Devotion to the Unrequited Present

Mirabai loved Krishna knowing her love would not be returned in her lifetime—and this impossible love did not diminish her devotion; it clarified it. She loved the beloved as the beloved was, not as she wished it to be. Applied to civilization, this means practicing devotion to what exists now: to human creativity, to ecosystems still vital, to institutions still functioning, to people still trying. It means resisting the temptation to withdraw love and energy from a civilization we fear will betray us. Instead, we practice unrequited devotion: we show up, we tend, we create, we care—not because success is guaranteed but because the devotion itself is the point. This does not require naïveté about civilization's problems; it requires honesty about what we choose to invest in despite uncertainty. Mirabai's unrequited devotion teaches that love need not be reciprocated to be real, necessary, and transformative.