Chapter 8: LOVE
(video of reading of this chapter at bottom of this post; words & audio)
During Jon's 1st week at the CLO Monastery in Tibet, a course was taught by elder monk Clare :
"The teachings of the Children of the Law of One {CLO} are very simple & have 2 BASIC ASPECTS:
The FOUNDATION of the teachings is basically this: all beings, all things, are One, and suffering is the result of humans forgetting that, and not acting as One. Thus all the problems on Earth would cease with the achievement of Universal consciousness. So breaking the illusion of separation, and returning to conscious awareness of Oneness should be our goal if we want to exist in a positive & harmonious world. ... But while the foundation of the teachings is Oneness, the ESSENCE of the teachings is Unselfish Love. It is considered both the most important means to achieve Universal Consciousness, and the end result. And the end certainly justifies the means in this case."
List of texts Zain gave Jon on Love:
"Above ALL, Love"
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God is not Loving
God is not Unloving
God is Love
Give Love and You Give God
Give Love and You Get God
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The Universal One is Love
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Find Oneness at ALL Cost.
In finding Oneness, you find God.
In finding Oneness, you find yourself.
In finding Oneness, you find Real Love.
Living as One, is to Unselfishly Love ALL
Living as One, is to Unselfishly Love yourself.
To find Oneness, Unselfishly Love others,
Before yourself.
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True Love is Unselfish.
True Love is Givingness.
True Love flows out like the waters,
Nurturing all who would drink from it.
True Love does as the Stars.
True Love does as the Sun - it shines
on the evil as well as the righteous.
True Love seeks nothing in return.
True Love is Untainted by Wants.
True Love desires only furtherance of True Love.
True Love is Strong in the Right.
True Love is Indignant in the face of Deceit.
True Love is Kind.
True Love is Compassionate.
True Love is Caring.
True Love is Creation.
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To become Truly Loving,
Find someone who truly Loves.
Empty Yourself, and let their Love fill you.
Then keep not the Love you have found
to yourself.
For only in giving it away,
Will you always have it.
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Unselfish Love is the Way of Daily Balance.
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Imagine
a world
Full of people who are ALL Loving Unselfishly -
does any self go without receiving Love?
All receive Love.
Imagine
a world
Full of people who are ALL loving selfishly -
do any go without receiving Love?
None receive love.
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Feel Unselfish Love
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If Your Thoughts
Are Not Accompanied
By Feeling Unselfish Love,
Can What You Are Thinking Be Correct?
I want to Know What Love Is
Discussion with Zain:
"Humor lightens our burdens, and can lighten or deflect some of the effects of negativity or pain in our lives. But don't joke about something you need to learn, because it tends to neutralize the effect of learning.
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Real Love is caring, without a thought for yourself. Caring for all people, and caring for a stranger as much as your dear mother, wife, children, etc...
And as you are beginning to perceive, Unselfish Love and Oneness ARE bound together like 2 sides of a coin"
True Love
Zain: "What I would call true Love, is simply Unselfish Love. Unselfish Love radiates to ALL without exception, so powerfully that it transcends your separate self and IS God's Love flowing through you, to others...It is like a sun that gives warmth, light, and life to all, in all directions simultaneously. If your love is NOT one that gives to ALL and loves ALL, then it is a selfishly based love, not true Love, not pure Love, not Unselfish Love.
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Mothers have the greatest opportunity for this, because of the very nature of their relationship with their children. Mothers cannot expect to 'get something in return', or be reciprocally loved by their young children, as they might expect in a normal relationship. ...Most mothers will find joy just knowing they have done something good for their child, or that their child is happy. ...Some parents, both mothers & fathers, have experienced the feeling of the joy of giving unselfishly, when they give their child a gift 'from Santa Claus', rather than from Mom & Dad (thus not getting 'credit' for the gift). Also, most mothers would be willing to die for their children.
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If you feel a need for reciprocation, you aren't purely loving Unselfishly. Being Giving, Unselfishly Loving, warms the heart & is beneficial for the giver, and the one who is being given to. Unselfish Love is its own reward. The Universal Spirit is Love. We are like faucets & the Universal Spirit is like water. When you open up & let the water flow to all, you are constantly being filled with the water as it passes through. But if you close the faucet off because you mainly desire to keep the water for yourself, it doesn't flow through you, and you are left empty.
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People who are thus empty because they don't outflow their Love, then start looking in a different direction for something to 'fill them up'. ... They pursue selfish pleasures of all kinds...food, games, clothing, entertainment, social events, cars, sports...you name it. But there is never any peace, and never any real or lasting satisfaction - only a temporary 'fix'.
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There is nothing wrong with loving yourself either - UNLESS that is a rationalization for actually being selfish, which is often the case. ... when you Love Unselfishly, you love ALL, and that INCLUDES your SELF. ... NOW REMEMBER THIS - instead of 'loving yourself 1st', Unselfishly Love others 1st, and you will truly love yourself automatically. You just can't go wrong that way. The other is too often just a clever trick of the selfish separate self, to rationalize selfishness.
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'I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.'...That kind of love in CONDITIONAL. It will only give IF it is getting what it wants....Only in Unselfish Love is peace found, both for the giver, and the receiver.
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If you have true Love for someone or something, Unselfish Love, you want the object of your Love to be free & happy, regardless of the consequences to you."
