The Buddha Light
The Buddha Light
Cultivating unconditional love and universal compassion in daily practice
The dictionary definition of love tells us that love is “a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude towards a person, such as that arising from kinship and recognition of attractive qualities,” and; “a feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance”.
Based on this mercurial quality love seems to posses – that of kinship, attraction, desire, sex and romance – we are taught at schools and at a young age that love is an impermanent and fleeting feeling that’s created by and through another human being.
Many speak of love for their families and friends. This is fair enough based on the “conceptual idea” of love. These are the preconceptions that create love as per a person, reason or per a condition of some sort. These conditions are brought about by certain circumstances and ideal situations being provoked. Love, many believe, requires an effect for it to blossom. But does this seem like true love to you?
Conditional love is based on a mixture of love and attachment and is therefore based on a desire for one’s own happiness. But true love in its pure nature stems from the direct concern for another sentient being’s happiness. When you water a plant, you water it regardless of expectation. There are no expectations about what leaves it should grow or what fruit it should source. The water given to the plant is given from a genuine place of compassion regardless of the outcome. This is what is truly meant to be able to love unconditionally.
But, does this notion of unconditional love exist only as a fairy tale or does it live in the realm of possibility? Is it possible to love every living being on the same level – a universal love unburdened by hate, anger and fear? A love so acquainted with every living being it becomes impossible to have a perception of anything else as a seperate source? It is a stretch intellectually, but when you use unconditional love as a daily practice, this ultimate love has the power to change our worlds’.
It seems easy to talk about this idea of unconditional love. The challenging part is knowing how to activate it – how to give it and how to receive it. In a garden when you want more of a specific plant, you intentionally plant more seeds. The trick with unconditional love is to use “the intention to be”.
A daily practice of contemplative and seeding meditations can be the starting point. In contemplative meditations you delve deep into the idea of unconditional love, work out every definition and the possibilities of its existence and in seeding meditations you tap into the feeling of what love is for you and scan your entire body planting these new seeds into every part of your being until you are actually pulsating with unconditional love energy.
Affirmations are also an amazing technique and finding one that resonates with you will work too, for example, “I have an abundance of unconditional love to give and to receive.” This should be said with vibrancy and vigor, proclaim it! This is who you are.
These practices are only the beginning and you will need to nurture it through your growing compassion towards mankind. Giving this unconditional love away is called practicing compassion. One of the strongest ways to make this practice more powerful is to share this compassion. And, by giving it away, this is how you will receive it.
Compassion is synonymous with unconditional love. They are both motivated by the intention to cherish and respect other beings and the subsequent longing to release them from any suffering. By a universal standard there are two stages of compassion. The first is coming to terms that we must love every being. The second is contemplating their suffering and hence, their happiness. The truth is, is if there is no love there can be no compassion.
As a daily regiment, in your mind before giving anything away, know that whatever it is you are giving – whether it be a simple good thought, or a gesture like a hug – know that the thought of giving is holy, the action of giving is holy and whom ever you are giving it, is holy too. Begin to believe that whatever it is you share with another being, this is what can help them experience joy. It is the intention behind what you do that is the gift, this compassion that creates the experience of love.
Meditate on unconditional love and you will be liberated into a state of universal compassion. This is how you begin to change your world and the world of others. Once your seeds have started to grow, seeing everyone in this light, a “Buddha light” so to speak, will be easy.
By Sean Steinberg
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