Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.” John 15: 9-17
I start my reflection today with this relatively long passage from John’s Gospel, 15:9-17. Jesus’ words perfectly summarize the spiritual life, which begins and ends with love. Love is both our origin and our destination. This love is not sentimental; rather, it is fierce, powerful, and all-consuming. The good news is that God loves us not because we are good, but because God is good. God is good because God is nothing other than love. We have been created to experience this absolute love, to live our lives in love and from love.
What is most interesting is that this love relationship between ourselves and the Guru (God’s representative) is described as a friendship. Jesus said to his disciples, “I call you friends,” and Yogananda echos this very same truth: “The relationship between guru and disciple is the greatest expression of love in friendship; it is unconditional divine friendship, based on a shared, singular goal: the desire to love God above all else. The disciple bares his soul to the master, and the master bares his heart to the disciple. There is nothing hidden between them. Even in other noble forms of friendship there is sometimes diplomacy. But the friendship of the guru-disciple relationship is taintless.”
It is important to note, however, that the guru-disciple relationship is hierarchical. The guru is there to guide the disciple into deeper and deeper levels of God-realization, based not on coercion, but on love, reason, and sound judgment. Again, I refer to Yogananda’s wise words: “Sri Yukteswar loved me for myself. He wanted perfection for me. He wanted me to be supremely happy. That was his happiness. He wanted me to know God, to be with the Divine Mother for whom my heart longed. Was that not divine love he expressed? To wish constantly to guide me in the path of goodness and love? When that love is developed between the guru and disciple, the disciple has no desire to manipulate the master, nor does the master seek control of the disciple. Supreme reason and judgment govern their relationship; there is no love like this.”
Likewise, Jesus, in his role as guru, implores his disciples to follow his commandments, that is, to align themselves with the God-inspired truths he has taught them. He makes this request not to control them, but to ensure that they remain in the orbit of his grace, guidance, and protection — especially in the context of his imminent death. Though tragic, the reality is that if we ignore the universal principles inherent within the created order, the “eternal dharma,” we step outside the stream of God‘s wisdom and grace. To the degree that we do this, we limit our capacity to nurture truth, beauty, and goodness in our lives, and we expose ourselves to unnecessary suffering. I end this reflection with the words of Saint Bonaventure, describing the fruit of Francis of Assisi’s loving attunement to Jesus’ guidance: “Francis had reached such purity that his body was in remarkable harmony with his spirit, and his spirit with God. As a result, God ordained that creation which serves its Maker, should be subject in an extraordinary way to Francis’ will and command.”
Divine Guru,
Beloved Friend,
I want to know
The greatest love of all.