The Real-World Qualities of Unselfish Love
Jon, years later, lecturing a group of novices about the qualities of Unselfish Love:
"Unselfish Love is the most important WAY of being that there is. ...With the exception of people who are hardened in darkness, virtually anyone can agree that kindness, compassion, caring, giving, creation, are good things. ...Those qualities are virtues that are the result of Unselfish Love, and Oneness with God... We call these traits the basic spiritual virtues or qualities, and they are the natural result of true 'spiritual' growth. ...True spiritual growth moves you away from the world of separateness & selfishness, and towards Universal Consciousness & Oneness."
Compassion
Compassion is the greatest of all these virtues that are a part of Unselfish Love. Compassion means FEELING for others, CARING about others. ...There is such a thing as imbalanced compassion however. If compassion clouds the mind, and alone dictates your actions, you can make many mistakes & end up harming yourself, and the ones you care about. ...Emotions should be 'feelers' - sensors that we are open to, fully aware of, and get info from - but that we are sufficiently transcendent of, so they do not control us.
Unconditional Love
If you interpret the words "unconditional love" literally, it means giving to, or being supportive of someone, REGARDLESS OF THEIR ACTIONS, no matter what. ...UNSELFISHLY LOVING someone DOES mean that you will ALWAYS care for them, always still care about what is best for them, regardless of what the loved one may do or choose. But there can be conditions set on interaction or support.
Loving someone unselfishly, AUTOMATICALLY makes you give to the loved one what their "whole being" needs. But it does not just feed their wants & desires.
Sometimes rather than "giving in to" a child, the same parent (who is not Unselfishly Loving), will instead treat the child with anger or even violence, which also further creates bad programming, bad behavior, and a "monster". ...If you tolerate harmful or unpleasant behavior in a mate or a friend, either because of "unconditional love" or because your relationship is based on selfish motives, then you have a mess. But if you Love Unselfishly, you may even be able to help someone overcome THEIR problems, by both not tolerating bad behavior, and giving loving, positive direction at the same time.
"I Want to Know what Love is - I Need You to Show me"
Discussion with Zain:
"In the future after you are enlightened & have left here, when you meet people, it will almost always be the 1st time they have ever met someone who really Loves them. And you will often be a stranger to them. It will ALWAYS be a blessing for them, even though they may not know it, or know what's going on. It will be more POWERFUL than your words, (even though it will be in harmony with both your words & your actions). Because the experience of being Unselfishly Loved involves feeling something from someone, something subtle possibly, but something that you've never felt before. It also involves an Inner spiritual kindling, a knowing, and actually seeing an example of the way someone lives & acts when they are Universally Conscious. Most people can't Love Unselfishly, until they experience being Loved Unselfishly first.
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When a person is willing to begin to change, to start to Unselfishly Love, then they will meet someone who Loves them Unselfishly. ...But know that there will be great pain. Because often those who you have completely opened your heart to, and made yourself vulnerable to through your Love, will hurt you. ...such is the price of being a loving servant of the Universal Spirit.
Then there are those who are spiritually hardened, or hiding from the light within, or even the brothers of the darkness. Depending on the severity of their opposition to the light, they will find your presence, your Unselfish Love, mildly disturbing, to extremely annoying, to a reason for rage, anger, hatred, and even violence & murder. You have seen it in the history of all our kin. Look what they did to the grand master {Jesus}, even though he planned it himself to spread the word of Unselfish Love & Oneness with God."
The Other Side of the Coin
Zain: "Unselfish Love is what a person does, who knows they are One with God, the Universal Spirit. ...Unselfish Love is both the end result of breaking our illusion of separateness, and a way of attaining Oneness."
Unselfish Love Makes Living a Meditation
Zain: "Unselfish Love is the way of eternal everyday life meditation. ...Meditation has often been considered a process of stilling the mind, but that is not the whole of it. Just the stilling of the mind can be relaxation, concentration, or discipline. These build your mind into a strong tool for the Universal Spirit, but are prerequisite to true meditation. ...The opportunity to grow, to give, and to Unselfishly Love is here every moment. Your whole life can be a constant meditation, meditation in action, a flow in harmony with Universal flow. This is the song of life, the art of living; it is always forever now."
Again, the essence of it all is to manifest the Universal Spirit in, and through, the physical vehicle (body-mind-self) by living a life of Unselfish Love...it's being repeated to make the impression that everything always comes back to the same thing. And that one concept is all you need to REALize in order for everything to fall into place; it is the master key to any door.
The Phantom Attacks by Night
One spiritual community I stayed with for a few weeks, had created a unique way for its members to experience Unselfish Love, via giving to other members. They called it "The Phantom" , and here's how it works: let's say someone wants to give to someone else in the community. Rather than giving it to them outright...they leave it sneakily, in the middle of the night, with a note saying it is from the Phantom...This insures anonymity & that the giving is being done for the right reasons, unselfishly, and thus not feeding the selfish separate self. You might want to try some "Phantom" giving yourself - it's not only good for you, it's fun! [Blogger's Note: this is similar to the tradition some practice of "Secret Santa", usually done around Christmas time. I like how "The Phantom" can be done randomly & unexpectedly all year long, though.]
VIDEO: Reading of Chapter 8 (words & audio)
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