Just Physical Love

Once there was a young couple. They had just got married; in fact it was a love match too. As they were walking down a path one day very soon after the wedding, the husband noticed a thorny bush on the path. With chivalry and love he swung his bride over it so that she would not get hurt.

A few years later they happened to again walk down the same path. This time he was thinking about his business and how to improve his profits; he wished his wife was more careful with money. This time when he saw the thorny bush, he didn’t get alarmed; he only said, “Be careful, there is a thorny bush!”

After some more years they walked the same path again. By this time his daughter’s marriage was settled. He had to work out the financial details. He was too lost in thought to warn his wife about the thorny bush. She too didn’t notice it and she cried with pain because she stepped on it. The husband shouted with irritation, “Don’t you have eyes? Can’t you look where you are walking?”

Again after some more years they were walking down the same path. This time the wife was nagging him about something. He saw the thorny bush. She was busy chattering and he thought to himself, “I hope she steps on that thorn!” Such is human “love!” Thinking that ‘love’ will remain unchanged all through life between spouses is a myth and an illusion warns Bhagwan Baba.

Relating this story restores a balance to one’s perspective; one gets a glimpse of real human nature.