LEARNING TO LOVE

Love is our own true nature.  If this is so, why are we not more aware of it?  More loving?  Love has vanished from our hearts because of the egoism in our minds.  The ego, which is the feeling of “I” and “mine” and “me,” is the opposite of love. 

The ego always has “me” as the subject of thoughts and actions.  Love is always about someone other than “me.”  Love can be for the Divine, other persons, animals, plants and even rivers, rocks and the universe as a whole.  But it’s always about something other than “me.”  In fact, when love is in full force, the “me” is nowhere to be found.  Thus, where there is ego there can be no love and where there is love there can be no ego.

Our culture teaches us to be ego-centered.  That’s what sells product.  We buy whatever it is to satisfy “me” and often to satisfy some idea that we are lacking in some way and so the purchase is going to change that.  This is what advertisers want us to believe.  If we thought we were beautiful just the way we are, we wouldn’t buy makeup.  If we had no fear we wouldn't buy alarm systems. If we thought we were sufficient as human beings, we would by grandiose automobiles. These are but a few examples. 

So, we are taught to be self-centered.  And there is more.  We are taught to be competitive and not cooperative.  Competitiveness is all about “me” and there is no love in it.  We are taught that we are separate from everyone else and, in fact, this is the view the ego presents to us.  The ego makes us an island unto ourselves.

In contrast, nothing is done to encourage our ability to love.  It is never mentioned by our parents, teachers or anyone else.  No one encouraged us to be compassionate and explained why it is beneficial to both ourselves and to others.  This problem is so severe that one can do an internet search for sermons on love (e.g. sermons.com) and one will not find a single sermon on the topic of love. 

When was the last time we felt pure innocent love for another person?  For many people, the answer will be never.

Therefore, we will have to relearn or rediscover our true nature which is love.  Our hearts have shriveled into tiny hard rocks from lack of use.  Our hearts have atrophied.  We don’t remember what love is like or how to get there. Love has been thoroughly covered over and hidden by the mind and its ego-centered view.  

It is sad to say that most of us are no more than computers on legs.  Our intellect and brain churn through sensory input and process this with blind, robotic beliefs (programs).  We react to situations according to these programs without thinking and without awareness.  Because of this, it can be said that we have very little free will. Our lives are a series of thoughtless, mindless reactions. Most of us are no more than zombies. We walk and talk but we are dead inside.