In sex, it is a give-and-take relationship with no respect. In compassion, you simply give. There is no idea anywhere in your mind to get anything back – you simply share. Not that nothing comes – millionfold it is returned, but that is just by the way, just a natural consequence. There is no hankering for it.
In love, if you give something, deep down you go on expecting that it should be returned. If it is not returned, you feel like complaining. You may not say so, but in a thousand and one ways it can be inferred that you are grumbling, that you are feeling that you have been cheated. Love seems to be a subtle bargain.
In compassion, you simply give. In love, you are thankful because the other has given something to you. In compassion, you are thankful because the other has taken something from you; you are thankful because the other has not rejected you. You had come with energy to give, you had come with many flowers to share, and the other allowed you, the other was receptive. You are thankful because the other was receptive.
Compassion is the highest form of love. Much comes back – millionfold, I say – but that is not the point; you don’t hanker for it. If it does not come there is no complaint about it. If it comes you are simply surprised! If it comes, it is unbelievable. If it does not come, there is no problem – you had never given your heart to somebody for any bargain. You simply shower because you have. You have so much that if you don’t shower you will become burdened. Just like a cloud full of rainwater has to shower. And next time, when a cloud is showering, watch silently, and you will always hear – when the cloud has showered and the earth has absorbed, you will always hear the cloud saying to the earth “Thank-you.” The earth helped the cloud to unburden.
When a flower has bloomed, it has to share its fragrance to the winds. It is natural! It is not a bargain, it is not a business – it is simply natural. The flower is full of fragrance – what to do? If the flower keeps the fragrance to itself then the flower will feel very, very tense, in deep anguish. The greatest anguish in life is when you cannot express, when you cannot communicate, when you cannot share. The poorest man is he who has nothing to share, or who has something to share but has lost the capacity, the art, of how to share it – then a man is poor.
The sexual man is very poor. The loving man is richer comparatively. The man of compassion is the richest – he is at the top of the world. He has no confinement, no limitation. He simply gives and goes on his way. He does not even wait for you to say a thank-you. With tremendous love he shares his energy. This is what I call therapeutic.
Christians believe that Jesus did many miracles. I cannot see him doing any miracle. The miracle was his compassion. If anything happened, it happened without his doing it. If anything ever happens in the highest plane of being, it always happens without any effort. He moved, many sorts of people came to him. He was there like a tremendous pool of energy – anybody who was ready to share, shared.