People say that love is divine. Yes, love is divine, but love's divine expression is consideration. It would not be very wrong to say that love without consideration is not fully divine. Love that has no consideration loses its fragrance. Intelligence is not consideration. The balance of love and intelligence brings about consideration; the action and reaction of love and intelligence produces consideration. Children who are considerate are more precious than jewels to their parents. The one who is considerate, the friend who is considerate, and all those with whom we come in contact who are considerate are most valuable.

Therefore, it is the lesson of consideration given by spiritual teachers which is called the path of discipleship. The great teachers have not wanted the discipleship of the disciples for themselves, or the devotion for themselves, or the respect of the pupils for themselves. If any teacher expected that, he or she could not be a teacher. How can a spiritual teacher be dependent on the respect, devotion, or consideration of his or her pupil? The teacher must be above that to be above them. Rather it is taught for their own advantage, as an attribute that must be cultivated.

Until now in India there has been a custom which I myself experienced when young. When I went to school to learn the ABC's from a teacher, the first thing my parents taught me was respect, consideration, and a kindly inclination for the teacher. The modern child going to school thinks the professor is appointed to do a certain duty. The child does not know the professor, the professor does not know the child. When children come home they have the same tendency towards their parents as at school.

Mostly, children grow up thinking all the attention their parents give them is part of the duty of the parents. They think, "Perhaps if I am able, I shall pay it back." The ancient idea was different. For instance, the Prophet Mohammed taught his disciples that the greatest debt everyone has to pay was to his or her mother. If one wished one's sins to be forgiven, one must act in life so that before passing from this earth one's mother would say, "I have forgiven you the debt." There was nothing -- money or service -- that a person should say, "I have paid." No, one's mother must say, "I have forgiven you that debt." What does it teach? It teaches the value of unselfish love which is above all earthly passion.

We inquire within for the purpose that we have come on earth. Why have we become human beings? Perhaps it would have been better to remain angels: why this human body? The answer certainly comes to the wise from their own heart: we are here to experience a fuller life and to become fully human. That human fullness is in consideration. Every action done with consideration is valuable; every word said with consideration is precious. The whole teaching of Christ. "Blessed are the meek and the poor in spirit," culminates in one thing: consideration. Although it seems simple, it is a hard lesson to learn. The more we wish to act according to this ideal, the more we realize that we fail. The further we go in the path of consideration, the more delicate the eyes of our perception become. We feel sorry for the slightest mistake.

Not every soul takes the trouble to tread this path. Not everyone is a plant: there are many rocks. They do not want to be considerate; they think it too much trouble. Of course the stone has no pain; the one who feels has pain. In feeling there is life. Life's joy is great. Even with pain one would like to be a living being rather than a rock, because there is a joy in living and in feeling which is not expressible in words. After how many thousands of years the life buried in stones and rocks has risen to the human being! If a person wishes to stay a rock, he or she had better stay one. But the natural inclination in every person must be to develop fully human qualities.