There is no doubt that we human beings are capable of exploiting others. We have proved that almost in every period of human history. So many books have been written about the exploitation of the human beings by the fellow human beings. The history of India is full of instances where one caste was explored by another, one religion was exploited by the other, Indians were attacked by outsiders who tortured and killed the native Indians, and the whole of India was exploited by the British who looted the resources of India. There is a similar history of exploitation by dictators in almost every part of the world. Few dictators started world wars and forced the entire humanity to face unforeseen consequences. Millions of people have been tortured in almost every part of the world by their fellow human beings.
However, there is serious doubt whether we human beings are capable of love. As against so many glaring examples of exploitation, there are very few examples of true love. Love is quite different from "like" though often the two words are confused with each other. "I" like somebody because that person is "giving" me something that "I" like. That "giving" may be tangible or intangible. "I" may like a friend because he helps me with my homework, or with office work. A child may like his parents because they provide him security and meet his daily demands. A child may like his teacher because he imparts knowledge of different subjects that fulfill the needs of the child to grow. The husband may like the wife because she takes care of the kids and takes care of the household. A wife may like her husband because he works and brings home the money necessary to meet her daily needs. When both the husband and wife are working, they may like each other because they support each other by supplementing each other.
"Giving" may also be quite indirect. We may like some authors because the book written by the author has given us a different perspective on life. We may like some motivational speaker because his words have struck a chord with us and have given a new direction to our lives. We may like some guru because we feel that he has shown us a new direction and way of living. We like all these people because they offer something to us that we "like".
However, love is quite different than "like". Love can never happen between "I" and "you". Until there is "I" and "you", there will be constant giving and taking, and where there is "give" or "take", there will be constant negotiation. One may "give" more in the present moment in anticipation of some "take" in the future. Parents invest in their kids so that the kids may take care of them in old age. Husband and wife also have a similar ongoing exchange of give and take. "Love" can take place only when one is free of "desire to take" and that does not happen unless one is contended and complete. That contentment is an impossibility unless we get to find the "inner treasure".
It is only when we find the "inner treasure", we feel contended. That contentment gives us freedom and it is only a free soul that is capable of loving. A free soul is not seeking anything, not even enlightenment. Only when one is free of all seeking, one becomes capable of loving. Till that time, one may mistake "like" to be "love". It may so happen that certain relationships may metamorphose into relationships of pure love where there is no expectation of give and take. However, that is quite rare, and when that happens, such experience has no parallel. When that happens such "loving relationships" help each other drop the "weight of desires" and become more and more free. Love and freedom go hand in hand, and at the end of the day love brings freedom and freedom brings love. Since most of us choose the "cage of desires" to the free sky full of freedom, we waste this precious life without tasting a drop of pure love and try to satiate our hunger for pure love with a cheap substitute by exploiting others and becoming even more hungry inside.
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