Love Lies Beyond Patterns

Questioner: Would you please talk a little more about love? You have spoken a lot about love as helping. But just love, what’s that?

Acharya Prashant: But I could have talked about love had we been really ignorant about love. The barrier that this speaker faces while talking to anybody is that people are already very knowledgeable. There is hardly anybody here who would not write an entire book on love given the chance. If I circulate sheets of paper and say, “Kindly write a paragraph or two on love”, is there anybody who would say, “Sir, I know nothing, I cannot write anything, I haven’t ever even heard the word.”? Anybody?

Questioner: No.

Acharya Prashant: So we already know a lot about love. The container is full. How do I talk about it? Are we in a position where we first see that what we have called ‘love’ needs a deeper inquiry? Would we be honest enough to let our convictions be questioned, or are we adamant, “Ah, I already know, I have lived an entire life, I am experienced. Who are you to tell me about love? And even if you do tell me about love, all that I will do is judge it against my own experience. I will tally whether what you are saying concurs with what I have experienced, and if our thoughts match, then I will say, “Yes, this speaker, good one.” If they don’t, I’ll say, “Ah, hardly knows a thing.”