In this context our neighbour comes first. Neighbour is the person who can reach at the first call of emergency which we should never forget. He can also be of great support during petty works like while postman comes to deliver letters, when the gas cylinder is brought up and we are not available. The interesting fact is that if the neighbour is vigilant then a thief can never strike at your home, for sure. A vigilant neighbour can also inform us of the visit of any unknown person, whom we may know or know not. The good neighbour can also be of instant help during happy occasions as well as during times of sorrow.

Thus a neighbour is always better than a close relative because he may reach to us before we need him. On the contrary a relative may come for help when the need for it may have already vanished. So we should love the neighbour first and then ourselves.

Syed Zia Ul Hasan Naqvi: I fully agree with the precept "love your neighbour as you love yourself". In all the religions, neighbour has a very important position. In Islam the holy prophet stressed the need to be kind and courteous to neighbours. In law also neighbour has a special status, it is evident from the right of pre-emption.

Apart from this neighbour has importance because of his house being in the vicinity of our home. Being important we should deal with him with 'tact and knack'.

In case of any emergency or problem at any time our neighbour, being in the next door, may come for our help without any loss of time immediately. So we should have always good relations with them.

According to a proverb also "You reap what you sow", so if we will love our neighbour he will also love us. Or in other words if you will love your neighbour you can swap your love for him with his love for you. For peace and tranquillity it is essential we should love our neighbour.

Arun Sarje: People of same breed folk together, hence one selects his neighbour of same socio-economic strata. A good neighbour inspires confidence, hope, affection and compassion. Acts of piety and benevolence nurture them. Human nature being universal, it is secondary if the neighbour lives in rags or in riches.

Charity begins at home and the neighbour becomes next to God in emergencies. Hence love thy neighbour as yourself, prescribes one of the commandments. This is foundation of any religion. To cap this is the oriental precept `Know thyself': because you know yourself best, as none else can. If one has self-wisdom then he can feel unision with others by subjective identification with /them. If you are in tune with yourself, your neighbourhood extends. Thus seeing your own projected image in others, you can never be a stranger. The parable of a good Samaritan (St Luke X: 30-37) projects compassion for fellow being, as paramount quality of a winning neighbour. A true brother lightens others' burden. In his lone captivity at Ahmednagar prison, Mr Nehru befriended even birds, squirrels, ants.

Today the telecommunication and electronic revolutions have put the world under finger tips. The invasion of materialistic culture from the west has given rise to cut throat competition, clash of interests, high blood pressure, diabetes, paralysis and eventual death. This impatience has put back `tit for tat' jungle rule in vogue. The clash of interests leads to conspiring, browbeating, hoodwinking and sychophancy. The self-centred insensitivity to feelings and craze for money has eclipsed morals.

Despite breakthroughs in exploration of deep space and sub-atomic world, no device is invented yet for probing mysterious working of our brain, and to chart our soul. Both the terrorist and the sage dwell in brain. The wrong choice of conduct leads to the increasing incidence of neurosis and split personality. Society is becoming sick. Mind's unpredictiveness does not guarantee a good behaviour. To combat this evil, remedies are urgently needed.

In last analysis, self wisdom, discipline and restraint are called for. By following Samuel Smile's `Self help', humanity may afford to smile, by averting crisis of character. Alas, idealism simply does not work. With breaking of the joint family system, can we hope for universal brotherhood? The nemesis, (Dear friend) lies within us.

So judge and decide your neighbour, and by taking a little step for charity at home, try for a giant leap to enlarge your neighbourhood through love, and compassion for the next door. Too sanguine?

Subodh Shrivastava: Everyone wants to be loved by someone and everyone loves his near and dear ones. Love arises due to relationship, friendship, beauty or extra skills. Love is a feeling. Parents love their children. Even pets are loved by their masters.

We want respect, importance, preference from others. So is the expectation of others from us. Therefore we should love our neighbours to and should not think that they are unwanted persons.

The neighbours are the first whom we call in difficulty. It is your neighbour who tells you about the colony, about water timings, about sweeper, about market and many other things when you shift to a new place.

