Love is?

[suninmyeyes]

!

And the beat goes on.

[Informer]

To me "Love" is no more than a word--a grossly overused word that seems to serve as a patch-work cover for almost any sort of pleasurable feeling experienced by or aspired to by the user. My personal feeling is, that's too bad.

 

I meant that by determining what it is not you can better define what it is.

 

So are you saying that it is not any sort of pleasurable feeling ?

 

I agree that it is an overused word as well, although what it is pointing to is very real. Not only is it real subjectively, but objectively as well.

 

See not that it is a part of you, but you are a part of it.

[Seth Ananda]

I now understand now.

 

The biggest Love, the only Love, one should ever only look for is the Love within one's own heart.

 

This is why some of the highest practitioners I know remain single.

 

When you have found Love within yourself, what's the need to engage in relationships?

Yes! What we all crave [i believe] when it really gets down to it, is to have Love coming out of our heart, to be its centre. That is what feels so good.

All this 'I need to be loved' is just emotional Baggage.

 

And if our heart is like a sphere, love should shine out in every direction, which means to all things. If one only has a relationship, its like our heart is only shining in one tiny direction {towards our partner} instead of radiating out everywhere...

 

But, at least in the great Spiritual traditions that I like, The world, while simultaneously being Illusory, is also Sacred. Its sometimes called the 'play' or 'dance' of Consciousness or God...

These traditions see 'spirit' as being Transcendent {beyond the world} but also Immanent {also actually the world}

 

So the rare Woman who's heart is also like its own sun, who does not feel the 'need' for your love, nor you hers, will be an amazing enriching presence in your life.

 

Every level has its Joy's and Wonders, and relationships can be that on our earth plane.

 

 

I like the idea of horizontal and vertical growth. Extended time fasting and in prayer and meditation, usually solo [except in one of those rare relationships], is an absolute requirement for profound vertical growth towards God/spirit/reality...

 

But healing of old wounds, developing a good well rounded psyche, and getting ones shit together are important for our earth plane or our horizontal growth [temporary as it is].

 

I spent much of my late teen years till round 28 doing Vertical practices and it was utterly worthwhile.

But then I began to realise that I had great amounts of emotional baggage I had not let go of, and I had literally nothing in the world except a few books.

In relationships, therapy, working, healing processes, through prayer... I got to resolve a lot of stuff. And funnily enough it made my Vertical connection stronger.

 

I admit i was guilty of chronic Spiritual bypassing till then. If i did not like something I could just use my mantra and wash it away in a sea of bliss. I then swung almost to the opposite spectrum for a few years. I became very suspicious of bliss and stopped seeking it. I was always on my path, but I wanted my psyche to become so 'clear' that reality could just shine through it by it self, without me impeding it.

 

Hehe I am not there yet, but now I am consistent in my horizontal and vertical growth, and it is very enriching...

 

But that is my journey. If someone had told me as a young Yogi, that I should get a family, a job, material possessions, I would have looked at them like they were crazy.

"What exchange the Infinite wealth and bliss of God, for a few meagre items and simple pleasures?! Your Mad!"

I would have rather been a half starving renunciate any day.

 

So I say do what you are driven to do, stay honest about what you want and blessings on your path!

 

Seth.

[tulku]

Yes! What we all crave [i believe] when it really gets down to it, is to have Love coming out of our heart, to be its centre. That is what feels so good.

All this 'I need to be loved' is just emotional Baggage.

 

And if our heart is like a sphere, love should shine out in every direction, which means to all things. If one only has a relationship, its like our heart is only shining in one tiny direction {towards our partner} instead of radiating out everywhere...

 

But, at least in the great Spiritual traditions that I like, The world, while simultaneously being Illusory, is also Sacred. Its sometimes called the 'play' or 'dance' of Consciousness or God...

These traditions see 'spirit' as being Transcendent {beyond the world} but also Immanent {also actually the world}

 

So the rare Woman who's heart is also like its own sun, who does not feel the 'need' for your love, nor you hers, will be an amazing enriching presence in your life.

 

Every level has its Joy's and Wonders, and relationships can be that on our earth plane.

 

 

I like the idea of horizontal and vertical growth. Extended time fasting and in prayer and meditation, usually solo [except in one of those rare relationships], is an absolute requirement for profound vertical growth towards God/spirit/reality...

 

But healing of old wounds, developing a good well rounded psyche, and getting ones shit together are important for our earth plane or our horizontal growth [temporary as it is].

 

I spent much of my late teen years till round 28 doing Vertical practices and it was utterly worthwhile.

But then I began to realise that I had great amounts of emotional baggage I had not let go of, and I had literally nothing in the world except a few books.

In relationships, therapy, working, healing processes, through prayer... I got to resolve a lot of stuff. And funnily enough it made my Vertical connection stronger.

 

I admit i was guilty of chronic Spiritual bypassing till then. If i did not like something I could just use my mantra and wash it away in a sea of bliss. I then swung almost to the opposite spectrum for a few years. I became very suspicious of bliss and stopped seeking it. I was always on my path, but I wanted my psyche to become so 'clear' that reality could just shine through it by it self, without me impeding it.

 

Hehe I am not there yet, but now I am consistent in my horizontal and vertical growth, and it is very enriching...

 

But that is my journey. If someone had told me as a young Yogi, that I should get a family, a job, material possessions, I would have looked at them like they were crazy.

"What exchange the Infinite wealth and bliss of God, for a few meagre items and simple pleasures?! Your Mad!"

I would have rather been a half starving renunciate any day.

 

So I say do what you are driven to do, stay honest about what you want and blessings on your path!

 

Seth.

 

To tell you the truth, Seth, when you attain the Infinite Bliss of God, material wealth, social standing, women and other material rewards will fall upon your path.

 

These "rewards" are actually tests from the Universe to see if you will stray from your path again and re-engage yourself in the pursuit of material things, especially when you are endowed with Siddhis.

 

So there is no need to "look" or "search" for a family, material possessions or a job..

 

Just look/search for the Universe within, and all will fall into place.

 

This I understand now.

Edited August 19, 2011 by tulku

[Marblehead]

These "rewards" are actually tests from the Universe to see if you will stray from your path again and re-engage yourself in the pursuit of material things, especially when you are endowed with Siddhis.

 

I used to love being led astray.

[stan herman]

I meant that by determining what it is not you can better define what it is.

 

So are you saying that it is not any sort of pleasurable feeling ?

 

I agree that it is an overused word as well, although what it is pointing to is very real. Not only is it real subjectively, but objectively as well.

 

See not that it is a part of you, but you are a part of it.

 

 

+Think compassion-- pity, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, care, concern, solicitude, sensitivity, warmth, tenderness, mercy, leniency, tolerance, kindness, humanity, charity, mercy. Are they all love? Are you part of them?

 

Think enlightenment--bliss, insight, understanding, awareness, wisdom, education, learning, knowledge; illumination, awakening, realization, advancement, development, open-mindedness, refinement, cultivation, civilization. Are they all love? Are you part of them? Love once had a meaning--If one loved, he or she loved someone or some thing. It was a feeling of intense affection for a particular. Now, at least for some, it has become little more than a group slogan.

 

 

What is the word "LOVE" pointing to?