2 Jan 2012 - QA 10

How to love people even if you don’t like them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Oh, I don’t have an experience of this but I can still try to give you an answer.
Don’t try to love them. First stop disliking them.
Why you dislike them? Because of some qualities.
Now imagine why they have those qualities; because of lack of education.
They also came to this world like a baby, so happy like you. But why they have these negative qualities is because of no proper background, no education, a lot of insecurity, right.
If someone is nasty or arrogant, it is because they are insecure. They have not had love in their lives.
If one is greedy, it is because they are insecure and fearful. Why is there fear? Because there is no love.
So when you see all the negative qualities in them, it is because of lack of education. They had no spirituality, they have had no love in their lives and the mind is too small.
So you will stop disliking them first, right.
This is a fact! Why somebody is like that or why someone is cruel? Why someone is violent? It is because they are so stressed and the mind is small. It can’t think big. And why is it so? Because of lack of education and lack of spirituality. This opportunity was not given to them. They were never given education where love, non-violence, happiness were all taught, correct! So their mind and heart is closed.
So when you find this, you will stop disliking them. And the next step is you will have compassion, ‘oh, poor thing!’
They don’t have the vision to see life and see others. They make wrong judgments all the time and think bad about others and behave badly and hurt themselves. So when you understand that these are the factors that lead them to that type of behavior, you get compassion.
So, don’t try to love them. Stop disliking them and then have compassion. Then the third step automatically is you can’t but love everybody.
And no need to force yourself to love somebody whom you dislike. You should not do that.