Love is the key...

a reply to: Aphorism

Because people have not practiced what they've preached. You can preach love all you want, that doesn't mean you do it. Those who do it right have the key, those who do it wrong do not have the key.

a reply to: onequestion

Love is the force that defines and transcends all. The closer we get to God, or Nirvana, or perfection,
the more our spirit is buoyed by love.

originally posted by: Aphorism
a reply to: onequestion

We have been taught this principle for thousands of years. How come it hasn't worked yet?

It seems mostly an excuse to write poetry, rather than any key.

But it has? for if it didn't no one would of taken the time out to raise their youth into adults as with some unaware animals who just have their offspring and leave them to find a way which limits potentials to grow.
If no love was provided or shown to work how is it that the many minds that work for the better good of the species have done so thus far with technological medical advances to the points where many can go about life as they wish even if forgotten are those who died to lay down this future for you to post on ATS...
Is teaching others a form of love or just something that is done for? And so why not leave some untaught to carry on endlessly (what would the outcome be)

Is it better to hate Aphorism? does hate and control work better?

Sometimes poetry is a deliverance method that goes to the central mind faster then normal writing like riding the melodic rhythm of the text shared...

But from observation on ATS and encountering your post from time to time 1 understands Aphorism

Love is not that bad a principle when considered the alternative-do you have an alternative say if it was found various CREATOR Creations exist some get along others @ constant war on sight and the only principle that was relevant was not to LOVE? What alternative would you provide if some of these groups neared EA*RTH and conflict was considered including mankind. Would you not want them to LOVE you or would you prefer they hate you and treat you with control methods since you feel for them to show love to you is a useless principle

So its simple on a universal level, do CREATOR Creations have more of a chance to exist if encountered by more advanced CREATOR Creations who hate or LOVE?
Very simple and so resonate PEACE from within as a species to show those outside you are worthy of the same treatment unless the other treatment is preferred...

a reply to: Darkblade71

I just don't get it. If that is what we are and are meant to be, why does it not seem to be a part of the experience, at least for me.

Because you know what love is and what it entails. No one can love everyone and everything.

Loving everyone and everything would involve watering down "love" so much that it is meaningless. No one wants any of that love.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Because people have not practiced what they've preached. You can preach love all you want, that doesn't mean you do it. Those who do it right have the key, those who do it wrong do not have the key.

What is involved in "loving right"?

The term must be properly qualified in order to have meaning and be effectively debated.

Love means different things to different people.

Lumping every human action into an either/or love/hate fest is just a recipe for confusion and disagreement.

Nearly all human actions are complex, interacting with various psychic forces, many of which we're not even conscious of.

To think that any one action is entirely selfless, selfish, loving, or hate-filed... seems... not too well thought out.

This thread is proof love requires too much energy.


Balance is the key.

No - I don't think love is the key, I think, in many instances, it's a cop-out.

When I was young I believed Love was the common denominator of all creation.

The Beatles were young and enthusiastic about their discovers in India at the time as well.

I thnk LoveSolMoonDeath speaks to the unuuseful nature of Love as a 'guiding' princple when he talks of Love vs Emotional Dependency. And another poster spoke of his feeling of love as a determinator of good and evil.

Love is a feeling. And as such, by definition and biology, it is fleeting.

The christian idea of 'agape' is better, compassion is better, selflessness even better. Those are states of mind and fleeting as well but we can develop them and live in them through pactise and effort. Love is too phsyically based to be dependable.

a reply to: Aphorism

Treating people as you would want to be treated and going the extra mile for them, no matter who it is. Very simple and easy to do and if everyone practiced it the world would turn on a dime.

originally posted by: TheJourney

Well, seeing through the self and losing that sense is basically the goal in most eastern traditions, and western mystical traditions. You say It makes you an insane animal. But the idea is that there is something divine that animal's have that we have lost. We lost it WITH the evolutionary leap forward that gave us critical thinking and a sense of self, but we also lost this natural blissful state of un-divided Being. There was a purpose in it, but the idea is to re-gain what we lost, only the experiences gained bring us into a higher spiritual state, beyond thoughtless animals or humans without presence. This is the idea of the 'prodigal son,' we are lost, but the being lost makes the return better.

I don't agree with you that the 'goal' of mysitcal traditions is egolessness. Nor do I think the goal is to return to an animal state of un-divided being.

I think the effort and present goal (both individually and collectively) in this aquarian age is to transend ego with selfless actions, words and deeds and thereby transend the self (little s) and discover our Self (big S) and truly connect with the whole around us.

This would not be a collective mind - such as bees or borg - all would retain a wholesome/healthy sense of Self but have access to the knowlege and wisdom of others at need. We'd, in effect, regain some of the instrincts which have atrophied in humankind as the separate self was developing.

On another Thread "How not to hold a grudge", we've talked about this idea of human animal versus human human. It's a progression. We started as meerly bi-pedal animals in a dreamy consciousness and have developed self-awareness, memory and ego. It was very important to the evolution of consciousness to develop a strong and cut-off sense of self but it has cost us in terms of community and survival. We are at a point where survival of self/ego (groups have self-ego as well) that we put it before Survival of our species and all other species.

