<p><img src="https://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/08/11/monk2bdde6.jpg" /></p>
<h3>I don't believe in romantic love between a man and a woman. But please don't get me wrong. Allow me to explain. I believe in love. Love is real. This is the essence of reality. And the essence of each of us. We all crave love, we all want to experience this feeling again and again. And what is love? Love is admiration.</h3>
<h2>When we feel this admiration we're in love.</h2>
<p>When we’re in love – we feel admiration. This admiration is strong and pleasant astonishment. An astonishment always implies something new and fresh. That's what we really want. We want to remain constantly in a state of admiration, feeling the newness and freshness of life. That is the nature of the soul.<br />
Each of us has the potential of love. The love is dormant in every human heart and in the hearts of all living beings.</p>
<pre><code>This post is the second part of my message. The <a href="https://steemit.com/love/@omfedor/part-1-the-monk-who-got-married-but-remained-a-monk-response-to-stellabelle-s-post-that-she-dedicated-to-me">first part is here.</a></code></pre>
<h2>But human life is a privilege.</h2>
<p>We are able to fully reveal the potential of love. We can realize our ability to love. And as long as our potential of love remains unfulfilled, we will not be happy. We won't feel the satisfaction and completeness. We will feel inferior. And we will attempt to fill this inner emptiness with alcohol, drugs, sex, luxury and so on. But all this is not a true answer.</p>
<h2>I was an atheist. </h2>
<p>The religion that I saw and I knew seemed stupid and unscientific. Religion is for fools, so I thought. And yes, the modern representatives of religions are rarely able to inspire people to change their lives and to acquire a sincere interest in God. Because most of them do not follow what they preach. Too much hypocrisy there is in the modern religion and spirituality circles. Therefore the people turned away from God.</p>
<blockquote>All you need is love<br />
All you need is love<br />
All you need is love, love<br />
Love is all you need<br />
<br />
— John Lennon &amp; Paul McCartney</blockquote>
<h2>But God is beyond religion. </h2>
<p>God is outside any of the traditions that people have come up with. God is completely free, it is impossible to get Him come to the temple, church or mosque. He is free. And He allows us to be free. Because love is impossible without freedom! And the essence of God is love. And therefore freedom.</p>
<h2>I love my family.</h2>
<p>I love my wife. But first and foremost I love God who gave me this wife. I love my son. But first and foremost I love God who gave me my son. I love money. But first and foremost I love God who gives me the money.</p>
<p>I care about my wife, because it is my sacred duty, because I promised it to God who is dear to me. For example, my wife is free from the need to earn money. Because it is my sacred duty to give her money. I buy my wife clothes and other things, not because insanely delighted by her. I do it because I admire God who wants me to take care of my wife. Sacred duty – a duty before God, not before any man or society. I serve God, taking care of my wife, because that is His Will. God wants so. And I want to please Him by taking care of my wife. I want to please Him not because I fear some kind of punishment or want something in return. I want to do it because am grateful to Him and admire Him.</p>
<p>And the wife gets benefited from this! The wife is happy. Although I in fact don't aim to make her happy. I'm focused on serving God and not my wife. But my wife is happy. Similarly I love my son. I care about him, because I know that God wants this. I serve God, not the son. But the son gets benefited from this. Son is happy.</p>
<h2>This is my vision.</h2>
<p>I don't believe in romantic love between a man and a woman. But I believe in the union of man and woman. This union becomes perfect when both the man and the woman direct their love primarily to God.</p>
<p>I learned that from the Vedas. And in this I found the answer how to love a woman and do not suffer from this love. This love must not be blind and ignorant. Similarly I found the answer how to love people, and not to become dependent on their opinions.</p>
<h2>Please do not consider me a religious preacher. </h2>
<p>I don't preach any religion or organization. No. I'm talking about my personal living experience. About how I found the answer to this call of destiny.</p>
<p>The pain I experienced in my first serious relationship with the opposite sex, made me go in search of answers. Many are experiencing this pain, if not all. But few people ever get a rare stroke of luck to find answers. I was lucky. Very lucky. I'm extremely lucky in that regard. And I want to share with you my good fortune.</p>
<p>I don't believe in romantic love. I don't believe that male-centered woman, is able to be happy. And I don't believe that the woman-centered man can be happy. But I believe that a man and a woman can be happy if they focus on God together. After all, whether we realize Him or not, He is a true source of inspiration and endless admiration, which can fill our heart with joy. The joy that we all crave to experience constantly.   </p>
<blockquote>I have life missions which are calling me, which are beyond the scope of my own desires. Putting desires on hold is a practice of which I've gotten pretty good at. It's like I'm a nun, but I'm atheist, so I'm not sure how that works, an atheist nun?</blockquote>
<p><strong>So if you’re an atheist nun, then I’m a married monk ;)</strong></p>
<h3>Thank you for the light from your heart, Leah. I believe that sincerity is the road to perfection. And as far as I can see you're certainly the one who is confidently moving along this road.</h3>
<blockquote>If you can keep your head when all about you<br />
   Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,<br />
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,<br />
   But make allowance for their doubting too;<br />
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,<br />
   Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,<br />
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,<br />
   And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:<br />
<br />
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   <br />
   If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   <br />
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster<br />
   And treat those two impostors just the same;   <br />
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken<br />
   Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,<br />
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,<br />
   And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:<br />
<br />
If you can make one heap of all your winnings<br />
   And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,<br />
And lose, and start again at your beginnings<br />
   And never breathe a word about your loss;<br />
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew <br />
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   <br />
And so hold on when there is nothing in you <br />
    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ <br />
<br />
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   <br />
    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, <br />
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, <br />
    If all men count with you, but none too much; <br />
If you can fill the unforgiving minute <br />
    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   <br />
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   <br />
    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!<br />
<br />
— Rudyard Kipling</blockquote>
<h3>Dear Steemians, I would be grateful for your support with votes and comments.<br />
Love you, guys!<br />
And thank you for following!</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/08/11/monk5a689.png" /></p>