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Tuesday 9 July 2013

Look at the Ocean, not at the Waves

We fail to see the Ocean for the Waves

That ‘true love triumphs’, a time-tested belief accepted by the human race from the days of Adam and Eve, still stands tall giving testimony to the power of love. Love has many connotations; many hues and colors like the working of human minds. Well, efforts put in by etymologists to define the term love go flat since it is not defined by words but by one’s feelings and emotions.

But then, our shimmering passions for love only make us look at its pinnacle since most of us are not able to reach it because of varied reasons. ‘Love is God; love is divine; love is bliss and peace; and love is blind too’ are some of the emotional outbursts we indulge in all through our life without experiencing or feeling all the dimensions of love or without our being able to reach its crest.

To many of us, love is the foam crested waves that are lashing at the shore. We always look at the waves only and not at the fathomless depth of an ocean. It is so easy to look into dots and miss the sight of the picture. Our mental vacation is so crude that it happens without our knowing it.  

An ailing, but obstinate child nags her mother for a cup of ice cream and cries her head off when it is denied. Seemingly, the mother has a heart of stone in not yielding to the demand of her child, but truly she is the incarnation of love as she is more concerned with the health of her daughter than her crying for ice cream. A father is too revealing his concern and love for his teenage daughter when he reproaches her for speaking on her cell phone at midnight. Such a father and mother are on the crest of love since they think their mollycoddling of their children may spoil their well-being and safety.

Sometimes, you may see a man, with good physique, standing at a street corner and craving the passers-by for alms. Instead of giving him a few bucks as your counterparts are doing, you may get him a job and make him live decently. Through such an admirable action you show your love for the society. Sure, your noble act makes you reach out to the pinnacle of love where the Angel of Love welcomes you with a curtsy as she is happy with your displaying of a rare gesture and responding to the unexpressed needs of a beggar.

Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, showed an altogether different dimension of love for his country when he brought forth a host of capital punishments to rein the occurrence of crimes and to make Singapore a heaven of peace and one of the developed nations in Asia. He did this with an iron hand for the well-being of the people.

It is not uncommon in life to see a person make the other suffer. But, if the cause for making others suffer is to see them happy ultimately, then such an action can be called love … love in disguise. Lee Kuan Yew did this to his country and god, too, is doing this to many of us quite often.

There are people with questionable characters who get things done for others by dubious means: from a drunkard by making him tipsier and from a crazy woman by giving her gold and diamonds. This is always done in the name of love. But, love can never be manipulated. It must never be used to make others do what you want. When you love someone, you must never ask them to sacrifice even a part of themselves in the name of love. This form of manipulation contaminates our love for others.

Eventually, love is the name of the relationship we are trying to have with someone who are closer to us. Rather, it’s a sort of fine feelings … an intention to serve the well-being of others, which may, sometimes, get crowned or crucified. Just read what Kahlil Gibran has to say about love:

“When love beckons to you, follow him/ though his ways are hard and steep/and when his wings enfold you, yield to him/though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you/And when you speaks to you, believe him/ though his voice may shatter your dream as the north wind lays waste the garden.”

Image courtesy: Google


27 comments:

  1. Thanks for your comments. Happy times.

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  2. “When love beckons to you, follow him/ though his ways are hard and steep/and when his wings enfold you, yield to him/though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you/And when you speaks to you, believe him/ though his voice may shatter your dream as the north wind lays waste the garden.” .. so much to learn from these lines .. beautiful :)

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  3. i could see your love for writing in this post.
    thanks for sharing.

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  4. Certainly the most abstract thing in the world is "Love", and widely mistaken too..! have a nice day..!

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  5. unconditional love is an unlimited way of being. We are without any limit to our thoughts and feelings in life and can create any reality we choose to focus our attention upon. There are infinite imaginative possibilities when we allow the freedom to go beyond our perceived limits. If we can dream it, we can build it. Life, through unconditional love, is a wondrous adventure that excites the very core of our being and lights our path with delight.

    Great post sir!

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  6. nice post arumugam...i esp liked this
    When you love someone, you must never ask them to sacrifice even a part of themselves in the name of love. This form of manipulation contaminates our love for others.

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  7. 'Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, showed an altogether different dimension of love for his country when he brought forth a host of capital punishments to rein the occurrence of crimes and to make Singapore a heaven of peace and one of the developed nations in Asia. He did this with an iron hand for the well-being of the people.'
    Lee Kuan Yew is a good administrator. He is a statesman and not like our politician. All Singaporeans loves him because of good behavior an he is easily approachable person . He is like ordinary person.

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  8. love someone as they are and not as what you want to be them,desire to get something in return of love make it more like business

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  9. Very well said...all about love. Certain myths dispelled too. Sometimes earlier it was something like Love needs sacrifice. But of course the sacrifice there meant something higher.
    As you rightly said here definitely not to manipulate.
    Love is a many splendoured thing and one can go on if discussions are so rightly directed as this.
    Thank you...loved this post too. :)

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  10. Love is indeed a many splendoured thing!

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  11. Sir,that way Modi be given a chance ..to be the PM ..after all his is the love for the country :) .. so what if he sounds dictator :)
    jokes apart, you are so very right .. people look for only flowery words and behaviour to name it as love .. but it is all the more love when one becomes difficult for you to handle as he wants to stop you from wrong !!
    So nicely explained,Sir !! Kudos to you !!

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  12. Love can conquer, love can destroy too. I liked your different explanations about it. The examples are interesting too.

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  13. Wow I truly 'Love' your post. While I was reading I could imagine also what you meant and hope beautiful and deep a love could be. The Power of love governs your actions! Loved it!

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  14. Love is a very powerful thing. But it has some fundamental requirement. Love has to be"Niskam" not for gaining or getting anything. Love requires dedication, sincerity and honesty.
    Your post has presented love in an excellent way.

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  15. A very enlightening post Easwarji. You are right, many keep count of the waves and never think of the depth of the ocean. Love is truly a test and is always behind difficulties, obstacles or failures. Those who have patience and persistence do enjoy the fruit of love.

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  16. If only...love could be understood by people.
    Somehow,we are lacking feelings...for others around and to varied extents...for ourselves!!
    Liked the way you presented it all!

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  17. delightful post....u made your point clearly with those examples of mother-son and father-daughter

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  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  19. Wow Easwar loved every line of it..You are so right. There are so many forms of love around us but we fail to recognize it!!

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  20. The various colors of love!

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  21. Love is often mistaken as cupidity..stupidity. But u r rt... der so many kinds of love , which we (bollywood junkies) fail to see

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  22. till a child becomes a parent and does to his own child exactly what his parent did to him, he will not understand that it was done out of pure love for him!

    it takes us pretty long to realise who really loves us and who is just pretending...

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  23. The philosophy of this beautifully written post exploring the integrity of love makes an appeal to the heart.We often fail to understand love unless there is a ceremonial appearance of exuberance like the waves. The metaphor of the ocean to expound the purity of love is profound.

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  24. Such a profound thought. You have persuaded me.. I had a plan of organising a food for a charity but now I have changed my minds to offer them things which can satisfy them day in and day out..offering a food for them is like showing love in form of waves but giving them the things which can walk along throughout their life is love. Its a ocean. Going in depth. Your article has changed my minds.

    New to blogging. . Would appreciate if a seasoned bloggers like you share your perspectives on my thoughts. .

    http://journeywithbarani.info / myblog /

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