As you want your space clean, keep your neighbour's space clean too by not dumping garbage in their yard. Do not let water flow into neighbour's house or yard while washing your house or watering the garden. Do keep radio/TV at high volume, since this may result in inconvenience to your neighbour. If there is an old person or sick person in the neighbourhood, always be ready to help them.

In this way you can help your neighbours and get respect and love from them.

SS Chitwadgi Every religion on the earth says so. Millions of years past preaching and poets of all languages have sung on this. A Kannada poet Sarvajna and saint Basava promised heaven to those who love their neighbours.

Whenever this love is not reciprocated or provoked often an individual becomes frustrated. But it is equally true that even then one could continue to love. Gandhiji added most modern thinking by saying offer yourself another cheek if one slaps on one. So the theme is often repeated.

Why then the present skirmishes take place amongst neighbours? The cause is simple. One forgets one's own duties towards ones neighbours. Even so the preaching should continue but invariably followed by practices, care being taken to avoid skirmishes on being taken to avoid skirmishes on small reasons or difference of opinions. What is bad is to resort to politics mostly regional or based on religious misconcepts. This principle if followed probably we may avoid even wars. The truth of love thy neighbour as your self TRIUMPHS.

Krishna Chander Mouli: "Love thy neighbour as thou love thyself and family of thine," says a biblical quotation in the classical lingo. The saying does sound highly philosophical, perhaps an utopian precept. Yet if one goes by its spirit how universal truth it is?

In today's modern way of living we have segmented and compartmentalized ourselves in our cocoon like dwellings. Neighbours apart, our dealings even with our own kith and kin are no match with the biblical spirit. People these days may be loving themselves and their family, which sadly does not even include their parents and grandparents, what of brothers and sisters and their kin. In such a scenario loving the neighbour seems to be a remote possibility.

There is another angle to this. If the neighbour too is unfortunately of the same breed then there cannot be any love lost between both the neighbours. But persuasion by a third outside force may induce a person to love his neighbour through Gandhian approach. In this context I recall a typically Gandhian way of persuading a person to shower love on his incorrigible neighbour by making him realize his folly. In this scene the Gandhian counsels the tortured neighbour to wipe out and clean his arrogant neighbour's regular betel spit in front of the door (of the tortured) till he repents for his uncivilized behaviour and stops spitting. The Gandhian approach works and the neighbours start loving each other. It appears that this type of Gandhian approach is the need of the hour if we want to see loving thy neighbour is practised in the real sense.

Jaskaran Singh Dhami: One of the commandments recorded in the Bible (King James version) is 'Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself.' If put into practice it can usher in perfect peace and harmony in our lives. But realistically thinking, doesn't this commandment sound like a utopian ideal? We can do all those things to our neighbour which form the antonyms of the word 'love' but not love. Our neighbour's pride is our envy and vice versa. (Does it remind you of Onida TV ad?) Our envy pricks us even more if our neighbour's pride does not stem from the ownership of a 'classy Onida TV' but a 'gorgeous Biwi'. Bible says 'Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's wife'. But we seem to have interpreted it as 'Hate thy neighbour and love his wife'. I'm putting it in lighter vein but it best describes our mentality which has manifested in even our popular songs. For example 'Arre o padosan ki ladki, thujhe dekh tabiyat fadki', 'Mere saamne wali khidki mein ik chand ka tukda rehta hai'. Watch all time hit Hindi movie 'Padosan' if you find my views indigestible. Films and songs after all mirror our mindset.

Many studies have found that due to many factors a lot of people hate themselves and many have even suicidal tendencies (Thanks to the stressful life). What should we expect from this knotty (not naughty) lot? Because you are expected to treat your neighbour the way you treat yourself, I think we will have to rephrase the above commandments for these people as 'Thou shalt hate thy neighbour as thyself' or 'Thou shalt covet your neighbour's life'

Stretch this adage (love your neighbour) to encompass nations and see how 'intensely' countries love neighbourly countries. They painstakingly prepare atom and nuclear bombs to present each other as tokens of love. Their soldiers ready to embed the bullets in the hearts of each other to express their 'love'. See, how Pakistan is sending its 'cupids' to India in the form of infiltrators to spread 'love'. Our missiles are ready to carry 'love messages' to Pak and China and vice versa. Do some introspection and tell me how happy you felt at China's (our neighbour's) successful conduct of Olympic Games and their topping the medal tally? I feel jealous and wish one day we obliterate them. Don't you share my feelings? Don't be hypocrite, Yaar!

