Why, I suppose, I've fallen in love...

I'm not sure when exactly it happened. Perhaps somewhere in between the countless planning meetings for Srila Acharyadeva's 60th Birthday Party (Vyasa Puja), or when chanting in unison the Siksastaka Prayers at 5am. Maybe it was after pulling off a rock star, 30-prep Thanksgiving dinner or while scrubbing the temple floor together and complaining about the mysterious sticky substance that won't come off. Maybe it was during lunch kirtan or at 1am after a legedary Friday night kirtan. I don't know how or when, but somehow, I've fallen desperately in love with my new community.

It is an amazing thing to fall in love. It's as if you could be in the ugliest city in Florida, but if you have a good friend by your side, there isn't a more beautiful place you'd rather be.

It startles me how many people there are in this world and how little time I have to met them all. What if I never came to Gainesville. Would my life be as complete as it is now?

Unselfish love is hard to come by. I think it has to be taught. Maybe it comes naturally in the beginning, but after the layers of hurt, disappointment, anger, greed, and selfishness add up, our hearts are miserably filthy, thick with fear and anxiety. I've been told that chanting Hare Krishna cleanses the heart of all unwanted ignorances that bind this natural loving propensity.

Which 80's metal band put it so perfectly? Love hurts. But true love is unconditional. Love can not be broken. And yet who amongst us know what love really is? If these bodies are temporary but love is eternal, where do we all go to play out this epic romance novel?

I suppose love means taking time to help others understand what love is, and doing so, better understand yourself. I've read that real love is Krishna Consciousness, thus love can not be exclusive.

Real love goes beyond the body. I love your guts! I hate your guts! I love your guts! Just kidding. Your love for others is as sincere as your smile.

Real love means recognizing that we don't know everything about love and that we need to find qualified teachers who can help us better understand the details. Love is not cheap. Love means sacrifice. A sacrifice to obtain it at any cost, except the cost of hindering each other's pursuit of it.

Love does not grow old. It matures with age and, yet, it remains eternally youthful. The faith in pure love is what keeps us young at heart.

When will we realize that everything we do, everything we eat, and everything we offer or give away needs to be done in full consciousness in order to experience the highest ecstasies of love. Have we lost our taste? Content with average, with just enough? Content with what our parents had?

The search must continue and never be stopped. Love can not be contained in one relationship. Love must be a collective experience. Love left unrequited is love never given in the first place. Love is seeing every living being as important as ourselves.

Can only a mother know what real love means? It may be one of the best ways to start. If only her compassion and sentiment could extend to all living beings. If only her love wasn't contained to her family unit, her community, to her country, her species, her planet.

I may be experiencing the beginning symptoms of love, but I want more. This is my desire. To learn how to and what it means to love Krishna even if I drive myself (and others?) crazy during my journey. Logic leads me to love God as the most complete form of love because He is all-inclusive. No other relationship can claim all-inclusivity. You can't actually love your father without loving your mother. You can't love your mother without loving your brothers and sisters. You can't claim to love your brothers and sisters without loving their babies. And if you really love your mother, you'll even, genuinely, love her dog.