Michael's Musings on Love...
Love is the only reality. Love is ALL.
This is what we are told. And it is true. In fact, most, if not all of our religions and spiritual philosophies use this as their basic premise or foundation; at least in principle. Yet because we rarely perceive and feel its totality, we seek to fractionate, define and control our understanding of it, down into smaller and smaller components; each of which may actually limit our spiritual evolution, not enhance it.
Language can be a bridge, but more often than not, it is a barrier. Even if we speak the same language, we inherit structures and linguistic assumptions that prevent us from seeing what is right in front of us, below us, above, behind and within us. This is most evident in how we feel, think and speak about the ‘concept’ of Love. We send and receive messages about Love every day, via ‘sms’, email, phone or voice – “see you later... love you” etc. We express it many ways; but each time we are limiting it and its affect by the use of more and more ‘subcategories’ of Love. We are seeking it everywhere but cannot see it; like the fish who is confused when you ask him what it feels like to live in the ocean. It is a meaningless; as the context is beyond the perception and understanding of the fish. He does not ‘know’ the answer because the question makes no sense. “What is this ocean you speak about?” he asks...
So we speak about ‘unconditional’ and ‘conditional’ love. We preach about and seek to be open to the ‘Love of God’. We talk of ‘true’ love, ‘tough’ love, ‘pure’ love, ‘platonic’ love, ‘young’ love and many more variations on a theme. We speak about ‘sending’ and ‘making’ love. We claim that we know when we are being loved, and when we are not being loved. We create elaborate and complex relationships and arrangements with other people in order to negotiate and exchange this unit of ‘feeling’. Most of the time we treat it like a rare and precious commodity, scared to give it away in case we are left with none; as if it is in short supply, like the perception of oil or money. We have created an entire social structure where it becomes only appropriate to feel and express love for one other person (our ‘partner’) and then filter this love ‘flow’ down to our children, our family, our friends and acquaintances – like some sort of pyramid sales scheme. We tell our children that we love them; yet in the same conversation we could easily express ‘love’ for our car, our pet, our iPad and the toasted croissant we just ate for breakfast. We love chocolate so much and, at the same time, we love our chosen intimate partner.
Language can be a bridge, but more often than not, it is a barrier. Even if we speak the same language, we inherit structures and linguistic assumptions that prevent us from seeing what is right in front of us, below us, above, behind and within us. This is most evident in how we feel, think and speak about the ‘concept’ of Love. We send and receive messages about Love every day, via ‘sms’, email, phone or voice – “see you later... love you” etc. We express it many ways; but each time we are limiting it and its affect by the use of more and more ‘subcategories’ of Love. We are seeking it everywhere but cannot see it; like the fish who is confused when you ask him what it feels like to live in the ocean. It is a meaningless; as the context is beyond the perception and understanding of the fish. He does not ‘know’ the answer because the question makes no sense. “What is this ocean you speak about?” he asks...
So we speak about ‘unconditional’ and ‘conditional’ love. We preach about and seek to be open to the ‘Love of God’. We talk of ‘true’ love, ‘tough’ love, ‘pure’ love, ‘platonic’ love, ‘young’ love and many more variations on a theme. We speak about ‘sending’ and ‘making’ love. We claim that we know when we are being loved, and when we are not being loved. We create elaborate and complex relationships and arrangements with other people in order to negotiate and exchange this unit of ‘feeling’. Most of the time we treat it like a rare and precious commodity, scared to give it away in case we are left with none; as if it is in short supply, like the perception of oil or money. We have created an entire social structure where it becomes only appropriate to feel and express love for one other person (our ‘partner’) and then filter this love ‘flow’ down to our children, our family, our friends and acquaintances – like some sort of pyramid sales scheme. We tell our children that we love them; yet in the same conversation we could easily express ‘love’ for our car, our pet, our iPad and the toasted croissant we just ate for breakfast. We love chocolate so much and, at the same time, we love our chosen intimate partner.
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But which love is more valuable? Is there a difference? We know that we feel a difference; of course, or at least the appearance of one. But the difference may not in the quality or quantity of love, but in our obsession with continually using the word ‘love’ without full awareness. And that is ok. For Love is ALL, and cannot be dissected further without destroying or limiting its expression.
There is only LOVE. Any further division or additional definition transform it immediately. If a feeling, situation or relationship is described as being ‘conditional love’, then it is not love; it is something else. If we say that a friendship is based on ‘Platonic Love’, then again it is not love, but something else.
Now, I know that my whole presentation here appears to have imploded into one big apparent contradiction. I propose that Love is ALL; yet I now claim that ‘this and that’ love is NOT, in fact, love. I say Love is the only reality, yet I am apparently judging multiple life situations as not, in fact, being the ‘real’ love, but in fact something less than or different to love. That is the beautiful paradox of existence. So what is true? Love is indeed all there is. Yet in order for ‘Life’ to know this, appreciate it and work from the perspective of the heart; it requires experiencing the opposite - as a vehicle for greater understanding and integration. The universe created life and the resulting consciousness in order for it to develop the ability to perceive, experience and express the beauty, the pleasure and the truth of who we are. - Infinite love.
