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Perspective
Love: The Greatest Power
by TA Ramesh
 Love
is a rare virtue and is the highest form of emotional expression of
mankind. The act of love is directed by human heart which is susceptible
to the feelings, sentiments, sufferings, miseries of other human beings.
Heartless person is not at all a human being. A person may be strong in
knowledge or an owner of vast wealth in the world; yet, if one does not
have a kind or compassionate or sympathetic heart, one cannot be
considered to be a great person. That is why it is said that the
greatness of a person lies not in the head but in the heart.
There are many ways by which one shows one’s love towards others. There
are many versions of love we can come across among the relationships of
mankind. Love is such a great power that it is beyond the scope of
anyone to fully define what it is with the available words. In fact,
love cannot be expressed in words, but it has to be felt by the heart to
understand the true nature of this wonderful power in the world.
Nature of Love
From the observation of the life of man, animals, creatures, plants and
natural things, it is possible to say that love is the natural concern
for the well being of the favorite ones or others. Love gives pleasure,
happiness, confidence and courage to the ones who love others. Where
there is love, there one can find peace, prosperity and joy. Motherly
love, family love, romantic love and friendly love are commonly seen in
life and read in literature. But if the love of a person is true one,
one is capable of suffering through out one’s life or sacrificing one’s
life for the sake of the loved one. The constant love of a person, in
spite of the odd situations, times, circumstances, difficulties and
hardships in life, is a noble or a divine one in the world. It is a fact
that both in love and war there is no fair or foul means. The end of
both is either to achieve success or to meet with death. Therefore both
for the lovers and the soldiers the cause is most important and they
whole heartedly meet both life and death in the same manner. That is the
nature of true human love.
Power of Love
Not only Literature but also Religion and Philosophy exhort and
analytically express about love and its supreme power in reality. All
religious expressions are meant for the heart and all philosophic
expressions are meant for the mind. Religion preaches about faith and
philosophy analyses about truth. But the essence or the basis for both
is Love only. The Buddhist interpretation of love reflecting all the
other religious views about it says that Love is the Greatest Power, the
Greatest Justice and the Greatest Knowledge of the World. Therefore this
love only is the truth. There cannot be a love without truth. Hence the
prevalent expression of all the religions that Love is God is a widely
accepted view of all human beings.
The primitive forces that are breeding enmity between man and man and
still creating havocs to mankind are fear and hatred. Like the all
powerful God, the only supreme force that is still fighting against and
containing all oppositions and absorbing everything within itself is
love. This is not the preaching of a priest, but a pure fact based on
the observation, experience and knowledge of human beings. Therefore it
is to be understood that love is most important for everyone and without
which the existence of secure and happy life is not possible on the
earth.
Practice of Love – Tolerance, Love for Humanity
It is good to think about how love can be practiced in the world where
there are differences of opinions about religions, ideologies,
languages, etc. In this respect the essay on Tolerance by E.M.
Forster helps much to understand the practical difficulties in the
application of love in the world. According to him love may be practiced
in private but not in public. Really it is very difficult to show love
towards all sorts of men. Hence he concluded that love can be practiced
in private and tolerance, a negative virtue though it is very dry and
dull, can be practiced in public. In this regard he has quoted
personalities like Ashoka, Montaigne, Goethe and so on in that essay in
order to show to the reader how they had successfully practiced that
negative virtue in life. Therefore it is clear that love can be
practiced only when things are personally known.
There is a divine personality to quote as an example to this view. The
outstanding personality who had a permanent place in the hearts of all
men due to his love for humanity was Gandhi. He considered everyone as
human being. He approached every person with human love, which was the
only means by which he could settle smoothly all human problems. He got
knowledge about various types of men through his own personal experience
in South Africa and observations in India. Whether the men were
intellectually developed or emotionally attached the only means by which
he could control others or make them concede to his view points was
human love only.
He successfully practiced love in private as well as in public and had
done a most outstanding job in the world which could not be possible by
any other person in the world. That is why he was called as a divine
person, a sage and a mahatma. Persons of this type are rare in the
world. As per the religious utterances they live a simple life
relinquishing power, position and possession. These men are free from
suspicion, fear, anger, lust and greediness. They are true in their
thoughts, words and deeds. Hence their love is really a true one and
which is why they are worshipped as gods in the world.
Sex
in the West and East
The natural human love is a genuine one. Each and every religion gives
its own color to the love under discussion. But though the methods of
teaching of all religions may vary, yet the goal or the end of them is
Love only. The variations in the means are affected by the culture of
different places only. That is why there is contradiction in every
matter between the West and the East. In the west they say that there is
calm before storm. But in the east it is said that there will be calm
after storm.
