“Love is the principle which creates and sustains human
relations with dignity and depth. Spiritual love takes one into silence, and
that silence has the power to unite, guide, and free people. Love is the
bedrock for the belief in equality of spirit and personhood. When love is
combined with faith, that creates a strong foundation for initiative and
action. Love is the catalyst for change, development, and achievement.”
Ove is not simply a
desire, a passion, an intense feeling for one person or object, but a
consciousness which is simultaneously selfless and self-fulfilling. Love can be
for one’s country, for a cherished aim, for truth, for justice, for ethics, for
people, for nature, for service, and for God. Love flows from truth, that is,
wisdom. Love based on wisdom is real love, not blind love; and to discover the
secrets of love is to watch the secrets of life unfold.
Basis of True Love
The basis of real
love between people is spiritual. To see another as a spiritual being, a soul,
is to see the spiritual reality of the other. To be conscious of that reality
is to have spiritual love: each person, complete within, independent yet
totally interconnected, recognizes that state in the other. As a result, there
is constant and natural love. True love is when the soul has love for the soul.
Love for the soul is eternal; the soul never dies. Such love is righteous, and
it brings joy. Attachment to that which is perishable is unrighteous, and it
brings sorrow.
When spiritual love
prevails, neither internal nor external animosity, hatred, anger, nor jealousy
are possible. Negative feelings are transformed into positive feelings with the
coolness of love. In spiritual love there is harmony, since love removes
controlling or codependent tendencies and ensures kindness, caring, and
amicable understanding.
Coolness of Love
Spiritual love
means not dwelling on the weaknesses of others. Instead, there is concern for
removing one’s own defects. The method to do that is to “check one’s own
pulse” regularly to monitor how much one has adopted the natural habit of
giving happiness, not sorrow, to others. However, true love from the heart also
means one cannot bear to see weaknesses in another for whom there is love.
There is the pure desire to correct what is inaccurate. Such correction would
be carried out, on one hand, with the feeling of love, and on the other hand,
with the power of words. There would be balance between the two. When there is
too much force in the words or too much love, the result is not successful. If
words are too sharp, another may be insulted or put off by bossiness. When one
has the right balance of love and power in words that gives others an
experience of compassion, mercy, and benefit. No matter how powerful or bitter
the message, it will touch the heart of the other and will be experienced as
truth.
Human beings have
become caught up in a pattern of behavior which has distorted the value of love
and the ability to trust one another with feelings and intentions. One minute
there is love; the next minute that love is broken, resulting in intense sorrow
and pain. It is as if the human intellect has lost connection with the One
eternal source of love and has taken support from temporary sources. As a
result, instead of having one strength and one support from an unconditional
source, human souls remain thirsty for true love, even one drop. Without that
love, they continue to wander around in distress, searching….
The Eternal Flame
The world remembers
God as the ultimate source of love, the Ocean of Love, the Eternal Flame. God
gives unconditionally-love that is imperishable, universal, and unique.
Imperishable in that the love is unlimited, constantly radiating, and totally
available. Universal in that the love holds no boundaries or preferences; loving
vibrations emanate to all souls of all cultures, races, and creeds. Unique in
that the fire of God’s love cleans the heart and soul. Those who tap into such
love re-establish the bond of an eternal relationship. Those who experience the
spiritual love of God who “merge with the Eternal Flame of Truth”
disconnected from falsehood. Such souls have learned the first lesson of
universal brotherhood: that all souls have love for one another because they
are children of the same Parent. That is called spiritual love.
When the fire of
spiritual love has been ignited, individuals begin exercising the will power to
set themselves free from bondages of short- lived gratification. Time is
invested and effort is made to build an internal stage in which love is revealed
on the face and in every activity. With the enlightenment of spiritual love,
individuals are less disturbed by adverse circumstances. They view dark clouds
and storms as opportunities to exercise their internal strength and resources.
If others do not give them love, that does not extinguish their flame. They
overcome thoughts which may direct them to step away from a particular person,
place, or task. Instead, there is the faith that with effort, they will make a
significant and beneficial difference. The more effort is made to love, the
more love is received. The spark of effort is love, and true love for effort
means to remove whatever weaknesses stand in the way of love.
An entire world can
be transformed through loving vision, loving attitude, and loving actions. To
create a better world a world of truth – spiritual love is primary. In a better
world, the natural law is love; and in a better person, the natural nature is
loving.
“May
the image of the family be an example to make us understand that all of us
within the international community are members of the family of nations, the
great human family. That is to say, we are members of an organization which
knows how to face the difficulties of the moment, to overcome apparent
divisions, to surmount antagonisms, because it is led by a force more powerful
than any other: the force of love, which in the final analysis is the raison
d’être of the family.
