We all long to love and be loved. Where does this longing come from? And how can it be best fulfilled?

This longing can’t come from our material body because matter, being insentient, can’t experience anything. Gita wisdom explains that the longing comes from our core, our spiritual essence. As souls, we are eternal parts of the whole, Krishna, the all-attractive, all-loving Absolute Truth. Being his parts, we naturally long to love him. However, as we are presently spiritually unaware, we misdirect our love towards various worldly objects. Because nothing temporary can provide lasting reciprocation, misdirected love leaves us disappointed or even devastated.

Such frustration inspires seekers to seek the eternal beyond the temporal. Still, they don’t always connect their longing for love with their spiritual search. Different seekers conceive the supreme spiritual reality differently – some as an impartial judge, some as an effulgent light, some as a benevolent father. While these conceptions reflect various aspects of the Absolute Truth, the most complete understanding of that Absolute is as Krishna, the eternal, transcendental person (Bhagavad-gita 07.07, 10.08, 15.19). His heart too longs to love and be loved, and he delights in eternal love-filled pastimes with his devotees. Bhakti-yoga specializes in connecting us with Krishna’s heart. It helps us relish his love-filled pastimes and redefines our entire life as an opportunity for learning to love him.

Further, bhakti wisdom offers the defining insight that everything attractive manifests just a spark of Krishna’s all-attractiveness (10.41). This insight inspires us to direct our whole heart towards him. The Gita (09.13) indicates that great souls devote themselves wholeheartedly to Krishna, without settling for substitutes.

When we thus direct our whole heart to the heart of the Whole, who is the source and summit of all lovable things, our longing for love finds enduring fulfillment.

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