"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 have it on good authority.
Buddha and Jesus, as well as many other sages and saints throughout the ages, seem to agree with the Hippies -- and the Beatles. In the final analysis: All you need is Love.
That seems simple enough.
Buddha and Jesus, as well as many other sages and saints throughout the ages, seem to agree with the Hippies -- and the Beatles. In the final analysis: All you need is Love.
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 very human blend of desire, biological
attraction, and attachment. 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?
The form of "love" that our culture promotes has a lot more to do with fulfilling one's own individual ego needs for sex, security, status, and self-esteem than the quality of consciousness that emerges from what American Buddhist Teacher Pema Chodron calls an Awakened Heart. True Love is not the profound passionate grasping of deep attachment. True Love calls for surrendering the deep fixation on "I, me, mine" that is the source of human suffering.
True Love emerges, and is essentially inseparable from, Pure Being. It is identical to the One Love that exists beyond the illusion of disconnection that characterizes the realm of relative reality. Flowing from and returning to our Essential Oneness, True Love emerges as the compassion, kindness, joy, ease, and clarity that exists in our heart of hearts.
Unlike the common contemporary understanding that views love as something we just fall into (and, so often, fall out of), in the Buddhist tradition, love is seen as the naturally emerging qualities of an awakened consciousness. Existing within and beyond our human conditioning, a connection to that love can be intentionally cultivated. Although we may stumble into glimpses of Oneness through an intimate connection to "the other" in a romantic relationship -- especially in its initial honeymoon phase -- ultimately, 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. Like any discipline, True Love takes commitment, a set of skills, effort, persistence -- and patience. It takes Practice.
READ MORE
The form of "love" that our culture promotes has a lot more to do with fulfilling one's own individual ego needs for sex, security, status, and self-esteem than the quality of consciousness that emerges from what American Buddhist Teacher Pema Chodron calls an Awakened Heart. True Love is not the profound passionate grasping of deep attachment. True Love calls for surrendering the deep fixation on "I, me, mine" that is the source of human suffering.
True Love emerges, and is essentially inseparable from, Pure Being. It is identical to the One Love that exists beyond the illusion of disconnection that characterizes the realm of relative reality. Flowing from and returning to our Essential Oneness, True Love emerges as the compassion, kindness, joy, ease, and clarity that exists in our heart of hearts.
Unlike the common contemporary understanding that views love as something we just fall into (and, so often, fall out of), in the Buddhist tradition, love is seen as the naturally emerging qualities of an awakened consciousness. Existing within and beyond our human conditioning, a connection to that love can be intentionally cultivated. Although we may stumble into glimpses of Oneness through an intimate connection to "the other" in a romantic relationship -- especially in its initial honeymoon phase -- ultimately, 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. Like any discipline, True Love takes commitment, a set of skills, effort, persistence -- and patience. It takes Practice.
READ MORE