With a Love Like That

With a Love Like That

Even after all this time

The Sun never says to the Earth,

"You owe me."

Look what happens

With a love like that,

It lights the whole sky.

― Hafiz

Sometimes, mystical, higher influences reach out to me in a mysterious and personal way. (I would not be surprised if you have had similar experiences.) A few days ago, I was driving home, approaching my neighborhood, and thinking about what I wanted to post on the subject of conscious love. As I waited in traffic to make a left turn, I looked over and there bolted to the railing in front of an old 7-11 store were the letters L O V E. This signage had been mounted that day, without any explanation or attribution. Now drivers are greeted by the letters L O V E on a busy suburban road. A sweet reminder.

Reflecting on the poem from Hafiz, love shines out on the scale of the solar system, and it also shines on the scale of a busy road. And that sun shines from within when I let it.

When I am more awake, I know what conscious love is and where to find it. When I am asleep, such as judging other people, in imagination, or irritated by something around me, then love is a distant star. The movies, television, novels, and pop music in general have colored my sense of what love is, making real love even more elusive.

For people working on themselves, however, I have learned that pursuing love—a higher form of love in fact—is part of the quest, albeit indirectly. I strive to remember myself, but I also need to forget myself. My ego or lower self can masquerade and shield me from true love.

Love me, sweet, with all thou art, Feeling, thinking, seeing, ─ Love me in the lightest part, Love me in full being. ─ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Thanks to the poets we have some insights into the nature and beauty of love. When we trivialize or overintellectualize love, we minimize it or dissect it beyond its true meaning. Fortunately, I know what a loving hand feels like. I know a generous heart when I receive love from another. I know when I have shown love. I feel and know so much more than I can put into words.

At times, I am fooled into thinking that love, especially romantic love, is the magic elixir to solving our problems. When my machine overthinks love, it says things like, “How come people don't show me more love?” This is inner considering or being identified with people. This is not love, this is the desire or wish for something that is beyond my control. Never mistake sentimental love or illusory longing for a conscious love.

Through suffering I have learned that we must share our love with the whole of creation. ─ Etty Hillesum

Conscious love comes with responsibility and intention. You cannot be in a state of love and be asleep at the same time. Caring for things and other people lovingly takes practice. If you want to get married, try taking care of a pet for a while. Try taking care of house plants without killing them. Try remembering to do all your car maintenance (on time!). It is not easy to be that intentional with chores, and it is even harder with feelings of love. Like consciousness, love has degrees, so my ability to love and recognize conscious love has taken time and experience.

My mind no longer wanders─love holds it hard. ─ Mirabai

One choice I need to make is to whom do I surrender? It is one thing to practice on pets and plants, it is another to surrender to your partner or dear friend, and it is still another thing to surrender to the Beloved. How do I surrender to the Beloved?

It is always right to surrender to one’s higher centers, to a higher state of consciousness. Render the lower self passive. Choose being present to the moment and being with the person opposite you. The Teacher is abundantly clear on this point. Presence is Love. Love is Presence.

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Effects of Good Government in the City, Ambrogio Lorenzetti (detail)