If you have lovingly given presents to someone and then find out that he never thinks of you, how hurt you feel! – Yogananda
Imagine you have a generous, wealthy relative who lovingly shares all his treasures with you, hoping you will one day recognize the depth of his love—not just the value of his gifts.
Instead of honoring that love, many become absorbed in the gifts and forget the giver.
This is how many treat God—embracing the pleasures of the world while forgetting the Source from which all blessings flow.
Yet, the Lord created this beautiful, dreamlike world not for us to become lost in it, but in the hope that we would eventually awaken from the illusion of maya, see beyond it, and choose to love Him above all else.
Many experience challenges as a natural unfolding of karma rooted in past attachments and selfish desires. Yet, this is part of their soul’s journey and free will.
The pain behind error: While suffering may seem unfair, it’s also unfair to enjoy life’s blessings without showing gratitude and respect to the One who gave them.
“God will not tell you that you should desire Him above all else, because He wants your love to be freely given, without “prompting.” That is the whole secret in the game of this universe. He who created us yearns for our love.
He wants us to give it spontaneously, without His asking. Our love is the one thing God does not possess, unless we choose to bestow it. So, you see, even the Lord has something to attain: our love. And we shall never be happy until we give it.”
-Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda,
“How You Can Talk With God”
“It doesn’t matter how many mistakes you have made; they are only temporary. You are formed in the image of Spirit. The Lord created this delusory motion picture of earth and all its pleasures for but one purpose: that perchance you would see through His play of maya and forsake it to love Him alone. This is the truth, it cannot be otherwise. Why are we made to feel love for our family members, only to watch them slip away, one by one? These events take place to help us realize that it is He who is loving us behind all loved ones.”
– Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
Book – Man’s Eternal Quest
Chapter – Lord, Possess Us With Thy Love, page 181