So, imagine being given a red rose. Imagine holding it your hand, looking at it; marveling at its shape and geometric elegance. Picture its beauty, its fragrance and its rich red colour. We all agree that it is indeed a RED rose. That is not open for speculation or debate. There is collective consensus. But this is the great illusion. Like our perception and obsession with further definition, Love does not require an adjective or pronoun to give it greater meaning. It may give it context – within the illusion, and that is OK But back to our rose. We are looking at it. We SEE it, because light is the medium that we use to perceive. So, here’s the deal - sunlight shines on the fractal folded petals of the rose. All the colours of the rainbow are contained in the light from the Sun. These colours are all received, accepted and absorbed by the rose – except RED. Red is the quality and frequency of electro-magnetic information that the flower ‘rejects’ or reflects. So the red colour is what the rose offers us – it is not the rose itself. The rose is everything but red!
So think about this. The same is true with all reflected colours. For instance, Green is perceived and marketed as the ‘colour’ of Life and living things. Yet ‘green’ is the colour that life ‘spits’ back at us; green tells us what it is ‘not’; not what it ‘is’. This is a big concept to embrace and accept. But take it a little further if you will. Because if we keep following this path of reasoning we will see that the circle will complete itself.
There is only LOVE. Any further division or additional definition transform it immediately. If a feeling, situation or relationship is described as being ‘conditional love’, then it is not love; it is something else. If we say that a friendship is based on ‘Platonic Love’, then again it is not love, but something else.
Now, I know that my whole presentation here appears to have imploded into one big apparent contradiction. I propose that Love is ALL; yet I now claim that ‘this and that’ love is NOT, in fact, love. I say Love is the only reality, yet I am apparently judging multiple life situations as not, in fact, being the ‘real’ love, but in fact something less than or different to love. That is the beautiful paradox of existence. So what is true? Love is indeed all there is. Yet in order for ‘Life’ to know this, appreciate it and work from the perspective of the heart; it requires experiencing the opposite - as a vehicle for greater understanding and integration. The universe created life and the resulting consciousness in order for it to develop the ability to perceive, experience and express the beauty, the pleasure and the truth of who we are. - Infinite love.
So, imagine being given a red rose. Imagine holding it your hand, looking at it; marveling at its shape and geometric elegance. Picture its beauty, its fragrance and its rich red colour. We all agree that it is indeed a RED rose. That is not open for speculation or debate. There is collective consensus. But this is the great illusion. Like our perception and obsession with further definition, Love does not require an adjective or pronoun to give it greater meaning. It may give it context – within the illusion, and that is OK But back to our rose. We are looking at it. We SEE it, because light is the medium that we use to perceive. So, here’s the deal - sunlight shines on the fractal folded petals of the rose. All the colours of the rainbow are contained in the light from the Sun. These colours are all received, accepted and absorbed by the rose – except RED. Red is the quality and frequency of electro-magnetic information that the flower ‘rejects’ or reflects. So the red colour is what the rose offers us – it is not the rose itself. The rose is everything but red!
So think about this. The same is true with all reflected colours. For instance, Green is perceived and marketed as the ‘colour’ of Life and living things. Yet ‘green’ is the colour that life ‘spits’ back at us; green tells us what it is ‘not’; not what it ‘is’. This is a big concept to embrace and accept. But take it a little further if you will. Because if we keep following this path of reasoning we will see that the circle will complete itself.
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Once we accept, even as a thought experiment of the mind, that the colour is not the ‘object’, then we might next ask ourselves - where does the rose itself begin, and where does it end? And at what point can you say that the rose is separate from the ground? At what point is it is cut and is physically no longer connected to the earth? Is one rose the same as many – and are two roses better than one? The questions begin to become ever more bizarre, and we may feel we are following the white rabbit a little!
We recall being told that we are connected to everything, and yet we do not imagine that we and the rose are the same organism. But at a fundamental level, we are both exchanging energy and information with and within the same physical environment. We breathe in during the day the same atoms that the rose breathed out during the night. We drink the same water that sustains us both. When we smell the rose we are receiving and absorbing the chemical essence of the rose – the gift that the rose is freely giving us, sharing with us, and will continue to as long as it ‘lives’. And of course, when can we say that the rose is now ‘dead’? At what point do we agree the rose is now no longer a rose, but compost?
So this attachment to the illusion of separation is just a social agreement; one that is learned and amplified by all of us, everyday, and in all of our life experiences. It is an emergent property of human perception which we self generate as a result of our individual and collective ego positions. Every now and then somebody comes along and tells us that this is just an illusion, that Love is ALL, but we have a habit of persecuting and crucifying such people. It is not a particularly attractive career option. It is not a comfortable proposition to accept. Because it threatens our stability of mind; it appears to offer nothing that we can hold onto, or use to create what we think we need to life a life of individuality, purpose and meaning. We are trained to negotiate with our world, from a place of separation, which when taken to extremes, is manifesting the apparent global chaos that has become our everyday experience / group projection.
