Those who hate others, hate Me

 

(from a lecture):

Alice: And a brahmacari doesn’t mean you hate the other sex, that you hate men, or you hate women?

Swami Lakshmanju: No [affirmative]. Abhinavagupta has explained that in his book, one of his books,[commentary on the Bhagavad Gītā, chapter 16, verse 18]: ‘lokāndyiṣanto māmeva dviṣanti’: “Those who hate others (this is the speaking of Lord Shiva himself) those who hate others, hate me... actually, hate me, hate Lord Shiva. Because, ahaṁ vāsudevo hi sarvāvāsaḥ, because I, Lord Shiva, are present and all-pervading everywhere.” [Swamiji often says Lord Shiva in place of Lord Kṛṣṇa, explaining that they are one and the same]

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Guruji Amritananda

Guruji Amritananda writes (in "Amritopanishad"):

Whatever I see is myself. This is a fundamental truth. From this all possible interpretations of truth flow. What is truth?

Truth is that which is not limited by space, time or matter. It exists everywhere, always, in every thing. So it is called pervasive (Vishnu), immortal (Kaala), and matter (Brahma). Truth is also called existence (Brahma), consciousness (Shiva), and bliss (Vishnu).

Each aspect of truth implies the other two; so there is only one, the unity of the three. How is that?

Deny existence. Can anything that does not exist be conscious or bliss? Deny consciousness. Can anything exist or be blissful? Deny bliss. Can any consciousness or existence be without pain or pleasure or peace (all three aspects of bliss)? So each implies the other two. They are all one.

I love myself. I am the world. Put these two together. I get: I love the world, the whole of it, because it is a part of me. I love this world as it is; all its vices, all its virtues.

If I see something I don't like, it is like a bad thought in me. I do not hate it, I love it still, because it is also me. Now I get the idea: love overcomes hate, it is the answer to hate...