By Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

In a recent conversation for "Super Soul Sunday," when Oprah described to me how so often in her conversations and interviews people said to her how they just wanted to be happy, I found myself responding, "I think they want to be loved."

All of us want, or need, to be loved. The need for love is one of the most basic human impulses. We may cover this need with patterns of self-protection or images of self-reliance. Or we may openly acknowledge this need to ourselves or others. But it is always present, whether hidden or visible. Usually, we seek love in human relationships, projecting our need onto parents, partners, friends or lovers. Our lack or denial of love often causes wounds that we carry with us. This unmet need haunts us, sometimes driving us into addictions or other self-destructive patterns. If our need for love is met, we feel nourished in the depths of our beings.

Love calls to us in many different ways. Yet while most people seek for love in the tangle of human relationships, the mystic is drawn deeper under the surface—in Rumi's words, "Return to the root of the root of your own being." And here we discover one of the greatest human secrets—that the source and answer to this primal need is not separate from us, but part of our own essential nature, our own true being. Again, to quote Rumi:

The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along.

The mystical truth of the oneness of love is something both simple and essential: The real nature of the love that we all seek is not other than us. I remember my first direct experience of this love. I was in my late 20s when one afternoon while I was in meditation I felt what I can only describe as butterfly wings touching the edge of my heart. And in that instant, my whole being and body were filled with a love I had hardly known existed. Every cell of my body was loved, gently and completely. Love was present in all of me. And this love came from within me, from my own heart. There was no other.

This Sunday, Oprah's sitting down under the oaks with Sufi teacher and author Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee to discuss love and the true source of happiness. As you'll see in their discussion, there are many paths to Sufism, and Llewellyn will share his with Oprah. Until then, here's a small glimpse into Llewellyn's thoughts:

"Sufism is a path of love. The Sufi is a traveler on the path of love, a wayfarer journeying back to God through the mysteries of the heart. For the Sufi the relationship to God is that of lover and Beloved, and Sufis are also known as lovers of God. The journey to God takes place within the heart, and for centuries Sufis have been traveling deep within themselves, into the secret chamber of the heart where lover and Beloved share the ecstasy of union."

For more of Llewellyn's discussion with Oprah, watch "Super Soul Sunday"  Sunday at 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN. You can also watch our simulcast anywhere from the world on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/OWN or Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday!  Learn more about Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee and The Golden Sufi Center at GoldenSufi.org. You can also visit Working with Oneness Facebook Page or WorkingwithOneness.org.

This Sunday, Oprah sits beneath the oaks of her California home with author and Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee to talk about love and the source of true happiness. Watch a sneak peek of his interview with Oprah.

Oprah's interview with Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee airs Sunday at 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN. You can also watch our simulcast anywhere from the world on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/OWN or Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday!

Start your Saturday with words of wisdom from Sufi teacher and author Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee! Then, tune in tomorrow as Llewellyn discusses Sufism, love and happiness with Oprah under the oaks on "Super Soul Sunday."

“In order to hear the guidance that comes from within we need to attune ourself to the frequency of the heart and be sensitive to the still, small voice of the Self. “
- Excerpted from Sufism: The Transformation of the Heart by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee


“Through meditation and inner work we create an inner space that is unpolluted by the desires of the ego and the chatter of the mind. Going within the heart, we learn to listen to the voice of the Beloved, the guidance of the Self.”
- Excerpted from Sufism: The Transformation of the Heart by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee


"Love is the desire of the heart that can help us overcome the desires of the ego. St. Paul said, ‘Love bears all things’; love gives us the strength to bear the difficulties, doubts, and uncertainties that the ego and the mind place in our path. If we know ourselves as lovers then we know the meaning  of our sacrifice and we can cross the desert that lies between the ego and the Self."
- Excerpted from Prayer of the Heart in Christian and Sufi Mysticism by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (Publication date: May 1, 2012)

For more of Llewellyn's discussion with Oprah, watch "Super Soul Sunday" Sunday morning at 11/10c. Learn more about Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee and The Golden Sufi Center at GoldenSufi.org