The first time I read this poem, I felt freer at that moment. Ever since, I've shared this poem with a lot of people, with the intent of gift in mind, even if it only meant sharing a photograph of the physical poem. There have been instances where I've wanted to share it with people, but I didn't have the book with me, and online searches for the poem were dead ends. Today I opened the poem and decided to learn it by heart, so I wouldn't need to read it.

A sudden strangeness tickled me. The kind that Jane Hirshfield wrote in her poem Once, I

As-ifness strange to myself, but complete.

This is an attempt to write about who tickled and what. What is the strange thing about love? You can pause here and think about it. No answer is wrong answer of course. If you feel like sharing, you can message or tweet at me. I'd love to hear what you thought.

My spiritual master makes a property of love — that might not be obvious when we think, talk, discuss about or feel love — evident. He says

Love is so enormous. And for ages, people have tried to express their love and finally, they felt they cannot. Even the great sage Narada said, 'Anirvachaniyam prema swarupam'. You cannot express it.

What he means, and he has said over and over again, in different talks and scripture discourses, is that – one can't fully express it.

Love should be planted like a seed. If you sow the seed too deep into the earth, then it won’t sprout. And if you keep it on the surface of the mud, then also it won’t sprout; it won’t take roots.

When I read the poem it reminded me of this property of love.

My Guru also throws light

on the fact that love hurts (without wisdom).

It is not love which is giving you pain. Jealousy, hatred, greed, arrogance and attachment are all love’s distortions. Love by itself doesn’t bring misery. That is why knowledge and centredness are so important. If you are centred, you can handle all these distortions, they come for a while and they disappear. Feelings are like clouds. They are like the waves on the surface of the ocean. They arise, they come and they go.

When I read the following lines, I mentally jumped out of my chair and danced

The strange thing about love

is that you disagree,

disagree wildly,

and then figure it's wiser

to dance.

When I thought about it again today, I remembered endless conversations I've had with my best friend Amrita, who's made me see myself in truth's light like a mirror over all these years. How we could talk through a rainbow of emotions, sometimes after, without getting affected by it ( if we did, it undo-ed with wisdom of being able to let go, sincere apologies, sharing and time ).

I remembered the numerous times I shadowed anger into playing hide and seek when mother yelled or complained for whatever reasons. I just assented and quickly diverted attention to something else, so that her mind won't dwell into a habit, and instead tackle the same things pestering the mind with a spirit of scientific enquiry.

The numerous times my oldest friend could forgive me for all the truths I held back, and ultimately decided to let me go with that forgiveness still intact.

It is a strange thing about love, that when mixed with wisdom and tools to get to know the tendencies of the mind and how to stay centered amdist those disagreements, it ultimately leads to knowledge that it's wiser to dance, because we haven't got all the time in the world to keep at it, if you are getting the drift.

What does this dance look like? For me it is: not taking life too seriously even in the most chaotic, unfavourable, desperate times. Getting up in the middle of zoom calls, muting, switching camera off and dancing in fits and starts. Catching up with old friends. Acknowledging and understanding the state of the mind, and delaying responses so that they weren't reactions. And just you know…laughing and smiling without any reason.

Here's a wonderful detour about the paradox of love and truth:

Good job done reading through this heavy duty stuff. Here's a song for you to dance on: Dance Around The Room With Me — Ana Egge. Go go! Dance!

★

The strange thing about love

is that it evicts you
from the land of echoes
you thought was home

and leads you to
friends

Doesn't it?

in ancient
bewilderment

The part of the poem that resonated with me the most 🔗

never again a professional
                          even
                          on the subject of yourself.

I'll quote the last few lines from the article that I shared before

When you want love, that want itself is turning or delaying love from manifesting. So all that you need to do is to let go and relax. You will see your nature is love. Love is always there. It will manifest when it should. Like the ☀️ is always there but it comes at its own time. In the same way, all the beautiful feelings in your life are there with you all the time. You can’t forcefully manifest them

They will manifest at different times in life. And that’s why be more relaxed and take them as they come. You ARE Love. You cannot make an effort to love, either yourself or anybody. You simply have to relax and realise that you are love. Love is the shadow of the Self. The bigger the Self, the bigger the shadow, and the bigger the love. When the love is cast over the entire creation, then you are the Big Self. That is Lordship. When Lordship dawns on the Self, there is a perennial celebration.

Meditation ( Sahaj Samādhi ) and Sudarshan Kriya have been the tools using which I've been able to relax and let go. In that constant state of heightened awareness yet deep relaxation, the fact that our very nature is love dawns unexplained irrevocably. One experiences the Self that is mentioned above. I've seen couples married and otherwise practicing both, and work towards one common goal, while acting on their own individual goals, happy like the song, for years.

Once that deep love is experienced as Self we turn amateurs on the subject of ourselves, asking the most fundamental questions like: 'Who am I?', but with a sense of sincere enquiry and wild celebratory wonder. The avenues previously even not thought of, talents, events, manifest outside of the made identities before. So in a way, the experience of love can help us surrender and then act.

Okay? That's it? Are we done yet? 🔗

Yes, we are done, phew! I'll keep refining the expression of what I've written overtime of course. You would be able to see when the latest revision was made by the date at the start of the post.

So what about you? 🔗

Your turn! Tell me, what is The Strange Thing About Love for you? Also if you'd like to learn more about or experience Sudarshan Kriya hit me up :)