Love as Consciousness

What does Love in those moments before its revealing think about? Does it think anything at all? Is Love aware of itself when it serves others?

How are we to act when we love others? And are these questions even worth thinking about?

The Core of Love

Love is fundamentally spontaneous. It is received most willingly when done unconsciously, or immediately at an opportunity. It is blind to whoever is recieving it, and favours no one more than another.

The Source of Negative Emotions

What ignites envy, greed, anger, sadness, pity, hopelessness, laziness but for the lost awareness of the gifts God has given to us? If we truly see and witness the beautiful work done for us by God in each and every moment, there would be no room for negative emotions.

But an interlocutor breaks through:

‘Riddle me this: if we all are going through misfortune, suffering, pain, diseases, poverty, starvation; if we see one really heading towards death from all his addictions to material things; and what is more, if we see millions of people suffering from war and death, and if we see loved ones lose everything they possess while we live in luxury, peace, quiet, and abundance - should we turn away from it? Should we pretend that the suffering is not real?’

I only know my suffering, and I know that God gave me everything that I can handle. No one can empathise with people suffering from different crises to them, because individual problems are incomparable.

But he breaks again before I can finish:

‘What then of us living in luxury spectating those living in scarcity, death, plagues and famine? Should we not humble ourselves to their level? Isn’t it the ultimate form of theft to live in luxury, peace, quiet, and abundance, if others are subject to adverse conditions as a consequence? Who is it that made the capitalist lifestyle permissible for true Christians? How can we console living as like kings, calling ourselves Christian while others live in poverty? Is it enough to just serve them? Or is the solution to make everyone rich? But isn’t that the Communist dream?’

I find that the ones most concerned about these questions (and I speak foremost concerning myself) tend to be hesitant, self-obsessed, lazy, and blind to opportunities given by God to serve others. It is arrogance to think that, living in this luxurious capitalist lifestyle, and living with all this wealth and opportunity detracts from the opportunities to serve others! People everywhere are in need of help, and the size of the service does not dimish its urgency! Just a kind word and compassionate glance to another could plant at the opportune moment, a seed in his heart that could grow into something beautiful! Do not neglect the smallest acts of service for others, because the smallest seeds of Love that we plant in others will become for them a cherished memory, and a memory into an act, and an act into another seed, that the seeds would multiply and the Love also multiply!

If we do not realise this fact, that every moment we live is a moment to serve, you would forever think yourself justified in your bitterness towards God, and you would spiral deeper and deeper into unconsiousness! My dear Questioner, the source of prolonged negative emotion is a refusal to give thanks to God, and that’s it! Put your hand to your heart and listen. Who allows every single heartbeat? Listen to your breathing. Who allows every single breath?

Love as Seeing

Love and negative emotion both see suffering, but Love chooses to bear it. In this sense, the one who is depressed emotionally (shall we say) is unconsciousness, because they choose to escape from their suffering. But what is so crucial to this process is that in escaping from the suffering, they are unable to see the abundance of blessings around them. Only those who choose to deal with their sufferings are able to see the blessings God has poured into their lives. The joy comes from bearing through the suffering. It is only by doing this that we see fit to thank God for everything - that every hardship given to us by God is really a blessing.

We do not deserve anything. Therefore everything God gives us is a blessing.

Love as Consciousness

When we take ownership over our own lives, and begin to realise how much good there is in the world, and how much love there is everywhere, everything will be done with unshakeable hope and fortitude. Only after we realise, (and realising implies an active search), the Good that proceeds even when all hope is lost, or in the darkest corners of our lives, will we help others with the same hope.

When we begin to be see Good in others, helping others and improving them would come about naturally. If we are unable to see that the needs of others are more imperative than our own, rest assured that you live as though dead, or as like alone in a world filled with empty shells.