Universal Self

Be Compassionate

We all are having this question – Should I be able to love myself before I can love anybody else?

Yes, you have to understand that to be compassionate, one has to have compassion for oneself in the first place. If you don’t love yourself, you will never be able to love anybody else. If you are not kind to yourself, you cannot be kind to anybody else. Your so-called saints who are so very hard on themselves, are just pretenders that they are kind to others. It is not possible. Psychologically it is impossible. If you cannot be kind to yourself, how can you be kind to others?

The first step is to accept yourself as you are; drop all shoulds. Don’t carry any ‘ought’ in your heart. You are not to be somebody else. You are not expected to do something which doesn’t belong to you. You are just to be yourself. Relax and just be yourself. Be respectful to your individuality and have the courage to sign your own signature. Don’t go on copying others signatures.

Just the opposite has been taught to you by all the traditions of the world, all the civilizations, all the cultures, all the churches. They say: ‘Love others, don’t love yourself.’ And there is a certain cunning strategy behind their teaching.

Love is the nourishment for the soul. Just as food is to the body, so love is to the soul. Without food the body is weak, without love the soul is weak. And no state, no church, no vested interest, has ever wanted people to have strong souls, because a person with spiritual energy is bound to be rebellious.

Love makes you rebellious, revolutionary. Love gives you wings to soar high. Love gives you insight into things, so that nobody can deceive you, exploit you, oppress you. And the priests and the politicians survive only on your blood – they survive only on exploitation. All the priests and all the politicians are parasites.

Love and meditation should go hand in hand. That is one of the most essential messages that I would like to share with you: Love and meditation should go hand in hand. Love and meditate, meditate and love, and slowly, slowly you will see a new harmony arising in you. Only that harmony will make you contented.

That is the essence of wisdom — to be in harmony with nature, with the natural rhythm of the universe. And whenever you are in harmony with the natural rhythm of the universe you are a poet, you are a painter, you ar a musician. you are a dancer. Try it. Some time sitting by the side of a tree, fall in tune consciously. Become one with nature; let boundaries dissolve. Become the tree, become the grass, become the wind — and suddenly you will see, something that has never happened to you before is happening. Your eyes are becoming psychedelic: trees are greener than they have ever been, and roses are rosier, and everything seems to be luminous. And suddenly you want to sing a song, not knowing from where it comes. Your feet are ready to dance; you can feel the dance murmuring inside your veins, you can hear the sound of music within and without. This is the state of creativity. This can be called the basic quality: being in harmony with nature, being in tune with life, with the universe. Lao Tzu has given it a beautiful name, WEI-WU-WEI: action through inaction.