Without Love

By Dariya

Without love there can be no devotion and wisdom.
With love arisen, they can be experienced
with the Satguru's grace.
With intensification of love, one comes in contact
with the True Sound,
And like a lotus in water, abides in its peace and bliss.

When love and endearment are firmly engrained,
One attains the elixir of Nam, and enjoys its bliss.
Being firmly entrenched in love and endearment,
And being well-steeped in devotion,
one obtains the true love.

Have love for the lotus feet of the Satguru, 0 wise men.
This life is short.
Give up needlessly extended discussions.

With love and wisdom arisen,
One moves with detachment in the world.
He who finds a Satguru,
Has the true recognition of the path, says Dariya.

So long as the lover is not immersed in love,
His sins and evil thoughts are not washed off.
If one's attention is not absorbed in the inner sky,
How can he see the wondrous inner sights?

So long as the intense longing for the Beloved
does not arise,
And the heart is not filled with love;
The spiritual goal cannot be attained
By mere observance of religious practices,
vows and rituals.

Whatever be the bulk of one's charity and virtuous deeds,
One can find no foothold anywhere without devotion.

Have firm faith in love and devotion.
Love is the essence of spiritual truth.
Reflect on this saying of the Saints,
By this alone, one is saved from the ocean of the world.

Without love, one goes to the abode of Yama,
But being endowed with love, one attains the immortal fruit.

Blessed is the eye which is permeated with love.
Without love it is like a pebble or stone.
Like a gardener without a garden,
the eye remains empty without love.
What is the state of a human being without love?
He is like one who is denied all delicacies,
and whose mouth is filled only with dust.
Without love one does not find the flow
of the Sound Current.
But when the flower of love blossoms,
its fragrance is praised by all.

Many are the paths prevalent in this world
Knowing the proper wisdom, work out your own salvation.
He who obtains a wise and discriminating Saint,
Recognizes the path of salvation.

The technique of love is truly the root of spirituality.
Follow this technique as imparted by the Master.
When with his grace the inner lamp is lighted,
The true Nam, the support of all, comes to sight.

Just as the lotus resides in water,
It does not come to bloom by water.
Only when the light of the sun appears,
Does the lotus open its petals,
As the contemplative (inner) eye opens to see.

The spiritual lotus likewise resides in the human body
which is like a pond.
Its sustaining water is close to the lotus.
But only when love for the Satguru arises,
Does the inner lotus bloom,
And one becomes a devotee of the Lord's holy feet.

Without love, there is no spiritual path.
The path lives in love.

With intensification of love, one comes in contact
with the True Sound,
And like a lotus in water, abides in its peace and bliss.

When love and endearment are firmly engrained,
One attains the elixir of Nam, and enjoys its bliss.
Being firmly entrenched in love and endearment,
And being well-steeped in devotion,
one obtains the true love.

Without love one does not find the flow
of the Sound Current.
But when the flower of love blossoms,
its fragrance is praised by all.

---translation by K.N. Upadhyaya