Besides other things sex plays an important part in love. In the west
sex is the first step to love. But in the east sex is the final step to
love. That is why sex has become a very common thing in the west,
whereas it is a vital thing in the east. Therefore the love that is much
talked about in the west is really lust only, whereas it is a noble
passion in the east. Hence women are treated as things of entertainment
in the west, but they are honored as mothers or sisters or friends in
the east. This is due to the fact that west gives more importance to
material values than to human values. Wherever this sort of western
culture prevails, there the sex behavior of the people is contradictory
to the traditional nature of the place. Yet, exceptions would be there
on both sides, because no set culture pattern is always a permanent one.
Sexual, Mental and Spiritual Pleasures
Among the kinds of love, the love between man and woman is the most
commonly talked about and the strongest one in the world. The fruition
of such love for a man and a woman is always marriage only. The socially
accepted marriage is a commitment for the couple to lead a disciplined
and cultured life in order to maintain the marriage tie, which is
accepted whole heartedly by both to the last. After marriage only
fulfillment of sexual desire is acceptable and justified so that the
morale or harmony of the society can be maintained forever.
The sexual urge is a natural desire for everyone in the world. For a
best life, virtue is more important than the life itself. Virtue is
attained through knowledge. Only through the path of virtue best things
can be done in the world both for the present and for the future. That
is why the sexual urge has to be restrained till marriage is over. More
than the taste, the food to maintain health and strength is needed for
everyone. Mere pleasure will not solve the malaise of men. Without the
experience of hardships, the value of happiness cannot be understood and
enjoyed in the proper perspective. Without pleasure man cannot have
interest in doing anything in the world.
Sex gives pleasure. That is why sex is vital for life and hence it has
to be used constructively or creatively in order to achieve better
things in life. The physical pleasure that sex gives is a very short and
temporary thing. The mental pleasure is attainable whenever possible, if
the mind is aesthetically absorbed in the higher order of things. But
the spiritual pleasure is enjoyed only by a few who have a pure heart
and a noble mind, and is the ever lasting pleasure of man. Therefore the
animal pleasure of the body, the aesthetic pleasure of the mind and the
mystical pleasure of the spirit are the three stages of pleasure man is
capable of enjoying in his life-time.
Love
of Man and Woman a Complicated Process
1.
Instinct and Intelligence
As Love
is the matter of the heart, the great emotional power of it can be
realized only when one feels it. To understand this emotional power is
one thing and to practice it is another thing, because even to
understand what sex is and how it has to be practiced, there is great
difficulty among animals and men too. It is scientifically found that
the rats automatically indulge in the act of sex without any previous
knowledge or guidance, whereas the apes do not indulge in it unless they
have seen it in actual practice. This is because the instinct of the rat
is very strong, whereas in the case of the ape the intelligence over
shadows the instinct because of congenital ignorance. Therefore to know
or understand a thing apart from Love both instinct and intelligence are
utilized in varying degrees by all living beings. If the power of the
instinct is high, then the power of the intelligence is low. Where the
intelligence is great, the instinct becomes weak and ineffective there.
Unlike the rat, the ape acquires the knowledge of sex-behavior from its
fellows only. When that is so, what is the position of man who has six
senses?
2. Love in
Literature
Indeed,
the practice of love between man and woman is a complicated thing. Here
it should be remembered of Russell’s definition of good life in his
book, What I Believe that “the good life is one inspired by love
and guided by knowledge.” The inspiration of good life is obtained by
love only. So, the knowledge of love becomes a necessity. Therefore love
has to be learned by means of some guidance. Literature imparts the
knowledge of love. From literature it is understood that love is the
greatest possible expression of human emotion and that it can be better
understood or experienced only when it is aptly felt by human heart.
The emotions of other people cannot be sensed by mere appearance.
Through the actions and words of the people only this can be understood.
From literature one can come across that love is expressed through so
many ways such as love letters and even death letters too. This means
that love is a thing that should move the heart of man; otherwise, it is
not at all love. That is why those who sacrifice, as in stories, their
lives for this deep emotional expression are rare. Why should we go to
that extent? When the talent for literary expression is rare, the talent
to express one’s love will be rarest! Therefore it has to be said that
the love of man springs forth like a glimpse now and then, when
something moves inside the heart.
Love
Varies from man to man
For every person love alone gives real comfort, inspiration,
encouragement, hope and courage to deal wilt problems successfully in
life. Every man needs love and security to lead a fine life. According
to the type of life one chooses to live, one needs security and love.
Hence the meaning of love also varies from person to person.
-
The
down to earth type of life, a man likes to live would feel secure if
he has huge money in the bank, buildings, fields and automobiles.
The type of love such men prefer as per their taste would be of the
humanized needs of the animal passion.
-
The
men who prefer decent life would have a sense of security in the
maintenance of beauty, decency and aestheticism and such men prefer
a love of reciprocation in the matters of civilization, human
refinement and so on.
-
The
men who are interested in the intellectual type of life would feel
secure in search of truth or in some sound philosophy. These
intellectuals would find love by surrendering their self to the
miraculous power, which is other than human in nature.
