O.K…….now you’ve got me going. I was not raised with any religion, and it so happened when I was about 25, I came in touch with an East Indian tradition. (There are many different East Inidan traditions, in India, and surrounding countires, just as there are different versions of Chrisitanity in the west).
Buddhism is definitely atheistic. According to Buddhism there is no God and no soul. But they are very much concerned with the topic of “love”.
In the Pali language (drived from classical Sanskrit), there is the word: “metta”. “Metta” means “loving kindness.” The monks and laymen who follow this tradition, meditate on the quality of “loving kindness” as a daily practice. They teach that one who is not in a feeling of loving kindness twoards oneself cannot extend loving kindness towards others. We see this in our everyday life. A person who is happy and peaceful can be loving to others. And a person who is tense, frustrated, highly goal-oriented, overly concerned with getting results - he is more inclined to see others as a means or an obstacle to his goals, than to have loving feelings towards them in his heart.
So what is love? Buddhism defines love as: “Taking pleasure in the happiness and well-being of others”. Simple. This applies both to how we feel about other(s), and how we behave towards other(s). This can take the form of taking pleasure in the happines achieved by others, or taking pleasure in trying to achieve the happiness of others.
A very significant consideration is this understanding is that - real love asks for nothing in return. When we desire or expect to receive something in return, that kind of love is “conditional”. E.g., “I love you as long as my sexual desires are fulfilled.” Or, “I love you as long as you behave in a specific way,” Or, “I love you if you are nice to me, if you smile at me, if you don’t judge me.”, etc. This is not love. This is more like a business arrangement, like: “I give you my money as long as you give me a good product.” It is true that there may be some genuine feelings of affection. But when our affection is withdrawn when our desires are not met, this kind of love is “conditional”. E.g., conditional love –> divorce in America.
Scripture is speaking about “unconditional love”, which is loving with no desire for anything in return. The closest thing to this in the material world is a mother’s love for her infant child. Even if the child, makes noise crying, or dirties his diapers, or vomits on his mother’s breast…..the love remains unchanged.
Coming to the topic of love of God, or devotional life: is our devotion mixed with desires for something in return……or is our devotion “unalloyed”, unmixed, pure? “Pure devotional service”.
It is my understanding that Jesus is teaching “pure devotional service” to the Lord. Love of God devoid of the desire for receiving anything in return. Therefore Jesus teaches by example, when he prays, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.” All he wants is that God should use him for God’s purpose……whether it is comfortable or uncomfortable. Our ability to love God may not be as wondeful as Jesus’ love of God, but still, our every thought, word and deed can be based on a heartfelt intention to give pleasure to the Lord.
It is true that most religions are about approaching God as if He is Amazon.com, about placing our orders, and waiting for delivery. Or, we may be hopeful of being rewarded with going to heaven, or being blessed with eternal life, with our loved ones. These kinds of love of God are mixed with, “What’s in it for me.”
The love of Jesus for our eternal Father in heaven is unalloyed. The love of Jesus for God, is, “Even if You want to crucify me, I accept Your decision…….not what I want from You, my Lord, but only what you want from me. You can take me to heaven, or You can put me in hellish circumstances……but all I want, all that I desire…..is whatever You want.” This is pure devotional service, that includes, “with all my heart, all my mind, and all my strength.”
Now……this may make someone who is listening to our conversation say something like, “Wait an minute. What’s in it for me? I want to be happy too. I don’t think I’m ready for this kind of a relationship with God.”
However, it has to be understood, from the various parts of the Bible, that those souls, like Samual in the lion’s den, who have taken the position of pure devotional service…….they never feel that anything is lacking in their lives. And David in his 23rd Psalm says that the Lord is his shepherd, and that even though he knows that he is walking, every day, in the shadow of the valley of death, he has no fear. In fact he is so filled with spiritual joy, that he feels that he can’t contain it. “My cup runneth over!”
This is the love of God that Jesus has come to share with us. Unalloyed pure devotional love. As long as I hold the conviction that my material circumstance is the deciding factor as to whether or not I am happy ——-I am under the influence of “mammon”. Jesus told the pious, materially successful man, “Give it away and follow me.” But he couldn’t do it…….and Jesus then spoke of passing the camel through the eye of a needle. God holds the needle. And if we want to enter His kingdom, we have to give up our camel-like mentality.
Therefore we have to seriously contemplate and begin to cultivate the conclusive understanding that Jesus is sharing, viz., that when love of God fills our hearts, our happiness will know no bounds. At that time, all the things that we consider to be so important materially, will be seen as insignificant to us. Saint Francis left a homelife of wealth, and was dancing barefoot in the snow. Therefore the pope of his time sent for him.
Each of us has to make this journey, this experiment on our own. We can’t jump ahead artificially. But the more we love the Lord, the more our desire for the things of this world, the attractions of mammon, will decrease. At first we will have reservations. But as we progress, we will become like madmen running towards the goal. Jesus says, “Accept the yoke that I wear. It is very light. You will like it.”
These are some thoughts on the subject of “love”. Thanks Steve, for sharing with me.