The one I love, who is incapable of ill will, who is friendly and compassionate, living beyond the reach of I and mine and of pleasure and pain; patient, contented, self-controlled, firm in faith with all his heart given to me--with such a one I am in love. Not agitating the world or by it agitated, he stands above the sway of elation, competition and fear. He is my beloved. He is detached, pure, efficient and impartial; never anxious, self-less in all his undertakings; he is my devotee and very dear to me. He is dear to me who runs not after the pleasant or away from the painful; who grieves not, lusts not, but lets things come and go as they happen. That devotee who looks upon friend and foe with equal regard, who is not buoyed up by praise nor cast down by blame, alike in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, free from selfish attachments, the same in honor and dishonor, quiet, ever full, in harmony everywhere, firm in faith--such a one is dear to me.

Those who meditate upon this immortal destiney (dharma) as I have declared it, full of faith and seeking me as life's supreme goal are truly by devotees and my love for them is very great.

...from the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita