In this regard, the beautiful story came to mind from Autobiography of a Yogi in which Master meets his guru, Sri Yukteswar, for the first time. The young Mukunda was on an errand for the Benares ashram where he was staying, when he was led to an inconspicuous lane. “A Christlike man,” he wrote, “in the ocher robes of a swami stood motionless at the end of the road. Instantly and anciently familiar he seemed.”

But Mukunda is assailed by doubts and continues on his way. As he does so, his feet become numb, and he realizes that the saint is magnetically drawing him. Retracing his steps, he kneels ardently at his guru’s feet.

“O my own, you have come to me!” Sri Yukteswar says again and again in Bengali, his voice tremulous with joy. “How many years I have waited for you!”

With our limited perception, we are only aware of our unrequited love for God. We remain oblivious to the fact that the Divine Friend has long been calling to us: “How many years I have waited for you!”

How do we open ourselves to the reality that God’s love is with us right now, and in truth has always been there? In chanting, prayer, and meditation, when you feel your devotion reaching out to God, remember that it is His love for you that is drawing the yearning from your heart. This love does not originate with you. It is the Divine reaching out to a beloved child, calling you home.

Try to feel that moment of great fulfillment which Yogananda described in another of his chants, of “heart to heart meeting, Spirit and soul’s greeting.”

This is the end of all of our searching and striving: when we know that our love for God has never been unrequited, but has always been received by Him, and returned many times over.

With a joyful heart,

Nayaswami Devi