SN Patra: Irritability deprives one of kindness, love, confidence and faith. Lack of sufficient money and non-recognition of your personality either in the family or in the society chiefly determine your disposition towards irritability. Hence, everyone should strive to ensure his happiness so as to generate love for himself and love for God and other human beings including neighbours.

Neighbours watch each other day in and day out. Jealousy makes them probing in nature. When someone faces some difficulty or embarrassing event the neighbour feels happy though he exhibits lip sympathy and sheds crocodile tears.

One should limit his wants so that he manages his affairs within his budget. He should avoid the EMI culture. And, then, devote a few minutes to meditation and daily physical exercises and eat wholesome food sitting with all other members of the family together. Eating together you stay together. `Pankti bhoj' a community feast promoted this idea in the past. This could be revived on a modest scale to suit modern living.

Then, naturally you would love yourself, your own relatives and also others including neighbours. Competition with your neighbour is to be avoided strictly. If you set your home right then love springs up naturally.

Rohit Mahawar: `Because we need each other'. Man is a social animal. He lives in a society of group of people and among them there become some good friends and some become our enemies but the most important are the people who are living beside us whom we call our neighbour. Neighbours play a vital role in our day to day life. They are very close to us. Whenever there is any function at or home, it could be a birthday party, marriage or any other occasion we heartily invite them. We eat with them, dance together. They rejoice with us in our victory. They are always with us in our bad times also, that shows the cohesive bond between us. Whenever we are in need they act as our helping hand. At the same time, we quarrel with each other also on petty things. But by and large we love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

On the country level also India always tries to maintain healthy relations with its neighbouring countries like Pakistan , Nepal , Bangladesh . We should think in wider perspective, we commonly think of neighbours as the people who live near us but according to Lord Jesus it includes all the mankind even our so called `enemies' also. Love your neighbour means to love all the persons everywhere- not first our friends, allies, and countrymen etc.

RK Kutty: Since the subject given in the website and that was given in your daily, both seems to be interconnected, I felt it was quite interesting to comment. Yes, it is a question that needs to be answered sensibly, looking to contemporary events over-taking us so painfully in our country, day by day. The worst kind of communalism raging in J&K and Orissa must stop forthwith.

The concept of God is totally misconstrued. People do not understand spiritual matters, though they hear lots of pravachans, day in and day out. It is a harsh reality concerning to the clans of all religions/faith. One may be a devout Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Sikh, but in order to understand the real nuances of what all the proponents of these faiths propagated through their preaching, one has to pause for a moment, keeping aside all his/her arrogance, anger, hatred or ill-will.

The question whether it is possible for man to live as His maker desires is quite genuine as nobody lives a life as literally as the Maker desires. I will relate an example. Once Jesus Christ was addressed ˜Good preacher', Jesus asked why he was addressed so, as no one is good but the Father God Almighty. What does it mean. While we are in this mortal body, no one can claim to be good, as we all have one or the other weakness. At the end of the day, what really matters is whether one has lived a life as much as pleasing to ones Maker. Everyone, before going to sleep, must sit up and recollect his/her deeds that day. It is quite good. If anyone find some hurt feeling for any action/deed that really hurt other(s), then he/she should seek forgiveness in his/her heart, and then one is assured of forgiveness, as the Lord God doesn't look at any ones face but the inner heart.

