True love does not seek to possess

True love is not attachment or possessiveness. Attachment of any kind, as the Gita tells us, leads to suffering. Abhinivesha, clinging and attachment, is an impediment – not only on the path of liberation, but also in the attainment of personal happiness. On the other hand, detachment is one of life’s greatest lessons for those who seek the true joy of life. As an inspired poet wrote, “If you love someone very dearly, give him wings, let him fly!”

Have you heard of the king who loved his nightingale so dearly that he let it fly to its freedom? He kept the bird in a golden cage in the royal apartment and would have the bird sing for him every day. The song was always captivating; but it was so sad, that the king would cry his heart out.
One day, he said to the nightingale, “Dear, I am weighed down by the cares and troubles of the kingdom. 

Can’t you, just for once, sing me a happy song, a song of joy and laughter?” “I could indeed,” sighed the nightingale. “I could sing you a song of the green woods, the wide open spaces and the cloudless, blue sky.But I cannot, cannot, sing it from this cage! For that, you must set me free, and allow me to taste the joy of liberation. Then indeed, I will come back to sing to you the happiest song you have ever heard.” “I will set you free?” said the king, “I am sure you will take yourself off, and never, ever come back to me.”

“If you give me my freedom, how can I treat you in such an ungrateful way? I promise you, I shall come back to you every night, and sing you to sleep with the sweetest and most joyous lullaby you could ever hear.”“Alright,” said the king. “I love you far too much to deny you freedom. I shall set you free right away. I do have misgivings that I may never see you again. But I will be happy to know that somewhere, some place, you will be free and singing a happy song.”

With a heavy heart, the king opened the door of the cage, stroked the nightingale lovingly, carried it to the window, and allowed it to flutter away into the deep woods behind the palace.There was a great surprise in store for him, the next evening. As he returned to his room after a long and tiring day at the court and sank into bed, exhausted, he heard a beautiful song! It came from the window, and he ran to the window to discover his beloved nightingale singing its heart out for him!

“Dear, dear bird,” he cried happily, “You came back; you came back to me as you promised!” “Not just today, but every day I shall come back to sing for you, O, king,” said the nightingale. “You gave me the greatest of all gifts, the gift of freedom. How can I not keep up my promise to you!” And so, it came to pass that the little nightingale came to sing for the king every night, filling his heart and his life with sheer joy!

Dada JP Vaswani