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I Write Poetry

What is Love?
A friend posted earlier....What is love..... I rally liked that question.... Here's my own personal perspective on love....

I have spent a whole lot of time thinking about this one. I have come to believe this as my definition of love. I think love starts with the concept of enlightenment- defined as the development of one's full potential.

A fully enlightened person is completely comfortable with who they are. An enlightened person is fully at home with herself, with who he/she is as a person, and can thus enjoy life to the fullest, inner and outer, and can love and be loved with an open, receptive heart. In the state of enlightenment, a person is able to be more loving because she is not bogged down by stresses that may restrict the flow of love from the heart.

I think each one of possesses an immense ocean of love deep inside....behind all of the walls, fears, prejudices etc. Each one of us was born as a blank slate. Life, our parents, and our experiences wrote on our blank canvasses. We were each born with us purity. Not to be confused with prudishness...... just sayin'.

I think there are different levels of love based on where a person is on their trajectory of maturity, life experience and enlightenment.


Level 1- Self love- The lowest form of enlightenment as well as the weakest form of love. In this level, we are consumed by ourselves, with a very inward focus. This could also be called intrinsic love. In this love relationships crumble after the newness and excitement of a relationship wear off. The person has not ever taken time to learn about, or understand the perspective of their partner.

Level 2- Extrinsic love- We begin to shift our focus onto others and for the first time learn what it is to sacrifice, to yield, be more giving. The person in this state of love begins to understand the perspective of their partner. They at times will sacrifice or yield in an unselfish way. In this level they have not however learned to love themselves. The baggage from the past haunts them and fear causes them to be cruel and cold at times. Even when they feel bad for being this way, this person does not yet possess the tools to experience unconditional or universal love.

Level 3- Peaceful love- This person is very capable of yielding and considering deeply the perspective of their partner. They truly care about their partner's feelings, successes and victories and often are a cheerleader and advocate for their partner. This is the type love that I think you find long healthy relationships. In this level the big challenge is that the outside influences of the world such as material things, career, other peoples opinions, etc. still influence this person. While they are often altruistic, they are still judgmental of people unlike them....People that are homeless, or gay, or different than them. This negative energy is their big restriction and it holds back the person from being fully enlightened.

Level 4- Enlightened- This person is fully and thoroughly comfortable with who they are. The feel a connectededness to others on a very deep level and their empathy and compassion are infectious and inspiring to others. They love all people and living things and perhaps the universe itself. 1000 years ago a Japanese woman looked up at the moon and wrote these words....

Watching the moon
at dawn,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely:
no part left out.
—Izumi Shikibu

Clearly this person was on the path to enlightenment. When we can love others as much as we love ourselves.... Loving them where they are in life and not where we or society tells them to be..... We are enlightened. Such a loving heart so greatly transcends ordinary infatuation love..... that I cannot think of adequate words to illuminate the vast void that separates the two. The partner to this person will have to have the same deep philosophical and introspective motivations for becoming a better soul. An enlightened person shares their sojurn through life with their partner with great enthusiasm and appreciation. It is this connection that makes the pairing of these two people deep and forever.

So.....Thats my theory... I think at times I get a peek at level four.... at other times I find myself back at level 1. I will continue to try to attain level 4... perhaps one day I can stick around for a while. I think I will post this....
SW-User
Love is dynamic. At one point in life, we experience self-love. In other instances, we experience the other categories of love. It's not a vertical phenomenon where in we have to aspire for the most enlightened kind of love. It's not absolute. But as we grow, mature and transcend, we somehow go through all of the above.

The way I see it, no category is better than the other. Each one has its purpose. Esp. self-love is paramount because no one can truly give love to others or capable of loving, if he didn't have love for himself and in himself, for others to give.
Girliegirl07 · 51-55, F
Whoa... I definitely need a bigger screen before I become knee deep into this wonderful personification haha
Texaspilot · 51-55, M
Lol. Good to hear from you. 😉
ChampagneOnIce · 51-55, F
Richly stated. Thank you. I enjoyed reading your perspective and tend to agree. Definitely food for thought.
Rootstoblossom · 46-50, F
Interesting theory. I think the levels overlap and can spiral and loop through this path

 
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