Question: Guru, how can I always love with wisdom?
Sri Chinmoy: You love human beings. Two human beings are in front of you and both of them have come to you for a favour. Each wants one dollar and you have two dollars. Because you have love, you give a dollar to each. One immediately takes a subway and goes to his friends, who are praying and meditating in a group; the other immediately goes to a bar and drinks and loses consciousness. Just because you had love, you gave them both equally. Now who will be responsible for the first one who did well, who went to his spiritual friends and prayed and meditated? You are one hundred per cent responsible for his spiritual life at that time, because he has gone to God. But in the case of the other one who has gone to a bar to drink, you are also equally responsible for his false life. You have offered your love, so your part is over. But your love for one was divinely ordained and your love for the other was unfortunately undivinely ordained. So how will you offer your divine wisdom in your love?You have to know what kind of love is divine wisdom and what kind of love is not divine wisdom. One kind of love makes you feel that if you do this, then you will be happy and the person to whom you show love will also be happy. In this love the giver and the receiver will both be happy. In the other love, whether the giver or the recipient becomes happy or not is of no importance. God wants you to give to someone or God wants him to receive from you: that is the real reason for the gift.
In the first kind of love, by giving to me you are happy and by receiving from you I am happy. This love is not wise love; it is just making someone happy, with who knows what result. You have given me the dollar that I wanted and with that dollar I have ruined myself. I was happy the moment you gave me the dollar and you were also happy. But the after-effect of your giving and of my receiving is a real disaster in my life.
In the second love, when you are about to give me money, you will go deep within to be sure that your love is absolutely pure. Where does this love come from? It comes from your soul, from your heart. It is not actually your love; it is somebody else's love. It is your soul's love, your heart's love. The object that you are giving with your hand is a dollar. But you have to know that it is not the willingness of the hand that is giving the money; it is the willingness of the heart, of the soul. So before you give anything, you should go deep within and ask your inner being or your soul or your heart, "Am I doing the right thing? He needs money, that is true, and I have the capacity, that is also true, but is his need the real need?" His need may not be God's need inside him. God's need is one thing, and someone's personal need is another thing. So you have to feel that if it is God's Will inside you, then it is God's Willingness to fulfil that person's need. Then you will do it.
Human love or any other love that we offer is only for our own sake. We feel, “If we can make man happy, what else is necessary on earth? If we can become happy, then there is nothing more to do.” But only if it is God's Happiness inside us and inside others can we offer our true wisdom. So before we do something, before we say something, before we become something, we have to ask our inner being. We have to go deep within and ask our soul whether it is God's Will, whether God wants it to be done. At every moment when we do something we have to ask whether God wants it or not. Otherwise there are many ways in which you can please me and I can please you on the basis of our own mental understanding. Giving is a very good thing; receiving is a very good thing. But again, it is God who is supposed to inspire us to give and to receive. Action can be done without asking God's Wisdom, but if we beg of God's Wisdom to guide us and then we act, then it is God's responsibility.
This applies to everything. I may want to go right now to pray and meditate, because I feel that this is a good thing. But if it is not God's Will for me to meditate right now, then I will just be showing off that I know how to meditate. If it is God's Will right now for me to sing a spiritual song, then the best thing is for me to sing a song and not to meditate. Meditation is very good, but if it is not God's Will for me to meditate, then I tell you I will not enter into my highest consciousness, and the people whom I want to inspire with my meditation will not be at all inspired. But if it is God's Will that at this moment I should sing, then I will sing. Although singing is not purest meditation, just because it is God's Will that I sing, most of you will have a more elevated consciousness while I am singing than when I am actually meditating.
So love is wisdom, but inside this love we have to feel God's Presence first. If we feel God's Presence in each action, then automatically it becomes Wisdom because God is all wisdom. So before we say anything, we need approval. If we don't get approval, then we shall remain silent. Our direction we will get from within. God will not remain silent; He will not be indifferent. God does not remain silent, only we do not go deep within in order to hear His voice, His dictates. He is not like an indifferent human being whom we ask again and again without getting any answer. Go deep within. Immediately God will answer either yes or no.
The best thing is not to use the mind to execute anything unless and until you have heard from the inner Source what you should do or what you should say. If you are prompted to do something, but you have not gone deep within, do not do it. Before we actually execute what we feel like doing, let us go deep within. When it is an important matter, the best thing is not to even think of doing anything without going deep within. That is wisdom.
Love is wisdom only when it comes from within, from the inner Source. Otherwise the mind can use love and love can use the mind, but there will be no abiding satisfaction. Love is fruitful and meaningful only when it comes from the soul through the heart.
