Lust vs Real Love (Part 1)

Real love has become so rare that we barely even know what it means any more. What we think is love is often just lust in disguise; that is, based on mutual exploitation and sense enjoyment.

Consequently, instead of living the life we are meant to live—a life of inner satisfaction, contentment and harmony—we suffer from jealousy, anger, bitterness and anxiety in our relationships toward others. Regardless if it’s our partner, family, friends or colleagues.

“Therefore, lust and are quite different. Lust is like dense darkness, but love is like the bright sun.” Chaitanya-Charitamrita Adi-lila 4.178

So what is the key to opening our hearts and allowing the light of real love to enter?
How can I know the difference between lust and real love?
And how can I make my relationships truly nourishing and fulfilling?

Highlights

– 0:00 Lust is like fire. And so the hotter the relationship, the more we think we’re in love.
– 4:08 There word “sin” has been cancelled—there is no longer any right or wrong, everything you feel like doing is good
– 10:02 From contemplating some object of the senses (could be anything from hiking shoes or a beautiful man/woman), attachment develops. From attachment (wanting to own it, enjoy it) comes lust. From lust comes anger and loss of memory.
– 24:24 Like George Harrison sang; “Senses never satisfied, only swelling like the tide”. Lust is like a fire, the more you throw into it, the hotter it burns.
– 38:45 Lust is just the perverted downward reflection of love, and to turn it back into its natural state we need to engage in devotional service
– 53:31 “Pure love for the Supreme is eternally established in the heart of the living beings; it is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, the living entity naturally awakens”