-
Finally the mystical or the spiritual way of life, the people prefer
to lead, would find a sense of security by making progress towards
the perfection of human nature. For them the pleasure of love will
be the mystical communion of human spirit with the Universal spirit.
But
whatever be the ideas of love each one has, man lives because he has
someone to love or something to love or some higher power to love so
that he could get a sense of security or satisfaction in the world.
Blossoming of Love between Man and Woman
Indeed it is impossible to understand how love blossoms between man and
woman. The philosopher Godwin’s Free Love and the poet Shelley’s
Platonic Love of the Romantic Period in the 18th Century England
are quite interesting to read. The romantic poets’ theories and
practices of love are quite nostalgic and sentimental in nature. This
sort of Sentimental Love is entirely different from the desire or
favoritism, deep interest or likings of men. Their love did not stand
firm because their character and mind were not strong. However their
metaphysical utterances clearly defined the weaknesses of every human
being in general. But the 16th century Shakespeare’s Romantic Love plays
are quite fine to think about.
Shakespearean Love
The Shakespearean love starts at the first sight itself, continues in a
romantic manner and successfully completes in the marriage or in the
tragedy without any change of heart. In this connection the famous love-
plays of Shakespeare like Romeo and Juliet and Antony and
Cleopatra could be quoted as examples for the romantic love stories
of that time. In the Indian Classical Epics like Ramayana and
Mahabharata also the love between two youths starts initially with
the face to face gaze of eyes and immediately the two sexes become one
in opinion both in the heart and in the mind. Then the lovers bear all
sorts of agony and ecstasy in the same manner till they get united in
the marriage. That is the depiction of the true love of men both in the
West and in the East.
Cupid and Manmatha
If one goes still further back the Greek mythological stories and the
Indian mythological stories give the answer as to how the love starts
between a man and a woman. From these mythologies one will understand
that the arrows of Cupid of Greek mythology or the Indian counter part,
Manmatha have the power to kindle the passion of love in men, if they
hit their hearts. From the books one will get this much of answer only.
But these are the inanimate books of nature. The birds reveal what is
the source of love and how it all begins from the behavior of the birds
it is clear to know that beauty, dance, music and freedom are the source
for love and the youngsters who are caught by the spell of this magic
begin the amorous affair in no minute and go ahead in their pursuit of
the romantic activities till they materialize their object as painted in
the romantic literatures of the world! The blind boy Cupid’s arrow of
love unites two unequal persons as equals irrespective of their
differences in position, possession and power in love. That is why it is
said that love is blind!
Benefits and Source of Love
Whether love brings happiness or sorrow, man does everything for the
sake of love. The beautiful things like temples, monuments, castles,
paintings, sculptures and poems men have made are some of the
achievements for the sake of their love remain forever talking about
then power of human love to the posterity. Only love has such a power
and is really a great power in the world.
Who
woos who?
Then a great question arises i.e. whether man is after woman or woman is
after man? From the readings of G.B. Shaw’s works it is clear that the
myth that man always goes after woman is wrong and in reality it is the
reverse that usually happens! This will remind everyone that the name
woman is given to the fair sex because it is the women who actually woo
the men! Even the classical poet Milton in his great Epic, Paradise
Lost has said, “He is for God, and she is for God in him.” The first
western theory on the creation of man also says that God has first
created Man and then only created Woman from the left side rib of the
man. Perhaps due to this theory man may be treating woman as his
subordinate. In the west, it looks that men treat women in any manner
they like even after the world has widely accepted Rousseau’s political
philosophy based on the idea of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.” In
the East, women who were going by the saying that “Husband is the known
God” for a long time are favoring the fact that both man and woman are
equal.
Whose Love is Great – Mother’s or Woman’s?
But, whatever it is, because women are patient, tender hearted and
capable of fostering children with due care by nature, it can be said
that that they are born for love and from them only love must have been
known to the world and love is existing in the world. And mainly due to
such special nature women are capable of changing even bad men into good
men and make love prevail in the world forever. Again due to their
special nature it is the woman, who first indirectly provokes him to
sacrifice everything for the sake of love. Therefore it is to be
concluded that through the solace, comfort, inspiration and
encouragement of the mother only, man knows about love first; then only
he knows about it from his father, brothers, sisters and relatives, from
his friends of his age, from his lady love or wife and others; and shows
his love to his children and others. Between the love of mother and love
of woman, the former one is the greatest and irreplaceable one for man,
because even if he loses one lady love or wife, he may get another one
but never another mother in life. That is the love of man in the world.
November
26, 2006
Image under
license with Gettyimages.com
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Perspective
The Week of November 26, 2006
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Maldives – Idyllic Beauty Globalizes by Col
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Hope: The Flame in our Heart by PGR Nair
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Golden Temple, Amritsar -
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Milton Friedman: A Great
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Voices Against Globalization by Deepti Priya
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Empower the Girl, Empower the Nation by Rupa
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Harvest Colors from the Rainbow by Jayati Gupta
The Politics of Toilets by Trisha Gupta
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