Love has to be reflected in our actions.
Love, according to Hindu traditions is bhakti
and action, as a result of this bhakti, is karma.
When I love my mother, when I love my brother, when they are in trouble
should I say I love them, send a beautiful card and gifts? No
Should I send my mother to nursing homes? No. I better act.
One who changed my diapers and slept on the other side of the bed,
one who would not resist or cry away because you wet the bed
She might sleep on the same side and give you the dry spot on the bed.
But when she needs you today and you say, “Oh, I have to send her”
what sort of a love are you claiming for your dear ones? Love has to be reflected in our actions
Love according to Hindu tradition is bhakti
and action as a result of this bhakti is karma.
So we have bhakti yoga, which means integration through love
It has to result in action
and when we act on something you will gain a lot of knowledge about what you’ve acted upon.
So you become enriched with the knowledge that when I love something and I do something about it,
my knowledge increases manifold.
I become aware of so many things in life which otherwise I would have missed
Only if I had claimed myself that I love but there is no action then you miss out on everything else
So love is not just for the sake of saying I love, love, love. That is not love
that is just consoling yourself that I am loving
Most important thing when you love someone you better act
so that others life flourishes with happiness, with peace,
or at least no anxiety or no stress should remain with them.
I may not contribute positively but I should not add burden to their life
Still, I would not say this is love, because love is something more sublime than all these things.
Would you say, “I sacrificed for my mother”? No.
Mothers don't use such words when they do things for their child.
They don’t say, ‘I sacrificed for you my boy.”
Then why must I say, “I sacrificed something,
my time, my job, my vacation, my wife, my children in looking after you.
I think this is a burning question in the day and age of today
where most elderly parents are sent out to nursing homes
It is the biggest tragedy and we all as humanity are going to pay the price for it.
The worst thing that will happen is when all these elderly individuals,
the generational knowledge that we have accumulated, rather, they have accumulated
and when we stay away from them,
your grandchildren will miss out on the transfer of generational knowledge.
Not just the knowledge but
watching an old man and old lady sitting together and talking in silence or communion,
it is a magical thing. The way they love, the way they speak without words,
express themselves without any gestures,
these are fundamental things and the kind of knowledge transfer that
our children will not have in the absence of grandparents because they are
spending time elsewhere and you are spending time elsewhere.
So these bridges, I call, which connect humanity one generation after another generation.
This breaking of generational wisdom or breaking of wisdom bridges
In the absence of all these things, we will not be able to connect the wider gap
each generation is creating today. And it is, unfortunately, going to lead us towards disasters.
Small things – as they say, a little butterfly flapping its wings in Amazonian jungles
can create a storm in Canada
But this is not merely one butterfly flapping its wings.
Every family is flapping their wings and keeping away their elderly parents.
It has to be watched. I am not here to soothe and console and argue with you, “Oh
they will have their freedom in nursing homes”,
I dare you to a challenge today, why don’t you have freedom from others and lead a single life?
You will be happier, no? Why do you need the company of some romantic companion?
It is because your desires, your greed, your passion are so badly motivated in modern day life
that you ignore
those who cared for you, who loved you and most importantly who brought you into this world.
So, we should never forget that love aspect
and once we start disrespecting this, we disrespect God, we disrespect the whole universe
and mind you, only hell is waiting.