love vs. lust

Verse 3.37: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.

Have you ever heard of the expression "transforming lust into love"? If so, you might not have known it at the time, but you were actually hearing the very essence of the Gita.

Although certain imagery or thoughts may come to mind when we think of the word lust, the Gita explains that that it is a transformation of love.

So what does love really mean then? Yoga defines love, in its highest form, to be the natural inclination of the soul to give pleasure to the Supreme. If you really meditate on that definition, it makes a lot of sense.

We all, by nature, are seeking that person who will provide us with all our necessities, never abandon us, is capable of loving us completely and is the only person who truly understands how we feel. Am I right or am I right? ;)

It's no coincidence that the Gita, along with all other authorized spiritual texts, give us one unanimous answer to that question - the Supreme.

If it's natural that we love the Divine, then why is it so hard for some of us to access that love. Why do we turn to so many other things? That question is answered here today: Because we are clouded by lust.

"When the soul's natural affection for the Supreme is misplaced, by trying instead to enjoy the property of the Supreme instead of engaging in a relationship with the Supreme, then that love is transformed into lust"

In other words, due to lifetimes of taking on different bodies, we've forgotten our love for the Divine. Instead, some of us try to fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts with all sorts of gadgets, people and situations that we think might make us happy. If that doesn't work and we feel dejected, frustrated and become angry), we still keep trying to seek eternal happiness through our temporary material bodies.

Many of us are under a type of amnesia. The only cure to re-awaken to our natural position of happiness is to associate with those persons who have come out from the fog and confusion. That's why bhakti yoga is a transformation of the heart, not just the mind or intelligence. By practicing mantra meditation, reading bhakti texts and spending time with advanced bhakti practitioners, we start to remember who we really are and gratitude starts to infuse the heart.

That gratitude is the path by which love can develop and we can truly remember who we are.

For many of us:

Life is a journey to find true love.

That true love is waiting for us. We just need to clear the fog of lust and realize that our greatest happiness is not found outside ourselves, but by connecting to the Supreme.