Eknath Easwaran's Commentary
Our English word love has become almost impossible to use. We say he’s “falling in love” as if it were something that could happen every day, like falling into a manhole. Is it so easy to fall in love?
Listen to our popular songs; look at our magazines and newspapers. When they say, “I love you,” that’s not what I hear; I hear “I love me.” If we could listen in on a marriage proposal with the ears of Thomas a Kempis, this is what we would hear. The man gets down on bended knee and says, “Sibyl, dear, I love me; will you marry me?”
There is a little undertone of this in almost all relationships. This is how we have all been conditioned, to put ourselves first at least part of the time. Most relationships begin with some passionate “I love you’s” and some undertones of “I love me.” But if we want our relationship to blossom, we’ll gradually change the focus from me, me, me to you, you, you. Then our selfish passion is transformed into pure love.