So, as Tina Turner sang; “what’s Love got to do with it?” Well, everything really. Remember, Love is ALL, and Love has a PLAN. So in order for the Universe to find and know itself through the medium of biological perception, it is necessary to experience the intentional separation from our ‘Source’, so that we may rediscover it. Such an ‘event’, is a very powerful personal experience. It transforms everything, in one breath. And, with practice, it can form the basis of a new psychological position which aligns life and opens the door to a beautiful new world for all. This process is Love. The energetic source of this movement is Love. The experience itself is Love. That which ‘has’ the experience is Love. And the overall effect is Love – in action.
Love is ALL – expressing as everything and everyone, every time. Love is the dance of life. It is the impulse of life, and that which drives it. Love is also that which navigates this flow. Love is all of this, and more. In fact we have come full circle. Again. Love is us, experiencing itself over and over again. Love is the medium of exchange of all living systems – all presenting as a whole projection of God. It can be felt but not known, at least by us in human form. Like the wind; we cannot see it, but we can see and feel its effects around us. Love is the same.
So we will of course continue to use the abovementioned variations of love, because each time we do, we have the opportunity to upgrade the experience. That is the choice point of each moment, and each meeting. I will not tell you to be more open to love. I will not suggest that you try to be still and more present and therefore ‘increase’ the love. Such words and expressions are useless and meaningless, and may actually be detrimental to your development. You ARE Love. You cannot be anything else.
All is Love and All is Sacred. As Karaimi is fond of saying; even our shit is holy! So there is nothing to do and nothing to achieve. But we shall of course continue to explore, seek and express, because that is the Divine Game, and we are being played beautifully. We are the player, the board, the pieces and the initial impulse and desire to play. We are the thoughts, feelings and emotions that the game generates.
We are ALL of it, because we are Love... and yes... LOVE is ALL!
Love,
Michael
December 16th 2012
We recall being told that we are connected to everything, and yet we do not imagine that we and the rose are the same organism. But at a fundamental level, we are both exchanging energy and information with and within the same physical environment. We breathe in during the day the same atoms that the rose breathed out during the night. We drink the same water that sustains us both. When we smell the rose we are receiving and absorbing the chemical essence of the rose – the gift that the rose is freely giving us, sharing with us, and will continue to as long as it ‘lives’. And of course, when can we say that the rose is now ‘dead’? At what point do we agree the rose is now no longer a rose, but compost?
So this attachment to the illusion of separation is just a social agreement; one that is learned and amplified by all of us, everyday, and in all of our life experiences. It is an emergent property of human perception which we self generate as a result of our individual and collective ego positions. Every now and then somebody comes along and tells us that this is just an illusion, that Love is ALL, but we have a habit of persecuting and crucifying such people. It is not a particularly attractive career option. It is not a comfortable proposition to accept. Because it threatens our stability of mind; it appears to offer nothing that we can hold onto, or use to create what we think we need to life a life of individuality, purpose and meaning. We are trained to negotiate with our world, from a place of separation, which when taken to extremes, is manifesting the apparent global chaos that has become our everyday experience / group projection.
So, as Tina Turner sang; “what’s Love got to do with it?” Well, everything really. Remember, Love is ALL, and Love has a PLAN. So in order for the Universe to find and know itself through the medium of biological perception, it is necessary to experience the intentional separation from our ‘Source’, so that we may rediscover it. Such an ‘event’, is a very powerful personal experience. It transforms everything, in one breath. And, with practice, it can form the basis of a new psychological position which aligns life and opens the door to a beautiful new world for all. This process is Love. The energetic source of this movement is Love. The experience itself is Love. That which ‘has’ the experience is Love. And the overall effect is Love – in action.
Love is ALL – expressing as everything and everyone, every time. Love is the dance of life. It is the impulse of life, and that which drives it. Love is also that which navigates this flow. Love is all of this, and more. In fact we have come full circle. Again. Love is us, experiencing itself over and over again. Love is the medium of exchange of all living systems – all presenting as a whole projection of God. It can be felt but not known, at least by us in human form. Like the wind; we cannot see it, but we can see and feel its effects around us. Love is the same.
So we will of course continue to use the abovementioned variations of love, because each time we do, we have the opportunity to upgrade the experience. That is the choice point of each moment, and each meeting. I will not tell you to be more open to love. I will not suggest that you try to be still and more present and therefore ‘increase’ the love. Such words and expressions are useless and meaningless, and may actually be detrimental to your development. You ARE Love. You cannot be anything else.
All is Love and All is Sacred. As Karaimi is fond of saying; even our shit is holy! So there is nothing to do and nothing to achieve. But we shall of course continue to explore, seek and express, because that is the Divine Game, and we are being played beautifully. We are the player, the board, the pieces and the initial impulse and desire to play. We are the thoughts, feelings and emotions that the game generates.
We are ALL of it, because we are Love... and yes... LOVE is ALL!
Love,
Michael
December 16th 2012
