Love on the Road to Enlightenment
Friday, January 18th, 2008 9:17 AM
The word love is used so frequently in modern society and applied to so many different things, but what does unconditional love really mean? Dawn Mellowship sheds some light on love.
One of the main pre-requisites for attaining enlightenment is the capacity to love all living things unconditionally. We cannot progress on our spiritual paths and hope to obtain ultimate wisdom if we lack a profound understanding of love. The Advanced Cambridge Learner's Dictionary defines love as, "to have strong feelings of affection for another adult and be romantically and sexually attracted to them, or feel great affection for a friend of person in your family." This is a tragically human definition of the term love, the type that often comes with strings attached and what I would refer to as conditional love.
There is a profound difference between earthly love and spiritual love. Of course, it is not to say that there is anything wrong with being affectionate and attracted to someone, but unconditional love requires so much more. It means being able to see the bigger picture and doing what is right for people's souls above and beyond what their physical bodies may desire. It means appreciating that everything happens for a reason, that everyone has a purpose for being here and whilst we may not understand that purpose, it doesn't render that purpose any less valid.
Language is inept to convey the real magnitude of love. We frequently use the term to the point where it is losing its value. Some people will declare that they love food, their house, money, clothes and a cornucopia or other physical objects and possessions. We don't save the word for when we sincerely mean it. Sometimes our love is provisional, depending on whether a person does certain things for us. There are individuals who have no concept of love at all because they have never been shown unconditional love, rendering them less likely to express it to anyone else.
As we develop spiritually and gain a deeper understanding of the universe and our place in the universe we come to grasp the real meaning of unconditional love, a love that cannot be restrained, that is caring but detached and honest yet firm. Sometimes it is incredibly tender and on other occasions it is harsh, because sometimes people need to be told the truth, painful as it may seem in the short term, to benefit their overall journey on earth. It can mean standing back from situations, allowing people to make mistakes when necessary, telling harsh home truths to make individuals aware of the consequences of their actions, encouraging others to take responsibility for their lives, listening to those who need an objective ear, enjoying being in a relationship but not needing to be in a relationship and not needing to be around other people, but being happy alone, with the universe surrounding you. This love lasts forever. It allows people to learn painful lessons when need be, it is not dependent on anyone or anything else.
Indubitably it can be difficult to watch loved ones suffering but we need to learn when to step in and provide a helping hand and when to step back and let people make their own decisions. We all have choices in life and our decisions dictate our level of spiritual development and happiness. When we are children our choices are more limited and parents have a responsibility to nurture us with unconditional love, which will ensure that we make good choices as adults. As we grow older there comes a point where we must assume responsibility for our actions and at this point we can choose the direction our life takes. We should not take peoples' choices away from them, because they will be forced to experience similar situations over and over again, until they finally make their own choices. Emotional detachment is essential on the path to enlightenment. It allows us to be objective in any situation, whilst still displaying empathy.
Everyone needs to recognise that all life on this earth is precious. By learning to replace conditional love with unconditional love, we can foster a meaningful and genuine kindness towards ourselves and others.
Dawn Mellowship - www.dawnmellowship.com
