We are soon left to wonder where the truth lies in all of this. When spiritual teachers used the word love, what kind of love are they talking about? Is eros (romantic love) really different from agape, so-called unconditional or spiritual love? Is devotional love, the same as compassion, or love for humanity? And how is it that some teachers goal, while others seem to ignore the subject altogether?
In spiritual life alone, the word love is used in at least three ways, and our experience and understanding of love will differ according to which aspect of it we are thinking about. For the sake of discussion, let’s refer to those there aspects of love as (1) Absolute Love, or the Great Love, which Ramakrishna, Rumi, and the teachers of the bhakti yoga and nondualist Tantra traditions tell us is ever-present, impersonal, and the very underpinning of the universe; (2) Our individual experience of love, which is quirky, personal, and usually directed at something or someone: and (3) love as sadhama (practice).
No comments:
Post a Comment