What is this thing called Love?

I wanna know what love is

I want you to show me

I wanna feel what love is

I know you can show me

These are the words of the well known song sung by Kelly Hansen, lead singer of the rock band Foreigner. The composer of the lyrics is Michael Leslie Jones, an English musician, songwriter and member of the above mentioned British-American rock band.

To quote further from the song;

I've gotta take a little time

A little time to think things over

I better read between the lines

In case I need it when I'm older

This mountain, I must climb

Feels like a world upon my shoulders

Through the clouds, I see love shine

Keeps me warm as life grows colder’

 So what is this thing called love that is generally interpreted as belonging to the heart of romance, replete with roses and fancy gifts that are shared on Valentine’s Day.

Is love a commercial commodity? Is it a great sorrow? What is the secret of its joy?  Is it a lottery that only few win? What is its beginning and what is its end? Can ‘love’ be contained into one sphere? Is it eternal that transcends time or does it end with one lifetime? Is it spiritual or is it material? Does it visit the lowly and how does it treat the powerful? Is love limited to humans? Does it extend to every living form that breathes, the leaves, twigs and every blade of grass that lives?

How many more questions could be asked in relation to that small word for which the world yearns to give meaning and where lack is felt across this shriveling Planet?

So when Michael Leslie Jones wrote the lyrics of the song popularised by the band Foreigner, he was obviously echoing the thoughts that every human would have had over time in this journey of life. Life seems like a fatiguing mountain climb at times, and love like a mirage. When we find the love we wish for we may face many other issues such as feeling possessive or feeling inferior or wanting to control or feeling helpless, etc.

But is there not another trajectory to this whole phenomena? Is it not love that the spiritual sages sought too? Notably in the Christian tradition there were monastic orders created by men and women (referred today as saints) who ‘loved’ each other not with a worldly love but a spiritual love and they supported each other in the spiritual path.

What is the foundation of unconditional love? We are now approaching Christmas. The anatomy of this word is so associated with the commercial and partying that we lose its essence, that is the Mass of Christ; Christmas. If we strive to understand this in depth and in a holistically secular manner, we will know that the festival celebrated on 25 December is the joy of love; the love of a man born to this world of a human mother and divine in what he stood for in the qualities that were aligned with the most Supreme, Godly qualities. How often do we find a man who unconditionally sacrifices himself for the love of others showing the limitless nature of unconditional love?

The Buddha sacrificed his family in his unlimited compassion and love to the world, choosing a path of solitude and mental perfection in order to show the world the fallacies of attachment.

This is the selfless love that we speak of when we say ideal or true love. True love that looks at the wellbeing of the other prior to oneself, and this is what is missing in our marriages, in families, in politics and in our education systems.

There was a story in a book of inspiring stories, how a rural farming family adopted a small child born without limbs from an orphanage and instantly fell in love with him. Much to the surprise of the orphanage officials who wanted to share commonsense type of advice on the practical difficulties that might surface, the couple within the first minute of their meeting acted as if they were the child’s biological parents and started to pack to ‘take their son’ ‘home.’ This is what we could describe as true love, when you connect to the heart of another person beyond any other boundaries.

All spiritual masters connected to their heart which then connected to the purest centre of understanding; the most divine core in all of us; the high heavens of love.

So as we begin to celebrate Christmas let us think what love means to us and if we yearn for love, let us give to the world the ideal love we wish for. This could even in a small way bring us joy and make this world happier.

Let us approach all that we do with love; If one is a teacher, love should guide us to perfect knowledge with our hearts and impart it to the next generation. If we are into politics or social service love should guide us to show us our fortune to be able to serve people. Corruptness, ego, pride or pettiness never enters the heart if it is shrouded with love and this is why humility is the main foundation of spirituality and takes time to perfect. In the Buddhist and Hindu understanding this perfection would take many lifetimes.

Whether we believe or not about past lives, we are now here in this lifetime. It is wise and practical therefore, to take this human energy that is housed within our body on the path of true, empathetic and lasting love and thereby change this world, one heart at a time. (SV)