Love is all that is
There is much talk of courage, but when it comes to letting go, there is little. A mother might presume to love the teenage daughter, and becomes what one might call a “helicopter parent”. A husband might presume to love the wife, and becomes possessive and controlling, with ensuing violence. Much has been done in the name of love, such as domestic abuse, rape, and even genocide. It is quite important to understand what love actually is. One faces many teachers, either religious or secular, that talk about love and define love. One must bear in mind that any definition of love only excludes, as definition is exclusive by nature. Love is, to the naked heart, not exclusive at all. Love is like water, which serves all, but is not attached to anything. Such are the peculiar qualities of love, that it is not control at all. Possessiveness, either from parent to child, or lover to lover, is only the expression of fear, namely the fear of loss. It is the fear of losing the other, of losing what one thinks the other should be like, that nurtures possessiveness in human relationships.
Love is not a thing. Love is not any particular expression. If love is a particular, then it is exclusive, then it is not love. Love is not the promise of a good future. It is rather the courage and strength to face anything in life. Love is that absolute support which does not waver, therefore it is indestructible. That is why love cannot be found in the material, as material is transient. With society becoming more obssessed with materials, like money, sex, or electricity, one is prone to mistake love for a material expression. Rather, love is that which makes any and all material expression possible.
However, one must directly perceive the power, immovability, and totally nonjudgmental nature of love. If there are only words and descriptions, like what is offered here, love is mere images and shadows. The question then arises: how is one to directly perceive love? It is surprisingly simple. Love is all that is. Love is unconditionally here, forever, eternal, untouchable, yet deeply abiding. There is no step to perceive love, as love is imbued with everything already. Love does not take time. It does not take effort. Such radical understanding of love seemingly negates all commonly held beliefs of what love is, such as attachments, control, desire, sex, pleasure, dependence, and so on. All these common conceptions are not wrong per se. They are only wrong in that they cannot represent love. They are love, and as is everything else. This means that love has no preference. Love does not discriminate based on anything whatsoever. Love is like the air one breathes, or the space in which one exists. It is everywhere, all the time, therefore forever abiding. When there is the direct perception of love as reality, there isn't the need to be loved, or the need to depend, control, and desire. In love, everything is perfection, not because they are a certain way, but simply by virtue of their being. There is no condition for being. Being is already free, spontaneous, joyous, and serene.
Cover photo by Aman Upadhyay on Unsplash
