Love is not attraction, possession, dependency, or a transaction driven by personal gain. As long as relationships arise from insecurity, ownership, or the desire for psychological completion, they remain centered on the ego. Love is simple, natural, and free of self-interest, flowing without preference or exclusion. The ego seeks security, continuity, and suffering because they preserve its identity, while freedom and joy threaten its existence. A meaningful life begins when one stops repeating old patterns, accepts uncertainty, and chooses freedom over the comfort of familiar cages.
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Questioner: Good evening, sir. My question is: What is love? Is it the same for, say, a partner, my family, my friends? Is it binary, or is there anything such as love other than the self-love that we have?
Acharya Prashant: Start from where we stand. What is not love? What is not love, right? A man looking at a woman because she's pretty, obviously that's not love. A woman looking at a man because he's handsome. Both engaging with each other after looking at each other's bank account, no, obviously that's not love. Ensuring that the parents agree and the caste equation too agrees, obviously that's not love.
Or the mother and the kid. A mother saying, "This is my particular kid, so I'll take care of it." Or a dog lover saying, "Oh, dogs have to be taken care of, and I'll feed chicken to them." Obviously that's not love.
