In plain words
They get married. For some days after the wedding, his love looks like love beyond all bounds. Then he thinks of his wife as his life. The two of them go together for a walk on the beach. Through his worldly, physical, unsteady love for his wife, a thorn caught his eye. At once he takes his wife by the hand and pulls her back: ‘A thorn, a thorn!’ Out of love he puts on this show, fearing that his wife's foot will fall on that thorn and some harm come to it. Then, after three months have passed, as they walk along another path, the husband sees another thorn. Then the husband tells his wife, ‘thorn is there, be careful'. The love of the first three months has gone down. Then at six months they go into a garden. There the husband sees a thorn. ‘Your eyes can't see! There are thorns, come back!’ he says. Do you see? At three months, at six months, worldly love keeps thinning away. You cannot call that Prema. They have given it the name of Prema, but this is not Prema. It is only the reaction of attachment. But Swami's Prema is not like that. For ever, all through His life, He shows forth a Prema that is sacred and spotless, a selfless Prema.
But not everyone can understand such sacred Prema. If they do not understand it, never mind; but they take it in a wrong sense. Because of this very thing, man's life falls prey to many troubles, losses and sorrows. They pray to God with petty desires, and after some disappointment, they hate God. Many people long for ‘liberation’. What is this ‘liberation’? I do not understand it. ‘I must see God, I must see Him!’ I hope. If you want to see God, you must fill your heart with the feeling of God, surely! But with no such faith within, if you want to see God, how will He appear to you? You yourself are God. You are of such a nature, and you forget yourself. If you want to see God, how can you see Him? A small example. Without full faith in God, however near we may be, we do not understand the principle of God. There is a lotus flower. On the lotus flower there sits a frog. The lotus flower serves the frog as a home, but the bees, which have found out the taste of its sweet nectar, come rushing from who knows where, from who knows what countries. Though we are near, we become far, far away. They, though far away, become near ones. Such is the quality of Prema: it makes even the one far away near. It turns even separation into union. It turns even a man into Nārāyaṇa. Though so near, man does not try to recognise the principle of Prema; he forgets it.
Worldly love brings sorrow
Embodiments of Prema! What is in every person is Prema alone. But because we lead it into the path of selfishness, it turns into mere attachment. As long as it remains attachment, it does not come into experience. The feeling must arise in us that this is nothing but divine Prema. Within worldly, natural, physical love, many changes keep taking place. How does this happen? Man must try to recognise the oneness of the two. Today's young people do not rightly recognise this principle of Prema. To recognise this principle of Prema rightly is most urgent. Whether they come from many foreign countries or belong to this land, people are building up friendship in a big way. Young men and young women put their whole faith in this friendship. This friendship is leading into a very dangerous state. They say: He is my boy friend, she is my girl friend. If you make this friendship a full marriage, that is good. But do not make this friendship. Today one friend, tomorrow another friend. In another month, yet another friend. If you keep changing friends like this: what you have is a single heart, but there are not so many chairs. Our heart is single chair, not musical chair. Today the whole of life is turning into musical chairs. Through it, people fall into much unrest. A small example. Ten years ago there was a big tree on this spot. A boy of seventeen came from America. He sat under that tree, deep in sadness. The bhajan was over. The ārati was over. Everyone went away. I came outside. That is My habit. That one boy was sitting there, very sad. I asked, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘I have come from America.’ ‘Why do you look so sad?’ He wept aloud. He held My feet tight.