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because then there would be a difference between the poor man and the rich man, because then the rich man would be able to buy it but the poor man would be left out. Love is obtained unconditionally; there is no question of paying any price.
There is only one condition to be fulfilled. There is only one barrier. The mind, filled with the ego, thinking it is everything, feeling it is the center of the world, cannot fall in love. It cannot be in love with anyone because the very meaning of love is to make the other the center of one's life. The other becomes so important that he becomes the center and you remain on the periphery. The man who is full of love says, "I will live and die for the other; I will breathe in and out for the other, and if necessary I will sacrifice myself -- but I will save the other."
Love means the transformation of the center. An egoist considers himself to be the center. He says, "I must be saved even at the cost of the whole world. Even if it is necessary to destroy all, I will save myself." The ego is aggressive, and so when the egoist shows his love for someone he destroys him; he tries to destroy the other's individuality. In this kind of false love-making countless people have lost their individuality.
You say you love your wife or your husband, but everything you do is geared to curbing the other's individuality. The husband tries to destroy the wife's individuality, tries to destroy her freedom, her very self. He tries to make his wife his shadow, something to be used whenever he desires, something without its own will, without its own freedom, without its own strength. And the wife tries to do the same thing. Each plays the same political game. All the time the wife is busy trying to make her husband a slave, henpecking him.
In America, a certain woman filed suit against her husband. Her finger had been chopped off in a car accident and she was claiming a million dollars. When he heard the amount asked, even the judge was shocked. He said, "I agree you should receive something since you were not responsible for the accident, but, even considering the harm that has been done to you, the amount seems exorbitant."
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