for the present
let me confine myself to the topic.

If we derive any energy out of stimulation then a dependency is formed

towards the object and it enslaves us. We all know the example of drugs.
Many have claimed to have reached altered state of consciousness by the use
of psychotropic substances but this as a method has been rejected because of
the dependency it produces. We become a slave whereas the Goal was
Freedom. Moreover the requirement of dose (quantity) increases as the body
gets used to the level of drug in the blood. Drugs are merely an example.
The object could be anything even the opposite sex.

Love we said is the cornerstone of any spiritual tradition. The reason for this
is not far to see. In our passionate moments we forget ourselves (transcend).
This going beyond the little self is Samadhi or highest meditation. On of the
great Mystics of our times Shree Neeb(Neem) Karori Baba was an advocate
of this.

I cannot claim to know any more than this great adept but would say that to
go beyond the self by conscious effort seems illogical. All efforts strengthen
the ego or self. To see clearly the tricks and trap of this egocentric activity
could at least slow it down and it is in these magical moments that we can
have an insight into Love. One of the safest way is to reject what it is not
whatever our gut feeling be. The negative approach or Neti, Neti meaning
not this, not this may be a safe approach.

The second important aspect is whether Love is something other than

Intelligence. We sometimes presume that to be from the heart is to be
impulsive. Love may be the highest Intelligence for it is born out of
freedom. It is the self that narrows the vision. A full treatment of this theme
would require more time and space so I would reserve it for later. Similarly
Love is the greatest strength.

We require energy for everything that we do. Love is the purest form of that
energy or the very source the very Heart. In fact Heart is one of the names of
God as told by Maharshi Ramana.

To conclude I would just say Love is where self is not (J Krishnmurti).