Read Book - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

106 THE PATH OF LOVE
Complete surrender in itself embodies the acceptance of one
who has surrendered completely as he ought to have done.
The Lover and the Beloved
Beloved God is in all.
What is then the duty of the lover
It is to make the Beloved happy without sparing himself.
Without giving a second thought to his own happiness the lover
should seek the pleasure of the Beloved. The only thought a
lover of God should have is to make the Beloved happy.
Thus if you stop thinking of your own happiness and give
happiness to others, you will then indeed play the part of the
lover of God, because Beloved God is in all.
But, while giving happiness to others, if you have an iota
of thought of self, it is then not love but affection. This tends to
seek happiness for the self while making others happy.
As an example: (1) A husband’s affection for his wife. The
husband wants to give happiness to his wife; but while doing
so he thinks of his own happiness, too. (2) A mother’s affection
for her child. From this affection the mother derives happiness
purely out of giving and seeking happiness for her child.
Love and Devotion
Love burns the lover.
Devotion burns the Beloved.
Love seeks happiness for the Beloved.
Devotion seeks for blessing from the Beloved.
Love seeks to shoulder the burden of the Beloved.