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the passage while I was in Russia and wondering why I felt so comfortable in such an unfamiliar seing. The quote spoke about a courage-giving love that I felt from Swami and that Swami was awakening in my Russian brothers and sisters. I was struck by how Swami captured in this short paragraph the most crucial lesson that spirituality can teach psychiatry and how it gave me confidence. This brief paragraph seemed to summarize all that I had learned in my study of psychiatry and spirituality. It captivated me to such a degree that I put the magazine down and could read no further for the entire trip. I memorized the words, meditated on them, and was exhilarated each time I turned my mind to them.
A man filled with love has great peace of mind, is pure of heart, and is unaffected by adverse conditions, failures, and losses. This strength is gained by love of the Lord, which gives great self-confidence. This self-confidence generates immense internal power. (SSB)
Here is a statement about the supremacy of love, the way it is found, and the strength it gives. It is an insight about love that rises beyond the understanding of Western psychiatry. This transcendental, all power-giving love is reachable only by the love of God (our loving Him and His loving us). When aained, it has the power to grant us our highest aspirations: peace of mind (no more worry, no more pain), purity of heart (being unpretentious, immediate, selfless, and unconditionally loving), and the power to be unaffected by any circumstance. Some think that these powers are unaainable by the efforts of mortals and can be given only as a boon by the grace of God. Swami says that these rare aributes are the natural outgrowth of loving God. Swami’s words not only reveal marvelous insights about the spiritual path, but their potency, wisdom, and love gives us a glimpse of his divinity that helps us transcend grief and anxiety.
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