Now, on the other aspect of loving ones neighbor as oneself, it is the most challenging task these days. This, according to Christ Jesus, is the 2nd and most important Commandment. Good neighborliness is a very important vibe that need to be developed by one and all, irrespective of any difference of caste, creed, colour, religion or region. The other day when I heard a CNN/IBN survey report after Shabana Azmi's recent statement that she couldn't buy a house in Mumbai for reason that she was a Muslim, many other responsible people of other community/faith too confirmed it as true in several parts of Mumbai. When fanatics like Raj Thackery too so irresponsibly insist to display boards only in Marathi, it is almost proved how much narrow/shrinking a psyche one has against a fellow human in our country. As such, how can one imagine of maintaining good neighborliness. Still, God willing, it is possible as only in that way can we maintain goodwill/ harmony for everlasting peace, joy and happiness.

Ganga Agnes Jose: Once a friend came to visit George Bernard Shaw. The friend noticed the beautiful garden of Bernard Shaw . Shaw was very much against people plucking flowers from his garden. So he had put notice boards all over the garden; `Don't pluck flowers'. The friend saw those boards in the garden and asked, `Don't you love flowers?' Don't you like flowers being arranged on your table?'

Bernard Shaw said, `I love flowers, that's why. I love children too, but I would not like anybody to cut off their heads and arrange those heads on my table.

Love is a feeling embedded with all the emotions in it. Between the two banks of life and death, flows the river of love. Love arises from the heart and demands nothing. It is unconditional and understanding. When we love, we care and it becomes one with our lives. Possessing something or somebody is not love. It is a burden. Self-love is the starting point of all love. So Jesus said, `Love your neighbour as yourself'. So, when we love somebody we try to keep them at the bosom or without even getting a scratch protect them because anything that happens pinches our heart. We as humans have the tendency to mix up `love' with `infatuation'. Love comes from the heart and infatuation is extrinsic and materialistic- it is not an emotion to be fostered.

Love is a powerful tool which when shared properly can create miracles in our lives. Love and sharing are two sides of the same coin. When there is love there is sharing. Love can conquer hearts with understanding and sharing. We often point fingers at others rather than try to understand them through love and sharing. Sometimes a consoling word, a soothing presence, a friendly smile and sharing can kindle the flame of love in others.

A man who stands by a person in his utter insecurity and need, is a true worshipper of God, rather than the one who ignores the man in need and goes to the temple chanting sacred prayers. A person will be judged not according to what he has gathered but according to his ability to dispossess himself for the sake of the other.

In the evening of life, we shall be judged not on our wealth, power, learning and other achievements but solely on love.

Dr. Visal A. Khan: Neighbourhood doesn't have to be related to a certain group; but any country around the world, regardless of race, colour, or wealth. Man have common interests and seek Gods's forgiveness and satisfaction, no matter what country they live in, they all feel like brothers aiming at the same target. We commonly think of neighbours as the people who live near us, but really speaking it to include all mankind, loving your neighbour means to love all persons, everywhere, not just our friends, allies, countrymen, etc. We must love our neighbor just as much as I love myself. The man wanted to justify his lack of love for some kinds of people, There is a saying, 'Love your friends and hate your enemies.'

But I say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true sons of same father. God gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much. If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that.

But you are to be perfect then love all human beings, then in a broader sense your love to all but the entire world, will definitely reflect others and this world of indifferences and multiple religions and classification, partitions and various races, colours of origins will shrink into a single unit of peaceful eminent atmosphere of solidification and there shall be no fear of wars in future.

Bro. Rajesh Mavi: Yes, one should love one's neighbour as oneself. In life we come across many people, but somehow we miss the chance of either loving them as ourselves or helping them in times of need. In spite of all this there is an inner urge in every one of us to do something for others. Often the moments of despair or cowardice bar our paths to go out of our way to help and love others. Love becomes manifested only through one's deeds.

When somebody lacks deeds, that person also lacks love in his/her life. So to love one's neighbour or people those come around us needs recognizing and going out of oneself to do something or sacrificing oneself. Love philosophically implies a tendency to be united. When husband and wife love each other they always try to unite physically, psychologically, morally, religiously, spiritually and above all their family to this very bond. That means in every walk of life, "To be is to be united".

