What Is True Love?
Many of us long for true love. We seek that special someone who can complete us, make us feel happy, and fulfill our desires. We believe that love is the answer to all our problems, and we dream of finding that perfect partner who will make our lives complete.
But what is true love, really? Is it the same as emotional attachment, which can change anytime and lead to suffering? Or is it something deeper, more profound, and everlasting?
Let's take a closer look at the concept of true love, as seen through the lens of Buddhism and universal principles.
True love is unchanged and everlasting, regardless of what happens. It is not based on emotional attachment, which can fluctuate and turn into hatred if our desires and expectations are not met. When we confuse emotional attachment with true love, we set ourselves up for disappointment and suffering.
True love, instead, is our very own nature. It is a state of being that transcends our emotional attachment and relationships with others. We can experience true love even when we are single, and it is not dependent on finding the perfect partner.
True love is compassion, unconditional love, and acceptance of all things and beings equally. It is a state of being that arises when we have a big heart and want others to be happy, without expecting anything in return. In other words, one has to be almost unselfish to experience true love and to wish for happiness for all beings. This is the quality of a noble and holy being, like the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and sages alike.
Unfortunately, experiencing true love is not easy for most of us as we are mostly driven by selfish desires and emotional bondage. Also, we are conditioned by the media, fairy tales, and romantic movies to believe that we need someone else to experience true love. We believe that we are incomplete without a partner, and we measure our worth by our ability to attract and keep a romantic relationship.
However, the truth is that we come alone into this world, and we will leave alone too. Whatever relationships we experience here are, in essence, temporary and impermanent. True love is a state of being that arises from within us, regardless of our relationship status.
To experience true love, we need to let go of our emotional attachment and cultivate a big heart. We need to have compassion and want others to be happy, to be willing to give without expecting anything in return.
Reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha, which means infinite light, infinite life, infinite peace, infinite bliss, and infinite love, can help us activate the true nature within us and remind us of the essence of who we are - in fact, true love is our very own nature.
True love is not just an abstract concept or an ideal to strive for. It is a state of being that arises from within us when we cultivate compassion, acceptance, and unconditional love for all beings. It is not dependent on finding the perfect partner, but on realizing our true nature and sharing our big love and compassion with others. This of course does not sound easy, but this is the very goal of our spiritual practice.
Compassion is true love, compassion is the highest state of love, not just to a particular being, but to all beings equally. This state of being may sound foreign or unreal to most people on Earth, but when we Nianfo (recite the Name of Amitabha Buddha) and attain rebirth in the Pure Land after this life, we will certainly experience true love, because true love and compassion are the original natural states of being.
Namo Buddhaya
Namo Amitabhaya
