Love and images of love

Question: Would you please talk on love?

Acharya Prashant: Oh yes, but I could have talked about love had we been really ignorant about love. The barrier that the speaker faces while talking to anybody is that people are already very knowledgeable. There is hardly anybody who would not write an entire book on love given the chance. If I circulate sheets of paper and say, “Kindly write a paragraph or two on love”, is there anybody who would say, “Sir, I know nothing, I cannot write anything, I haven’t ever even heard the word.”? Anybody?

Listener: No.

AP: So we already know a lot about love. The container is full. How do I talk about it? Are we in a position where we first see that what we have called as ‘love’ needs a deeper enquiry? Would we be honest enough to let our convictions be questioned, or are we adamant, “Ah, I already know, I have lived an entire life, I am experienced. Who are you to tell me about love? And even if you do tell me about love, all that I will do is judge it against my own experience. I will tally whether what you are saying concurs with what I have experienced, and if our thoughts match, then I will say, “Yes, this speaker is a good one.” If they don’t, I’ll say, “Ah, hardly knows a thing.”

That’s what knowledge does to us. It turns us into a closed box, a silo.