I really liked P'taah's definition of unconditional love in the January "Conversations With P'taah" and thought I would type it in here just for the heck of it.
The questioner asks, what is unconditional love?
P'taah:
"What you call love very often we would not call love.
"Love is simply another name for Goddess/God.
"Love is the building block of existence.
"Love is whole and complete within itself and requires no return.
"So you may say that when you express love which requires no return, you are expressing the Goddess/Godness of you. When it comes with conditions... that is a different thing altogether."
He goes on to talk about the fact that this doesn't mean that "you cannot love somebody or care deeply."
Yet unconditional love is quite simply, unconditional.
Was thinking about you yesterday when I was outside and saw this wonderful red tailed hawk. He swooped down out of the tree he was sitting in almost as if letting me know I was not alone. Amazing how we can be by our self, and still so connected to the all.
I too enjoyed Ptaah's message about unconditional love. Reminded me of the day I was talking to this dead man. When he had died he had what many would say as everything. He was well off and seemingly had many friends. Yet at his funeral few showed up. It seemed only those left in his will came.
Anyway I asked him why he still hung on with energy to this world of the flesh. His replied, "Over the years I validated my self worth on what I owned, and had. I forgot what really matters. Greed became my god. Now over here while in transformation back to who I really am, I find I still look for outside validation for my self worth, and meaning." Tears slowly slid down his face when he said, "Over here all I have and am is Love." Then he asked me if his physical life had been a wasted. I told him no, as long as we learn and grow we will come to face the whole of what we are capable of being.
So often we want in the physical form to control, possess, or put conditions on those that love us almost as if we are afraid if they spoke their truth we would not be loved at all...only needed, or used. The message here is about trust. When we simply Become that which we are, we will not fear what we try to hold onto. We will open to the whole of the embrace knowing that which we are is Love.
This got put in my face when a relationship I was in went to hell in a hand basket. I wanted to die. In the end this basket and hell became heaven to me because the old co-dependence died. I faced myself in ways I never had. I Became that which I was born from understanding fear was not knowing who I was. Now years later I am so thankful for the experience and lesson because we both became free to fly into a wholeness we had forgot to imagine. Our cage of expectations was made with the bars of our own condidtions and limits we placed on ourselves and each other. Today we are great friends on seperate journeys that are taking us home once again to Unconditional Love.
How is your move coming along. Just wondered if you have felt the energy of another leap of faith, or if this time the leap is mine.
I practice unconditional love like I am practicing archery or something. I consciously choose to offer "real love" (shorter to spell :) and then later I look to see if stands the test -
Of course sometimes I choose to be petty instead - I am certainly no saint.
Still, in practicing I do learn more of what real love entails - and it is a pretty sharp knife. Meaning I can usually tell if I have offered it or not.
I would love to hear from all of ya'll (as we like to say down here in southern usa) what you've experienced in the way of "real love" - anything you wish to share about it would enlighten me I'm sure.
aireal: I feel the leap belongs to us both because of course, there's only one of us here. ;~D Your two accounts of the dead man and your past relationship tell stories of acceptance and growth and understanding, and I appreciate them very much. Always lovingly written and lovingly felt dear friend.
Patricia: Often as I observe dogs I think they understand something of unconditional love. They don't seem to hold resentments, and always have a ready tail to wag, even if they've been mistreated.
With humans, I had an experience once where my car had been repossessed and work was an hour away. I had no car and buses would have been a huge long trip and much time. A new friend, who I had known barely 3 weeks if even that, lent me a vehicle for as long as I needed it. I could feel how much he trusted me, and how much he was willing to share, and it felt very unconditional to me. That friendship has continued on into the present, and he is always teaching me something about unconditional love, either in his expression of it to me, or mine to him.
We are one, and all these lessons and everyone else's lessons, are Our own.
I wanted to add that my friend lent me the car without any expectation of a "return". The feeling I got from this was an incredible moment of the understanding (through my experience of it from him) of "unconditional" love. He was a great example to me of a person acting from his "Higher Self", and expressing that love which "requires no return".
Much love towards the end of February, in a snowy high desert in Oregon, Chris
Hi Chris and everyone. Love is who we are...beneath the pretenses and facades...beneath the reasons...beneath who we think we are. Love is a flower in bloom. When we dare to set aside all of our ideas of who we think we have been and even who we think we will become...we begin to bloom...and become acquainted with the gentle flower that we are. Love is this flower...and together we are a beautiful bouquet. Loving you always, Jim
I've loved reading this thread....Chris, thank you for setting the scene of (and for) Unconditional Love, as you always do. :-) Aireal, it is wonderful to read your words about your relationship, and the beautiful space you are now able to enjoy together on your own journeys. Pat, I really like your archery metaphor - the concept of focussed love. Jim, we are indeed flowers in an ever-expanding, glorious bouquet. Each one of us a pinnacle of love and consciousness, as every flower is on every plant on our planet. This morning I have been sitting in the doorway of my bedroom facing to the east, in the flow of sunrise, in a cool breeze drifting down over granite and gum trees, bathing in the gentle first light of day and knowing this is Unconditional Love. :-)
Very much love to all of you, and to all our co-creating brothers and sisters,
This is a great thread and I have learnt a thing or two about how to express and experience Unconditional Love. Thank you all.
I live in a house that is shared with others - 4 of us here so I have 3 house mates.
Before the last guy moved in I remember praying/affirming that whoever came would help the household be one of harmony and peace. Well I guess TPTB (The Powers That Be) had something else in store. He turned out to be quite the opposite in that he will not clean up after himself, burns his food and has the rest of us coughing etc on the fumes and the harsh spices he likes using - all in all he is not very good at living in shared accomondation!! And that is being kind!!
I asked my higher self what was going on, and got the answer to the effect of he is here to teach me tolerance and yes, unconditional love. That is, that I accept him as he is, warts and all, and do my best to show love to him.
Well, this is a real test to me.
I come to the realization that this is a real gift - to allow me to find that love does not depend on meeting MY credentials - even if I think those credentials are those of civilized living etc. Love - true, real, unconditional love is seeing the person as divine, loving and worthy, no matter what. Well I get to the stage of seeing that, and I get to the point where I can see that my cleaning up after him is a form of selfless service. And then he goes and messes up my cleaning and I lose it -- this happened (again!) just tonight.
I could get quite annoyed at myself if I let myself, but I, too, have come to accept and approve of myself warts and all as well. I have shown myself unconditional love in the process. So I have experienced a great teaching AND have given myself some unconditional love in the process - so good has come from a 'bad' situation.
( There really are no 'bad' or 'good' situations - just different ones that can help us expand and tell ourselves a more acceptable, 'better serving' story)
Thus I have come to accept that Ram (the messy guy) is the right teacher for me at this particular 'now moment' and is teaching me what unconditional love really is.
'Tis a hard but loving road we humans are a travelling. When I can accept Ram and his mess without yelling at him to clean the so and so mess he makes up,- then, and only then will I have found out, and put into practice as well as truly experience, what unconditional love is.
Alas - I feel I have a way to go yet.
Love makes the world go around and is in fact all that this world and the Universe and Life really is!!
A tale of dilemma I do believe.
To All With Love Dennis
'If you put your heart to it you can do most anything' (even unconditional love!!)