When love transcends into this feeling of union then it bears much fruit in life. The holy scriptures of every religion try to focus their prime attention on love. The Bible speaks of love of neighbour specially in the Gospels of St Luke 10:27, and St. Matthew 22:39 that one should love one's neighbour as oneself. In the parable of Good Samaritan Jesus gives the best example of how to love one's neighbour. It is not in the time of happiness and joy but in the time of sorrow and difficulty that one should approach with loving heart to serve and do needful for others. We may tend to question after all who is our neighbour? Everybody who walks into our life, may be our acquaintances or strangers whom we don't even know.

The greatest love is manifested in our acts. St. John in chapter 15:13; Jesus tells that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for the sake of one's friends. Jesus Christ in reality did that. He died for the sake of others to save them from their sins. Being divine He goes through the very act of loving others, as He loved Himself. Therefore, this love becomes Supreme Entity when the realization of Absolute Being grows in oneself and come into actualization through the good deeds towards one's neighbours and society where one lives. When love is ready to sacrifice for the sake of others, give rather than receive, and look for others well-being than destruction, it transcends itself to Ultimate and Universal Love. So, we as social human beings must love our neighbours as ourselves and beyond this our enemies too.

SM Fasiullah: Yes, it is possible for man to live as his Creator Almighty desires! If you ask any engineer what is the first thing that comes to his mind after making/creating a product, he surely answers you that after creating a product he will set the rules and regulations; keeping in mind the potential, strengths and weakness of the product, to be followed by its users to enjoy utmost benefits.

In the same way, our Creator has also given guidelines for us to be followed so as to live peacefully on this earth and enjoy benefits from other creations. The God Almighty is All-Knowing: He better knows what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong for us.

Therefore, He has given man absolute guidelines to be practiced in day-to-day life. If anybody thinks that how it is possible for man to live as His Maker desires, then he must reconsider his question. Because the Creator who is All-Knowing must knows what His creation could do and what could not. And do not expect God to act in human way. His desires will not be absurd and infeasible. What He has commanded is always good for man, may he practice it or not!

AB Mehta: Are we really aware of how the Maker desires us to live in this world? Since it is difficult to find out why we are here let us first try to realize what we are not here for?

For example we are NOT here To blame others, To cry for what we do not have ; For wasting our time in useless efforts; For artificial living to impress others; For fighting with others; For being sad and unhappy all the time; For getting angry on small things For worrying and so on.

The Maker did not want us to walk around letting anything fall upon us without making any efforts to also create what we want. We put forth sincere efforts, and if some of our efforts don't bear fruit, we nevertheless have faith that all is well, that everything ultimately happens for the best, and that God will provide whatever we need at the right time, and in the right way. Positive interpretations of the events we experience can actually help to create positive outcomes from a stance of faith and surrender, we are able to act with confidence, patience, and a positive attitude. Because positive interpretations of the events can actually help to create positive outcomes. The essence of spiritual happiness is faith . Not blind faith, or ignorant faith, or a one-time declaration of some faithful-sounding phrase, but true faith - a powerful yet tender trust that is drenched in qualities such as wisdom, humility, love, courage and service.

The Koran puts it simply. "Happiness in this life, and in the hereafter" is promised to "those who believe and lead a righteous life"-there is no other way. In the Christian tradition, there is much talk of joy and sorrow being intertwined: we can't have one without the other. Hindu scriptures indicate that happiness, pleasure, joy, bliss -- all these are our natural characteristics. Sorrow is not our natural state. 'sat-chitt-anand' - Existence-Knowledge-Bliss

There are three types of life we can lead. Pleasant Life involves enjoying the pleasures of life, even if they cause harm to us as well others. Good Life means experiencing high standard of living even if is achieved by dishonest or unjust means. On the other hand meaningful life concentrates on service to others and virtuous living creatures to realize the ultimate happiness of becoming one with the almighty. The Maker wanted us to live a meaningful life.

We may restate the ideas in the form two or three simple laws. Firstly we are in this physical form only to play our part as an actor under the direction of the Supreme Director, Secondly seek only what is true and lasting within the constraints of this life. And thirdly the more we seek what is true and lasting, the more we will go nearer to the source of supreme, everlasting Bliss, which is within us

In summary the question is "Why we are here?"

We are here to know God. Why should we know God? We should know God for the simple reason that we are God. We are Divine.