The Inuit natives of the North have 50 words for snow to describe the nuances. Perhaps it’s time for us to have more words for the umbrella term of “love”.
Many years ago I went for an extensive wisdom searching hike at a young age to find the essence of existence. I set out on this hike with the question: what comes first?
Did logic or emotion come first into existence? That is an easy answer… emotion.
But of emotions and feelings, what came first here?
According to researchers there are only four primary emotions:
- Happy
- Sad
- Afraid/Surprised
- Angry/Disgusted
But none of these feel right as to what is the first and most primary form of existence.
Being alone out in Nature asking these questions, I was overwhelmed with the answer…
Love.
A term which cannot be described but what I believe gives rise to existence itself. Without the underlying indescribable energy of Love, reality is simply a random combination of periodic elements. Love is the secret catalyst to give rise to life and consciousness.
The best way to describe this Love is “Compassionate Love”. But even this fails to describe what this core of essence is.
Everything we know has an opposite…
Night and day.
Up and down.
Right and wrong.
Death and life.
In and out.
Except one thing … Compassionate Foundational Essential Love.
I want to make a distinction between this foundational Love and many other feelings that we call “love”.
We have the love for our partner. The love for our new car. The love for our children. And while some of these forms of love are closer to Foundational True Love, they are more often superficial forms of love which contain the seed of it’s opposite.
For many people who say they “love” their boyfriend / girlfriend / husband / wife / lover, this “love” can turn to hate and grief in an instant. All it takes is for the object of affection to not behave like you want or no longer be in your life. In an instant what was supposed “love” turns to hate or grief. The good feeling of love turns to pain. The same flipping of the coin of love / pain can be seen from the material things like crashing your new car to the emotionally deep things like loosing a loved one. True Foundational Love knows no opposite. This love continues even if the object of affection hurts you or no longer exists in your life. It is a foundational concept of many spiritual people … From Buddha and Jesus to Walt Whitman.
Because Foundational Compassionate Love knows no opposite, it Loves everything. By accepting this Love, care, reverence and warmth in everything we tap into the power of pure existence and inter-connection.
The superficial levels of love are still valuable and can exist in unison with the Foundational Love, but we must distinguish the difference.
Let me tell you some of the best ways to experience a glimpse of Foundational Compassionate Love.
Look at a beautiful sunset across a rolling landscape. Do you feel the beauty? This is essential.
Listen to music without words which is so beautiful to cause tears in your eyes. Do feel it? This is essential.
Stand barefoot on grass, moss or sand upon the beach. Close your eyes. Feel your connection to the earth. You can feel it here too.
Observe how trees give fruit and bushes give berries. Acknowledge how nature has provided nourishment for us for our entire existence. The gratitude here is part of the essence.
Can you stand in awe at how a single cell of sperm and a single cell of egg can combine to create a chain reaction to create a whole new being? This awe-inspiring feeling is essential.
Can you feel the warmth of the sun even on a winter day? Know that plants love the sun as we do. The feeling of the sun is essential.
Do you admire the tenacity of weeds growing in cracks of concrete? This is essential.
Are you amazed by the fact that our skin heals even deep cuts? This is another example.
Can you sit and hear the birds singing as the gentle wind caresses your face, you hands touching the soft plants? Can you melt into nothing and everything for a moment? This is essential.
Love expresses itself in everything.
There is love … and there is Love.
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