A man once approached Sri Ramanujacharya with a sincere request: "Show me the way towards the divine. How can I attain God?"
Sri Ramanuja responded by asking, "Have you ever loved anybody?"
The man, taken aback, retorted, "What are you talking about? Love? I am a celibate. I avoid women just as I would avoid a disease. I don't look at them; I close my eyes."
Undeterred, Sri Ramanuja gently asked, "Can you recall even a small flicker of love that you might have experienced at any point in your life?"
The man, now visibly angry, said, "I have come to you to learn about prayer, not about love. I am not interested in worldly things."
Sri Ramanuja then said, "I cannot help you. If you have no experience of love, then there is no possibility for any experience of prayer. First, go into the world and love. When you have loved and been enriched through it, then come to me. Only a lover can understand what prayer truly is.
"Love is a natural form of prayer, given easily by nature. Prayer, however, is a higher form of love, not given so easily. It is achieved only when you reach the higher peaks of totality. Much effort is needed to achieve it. For love, no effort is needed; it is available and flowing. You are resisting it."
This teaching underscores that the foundation of spirituality is built upon the experience of love. Only through love can one understand and attain the higher realms of prayer and divine connection.
This story was told by Osho