17 August 2026
Monday
Love should not be rationed on the basis of caste, creed, or economic status or intellectual attainment of the recipient. It should flow full and free, regardless of consequence, for it is one’s nature to love, to seek out the dry, dreary wastes which love can water and make fertile. Wherever there is a vacuum, in any heart, Love flows into it and is glad that it can fill the emptiness. It is never held back; it is offered in abundance, without guile or deceit; it does not wear the cloak of falsehood, flattery, or fear. The tendrils of love aspire to cling only to the garments of God; it senses that God resides, in His infinite splendour, in every heart; so, it probes silently into the innermost recesses of all personalities around it to discover the seat of God so that it may bloom therein. That is real bhakti (devotion). When the tendril clings to worldly objects, it is bhukti (material enjoyment), not bhakti. It is the direction that is crucial!
From Swami’s discourse of 23 February 1971
Love should not be rationed on the basis of caste, creed, or economic status or intellectual attainment of the recipient. It should flow full and free, regardless of consequence, for it is one’s nature to love, to seek out the dry, dreary wastes which love can water and make fertile. Wherever there is a vacuum, in any heart, Love flows into it and is glad that it can fill the emptiness. It is never held back; it is offered in abundance, without guile or deceit; it does not wear the cloak of falsehood, flattery, or fear. The tendrils of love aspire to cling only to the garments of God; it senses that God resides, in His infinite splendour, in every heart; so, it probes silently into the innermost recesses of all personalities around it to discover the seat of God so that it may bloom therein. That is real bhakti (devotion). When the tendril clings to worldly objects, it is bhukti (material enjoyment), not bhakti. It is the direction that is crucial!