What is the ultimate true love?

[Questions by Ms. Bhanu Samykya]

[A) Is getting selfish happiness in loving God not the real love towards God? Even a mad fan of an idol example also, fan loves that idol for his selfish happiness only right.

Swami Replied:- If the love is selfish, it is not true love because the true love is on the goal to be achieved by self. Even if it is an idol, the devotee feels that idol as God and hence, the devotee does not differentiate God and idol.

B) If love is not the basis of God's test, then what is that real basis?

Swami Replied:- Test is to find out the truth of the Spiritual progress of the devotee. In fact, omniscient God knows the truth, but, the devotee does not know the truth and thinks that he/she is in high Spiritual progress without knowing the actual truth. Here, God is putting the test and bringing out the truth so that the devotee understands his/her actual status of the present stage by which he/she can start journey from the actual true stage. By making the devotee to know the actual stage of progress, God is helping the devotee because God has love to the devotee.

C) If soul's love towards God is similar to loving any other co-soul if it gives happiness to self, then what is the difference in loving God and other co-soul?

Swami Replied:- The happiness given by the other co-soul is not based on true love because the other soul gives happiness since the other soul is getting happiness from you. You are thinking wrongly that the other soul is giving happiness to you since the other soul has real love to you. This is misunderstanding due to lack of analysis. If you take the case of God, He is giving happiness to you since He has true love to you. He does not require even a trace of happiness from you because He is the infinite ocean of bliss by Himself. Hence, the love of God to you is true whereas your love to God is not true since you are loving God for your happiness only and not for His happiness.

[D) In such Ultimate love towards God, will soul not expect anything from God? Please forgive me if anything is wrong in my question. -  At Your Divine Lotus Feet, Bhanu Samykya.]

Swami Replied:- If anything is expected from the other side, it is not true love. True love exists in one-way traffic only, which means that you love God just for His happiness only and not for your happiness. Irrespective of the reaction from the side of God, if you love God sincerely without any expectation in return, your love to God is true.

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