"The
moment we give rise to the desire for all beings to be happy and at
peace, the energy of love arises in our minds, and all our feelings,
perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness is permeated by love:
in fact, they become love."
-- Thich Nhat Hanh, Teachings on Love
"All you need is love."
-- The Beatles
We've
had it on good authority. Jesus and Buddha, as well as many of the other seers, sages and saints of the world's religions seem to agree
with the Hippies -- and the Beatles. In the final analysis: All you need is Love.
That seems simple enough.
That seems simple enough.
So,
what's the problem? Why are so many folks suffering and why does the
world appear to be going to hell in the proverbial hand basket?
First of all, what many folks have learned to believe is love, the terrain of much music and Hollywood Movies -- isn't
love. What is presented as love is a form of desire, energetic
attraction, and attachment.
This form of "love" has a lot more to do with fulfilling one's own individual needs for sex, security, status, and self-esteem than the quality of consciousness that emerges from what my favorite Buddhist Teacher Pema Chodron calls an Awakened Heart. Love is not the profound passionate grasping of deep attachment. True Love is much grander than that. (It's pretty clear that "I love you so much that I'll kill anyone who looks at you, then you, then myself." is not exactly what JC, Buddha and others had in mind, right?)
True Love emerges, and is essentially inseparable from, Pure Being, the One Love that exists beyond the illusion of separation that characterizes the realm of relative reality. Flowing from and returning to our Essential Oneness, True Love is the fundamental kindness, compassion, joy, and clarity that always exists in our heart of hearts. Our innate ability to access True Love is the Ultimate Connectivity.
Unlike the common contemporary understanding that views love as something that someone just "falls into", in the Buddhist tradition, love is seen as a quality of heart, a mode of consciousness can be consciously cultivated. Although, we may stumble into glimpses of Oneness through an intimate connection to "Otherness" in a romantic relationship -- especially in its initial honeymoon phase -- True Love emerges from a fundamental choice to embrace Life itself, to let go of who we think we are and open our hearts and minds to the actual experience of the present moment.
Although this can happen with the very next breath, the process of actually becoming a loving person generally doesn't just happen. It is a Practice. (Erich Fromm characterized it as an art in his classic work, The Art of Loving.) True Love takes commitment, time, and effort. Like any discipline, it takes knowledge and understanding -- and patience. I hope to still be Practicing with my final breath.
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This form of "love" has a lot more to do with fulfilling one's own individual needs for sex, security, status, and self-esteem than the quality of consciousness that emerges from what my favorite Buddhist Teacher Pema Chodron calls an Awakened Heart. Love is not the profound passionate grasping of deep attachment. True Love is much grander than that. (It's pretty clear that "I love you so much that I'll kill anyone who looks at you, then you, then myself." is not exactly what JC, Buddha and others had in mind, right?)
True Love emerges, and is essentially inseparable from, Pure Being, the One Love that exists beyond the illusion of separation that characterizes the realm of relative reality. Flowing from and returning to our Essential Oneness, True Love is the fundamental kindness, compassion, joy, and clarity that always exists in our heart of hearts. Our innate ability to access True Love is the Ultimate Connectivity.
Unlike the common contemporary understanding that views love as something that someone just "falls into", in the Buddhist tradition, love is seen as a quality of heart, a mode of consciousness can be consciously cultivated. Although, we may stumble into glimpses of Oneness through an intimate connection to "Otherness" in a romantic relationship -- especially in its initial honeymoon phase -- True Love emerges from a fundamental choice to embrace Life itself, to let go of who we think we are and open our hearts and minds to the actual experience of the present moment.
Although this can happen with the very next breath, the process of actually becoming a loving person generally doesn't just happen. It is a Practice. (Erich Fromm characterized it as an art in his classic work, The Art of Loving.) True Love takes commitment, time, and effort. Like any discipline, it takes knowledge and understanding -- and patience. I hope to still be Practicing with my final breath.
READ MORE