Love
Is lasting if you know how to love from afar
January 6th 2011
Hold in your soul the precious image of a flowing spring, so that you never let the source of life within you run dry. In order for this spring to flow, you must love. Of course, you will say you do love, and that everyone loves. Yes, but what kind of love is it? The kind that makes you suffer.
Those who possess the true science of love live in an endlessly inspired, expansive state; they live in poetry and beauty, because they have learned to love all human creatures. But they love them from afar. They know that if they get too close they will be disappointed, and as they do not want to be disappointed they keep their distance. That way, they still live in wonder, whether or not these creatures show themselves to be kind, generous or faithful. And so, in response to all those who complain that they have been disappointed in those they loved, you can say, ‘It’s your own fault; you wanted to get too close, and obviously what you saw was not so nice: cellars with mould and cobwebs, swamps, land covered in brambles and thorns… You were bound to be disappointed.’ So, there you have it – if you want to still love men and women and find them wonderful, you have to contemplate them from a little way off.