But we are turning a corner, some special people have turned it in the past. Those are the great spiritual teachers. The Bodistavatvas and Saints. Now we need to evolve beyound self - our brains are making the physical change, IQs are rising and we each have a role to play in this evolution-transendence.

a reply to: FyreByrd

I think Love tend towards judgement. Unconditional love doesn't judge. I think the key is to suspend judgement.

I judge all the time - I judge the day by the weather, I judge people by their opinions before seeing their actions.

I think the first step and best hope for freedom from suffering (the buddist goal) is training youself not to judge. Maybe that's what Love really is.

Hmm - thought provoking thread.

a reply to: FyreByrd

I'd say that judgment is a requirement to properly navigate through modern civilization. The key is to temporarily suspend judgment so as to soak in a richer perception, then keep your judgment grounded in context... keep perspective.

A non-judgmental Buddhist would be a complete loser and get kicked to the curb in western societies. It just doesn't make sense to have that mentality.

a reply to: onequestion

Love is the key to the universal creative force and understanding compassion.

Understanding compassion? Perhaps. It is also the force that enabled Hitler to do what he did. His love of mankind and its potential.

It's the key to changing the world.

Yes, see above.

The key to destroying the ego.

"the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity." (google search for "define: ego)

Huh, I guess destroying your reality testing mechanism would work. That sort of makes navigating hard, though... Your own sense of personal identity?! Why would you want to destroy that?

It's the fundamental key we need in order to go to the next stage of evolution.

Actually, evolution proceeds without us. We can influence it, but there also aren't any actual stages of evolution. Contrary to popular wisdom, there is no species-to-species evolution, it all happens one little group of genes at a time. Embracing your "destroy the self" philosophy WILL cause changes to our species over time, but I highly doubt it needs your help for propagation. Philosophies that don't affect reality are pretty easily transmitted provided they also make you feel good.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Treating people as you would want to be treated and going the extra mile for them, no matter who it is. Very simple and easy to do and if everyone practiced it the world would turn on a dime.

Would you go that extra mile for a child rapist?

a reply to: Aphorism

To capture them, yes. To help them, not so much. If I had no idea he was a rapist then yeah because I had no idea.

a reply to: Aphorism

You hit a weak spot in their rationalization for why the world is the way it is. It would be just fine if there were only lovable things in the universe, but there aren't. There are many things that people have done and events that have happened that are not lovable, but they don't acknowledge it. It would have been completely different if you had said "someone who had raped a child but 'had seen the error of their ways'". Everyone has done at least one or two things in the past they aren't proud of. Calling them a child rapist implies they still have that mentality or something, the possibility that they might strike again.

The only way to really be consistent with the universe is to be inconsistent with humanity, and the only way to be consistent with humanity is to be inconsistent with reality. The universe doesn't care what happens in it, and it is ONLY on Earth, in relatively small pockets of what people have come to call cities and towns, that morality EVER enters the picture.

"Getting rid of egos" and having love "for everything" takes everything it means to be human out of being human.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law... Reality doesn't care if you knew or not.

Would you happily and willingly go to prison for helping a rapist if you didn't know? Because if you helped him at all, regardless of whether or not you had prior knowledge, you would be guilty.

originally posted by: zackli

"the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity." (google search for "define: ego)

Huh, I guess destroying your reality testing mechanism would work. That sort of makes navigating hard, though... Your own sense of personal identity?! Why would you want to destroy that?

As someone who has undergone ego-death and ego-resurrection, I would like to take a shot at explaining this.

As I said in my first post, the altered state of consciousness we call ego-death can indeed make it hard to hold down a job. It does sort of make navigating the world of egos hard. Overwhelming. Solitude helps.

But during ego-death, you aren't really destroying your sense of personal identity. You are shifting it from one place to another. You are shifting it from a shallow place to a deep place inside you. Your center. Our center.

That's where love comes in. When your identity is shifted from the crunchy outer shell of the ego to the creamy middle of your center, a whole new level of love becomes possible. It's overwhelming. Then, comes the call to return. Do you stay there, or do you resurrect your ego and return to society?

If you're in a specialized enivironment, such as a hermitage, you might want to stay there in that blissful altered state. If your body can handle it. If you are trying to hold down a job a raise a family, you might want to resurrect your ego (which is still there somewhere) and shift your identity back to it. If you do, it won't be the same ego. It will be changed by the ordeal. Improved. It will have seen the unconditional, non-local love and forgivness that is possible for all people, no matter who they are or what they have done.

originally posted by: onequestion
Love is the key to the universal creative force and understanding compassion.

It's the key to changing the world.

The key to destroying the ego.

It's the fundamental key we need in order to go to the next stage of evolution.

I would agree to everything you say with the exception of destroying the ego. The ego imo needs to be loved and acknowledged as well.

Destroying anything has negative connotations and is the opposite of Love.

If love is the key, it should be unconditional perhaps?

Peace,

RT