It has been said that love casts away fear. But which kind of love does that? This question remains open for many people.
Our major problem is that we've been taught to identify love with personal attachments, or more broadly, with personal likes and dislikes. But such kind of love never casts away fear - it only breeds fear. As we recognize value of that which we are attached to, compared to other people or things, almost immediately comes the fear of loss. As we project our expectations of fulfillment and happiness to that which we are attached to, we become afraid that it will be gone.
Surely enough, it will be gone. The object of our attachment will be removed from our life, and not only because every fear of loss is a self-fulfilled prophecy. If there would be such thing as fearless attachment, it would not be helpful to us either. Life is transient by its nature, and there is nothing we can do about it, no matter how hard we try. The only constant in life is change.
From my perspective, love has to do with recognition of our connectedness. Love is "the bond of perfect unity", as some people say. Such kind of love comes through spiritual awareness - but love is more than awareness. It includes our emotional nature and our will. It is not enough to know - we've got to feel love and to act upon that feeling.
Love brings us to an awareness that we belong to the universal order of things - just like the things we're afraid of. Those things are not accidental. They are essential parts of the greater wholeness, which is our ultimate good. Therefore, love inspires us to look for goodness in the things we're afraid of, so that this goodness could be manifested.
This is not an easy job. Sometimes it could be difficult to understand how some acts of violence and apparent injustice, for example, are essential for the the universal order of things. But why should we start our journey to greater awareness and love with the most difficult questions? Let us start by applying the principle of love to our own experiences, and see where it would lead us. We will gradually become aware that love is truly the all-encompassing power.
We will recognize that life changes its forms and modes of operation, but never ceases. Pain can never be a threat to life in its essence.
Love gives us the right perspective of the world. But besides allowing us to see rightly, love releases the energy flow. Consider this: perhaps, those situations where evil is seemingly manifested, are situations where the energy flow is obstructed in some way. Love affects the situations by releasing the energy flow.
Perhaps, it is a part of our assignment in the great school of life - to learn how to manifest impersonal and unconditional love. It is easy to love that which is loveable. It is easily to love people to whom we are naturally attracted. Yet let us try, even in small ways, to extend our circle of love. Send your loving thoughts to people, things, and places you've not loved before. Declare that their goodness is released, and there is no thereat in them, either for you or for anyone else.
Your loving thoughts will create an energy field of love, which will make it easier for other people to love and to become fearless. They will feel love in the air, and will have no difficulties to connect to it.
