One of the most pleasurable and sought after experiences in the human form is that of love. Great journeys have been taken, wars have been waged and stories have been written about love that speak to all of us. In many of my blogs I have written about suffering, conditioned thinking and being in the moment all of which have been to remove the barriers that we create for ourselves in experiencing the bliss of love. In this week’s blog I thought I would share my thoughts on the experience of love.

Previously I have introduced the expression used by my teacher of “rising in love.” For me this is a truthful expression as we indeed feel elevated when we experience love. We often attribute our experience of love to the beloved because our feelings surface through interactions with them. When rising in love, we experience physical, mental and emotional euphoria. Time slows down. The moment holds greater weight and importance. Gentleness fills our being and we are full of compassion. These feelings occur within us naturally, easily and spontaneously. The beloved is the catalyst that helps us to remove barriers preventing us from experiencing love within ourselves. In these moments, we want to hold onto the beloved as we don’t want the feeling of love to pass.

The experience of love is the truest feeling in the human form to our natural state of being. We are part of the radiant consciousness that encompasses all that is. When we are born we enter a physical body that provides many sensations. Through touch, taste, smell and hearing we are stimulated constantly. It is hard for us to recall our natural beingness because of our physicality and environmental stimulation. And yet, when we are rising in love we are reminded the pure consciousness that we are and we become highly focused. The stimulation of the world holds less importance.

In our lives we seek out love. We look for love in the companionship of another. In our youth, we have felt love by being around others, in particular when we are with our parents and friends. As we mature we look for love in our peers. We feel attraction towards another that reminds us of love, which we pursue to increase the feeling. Our physical body causes us to feel separate and alone. Yet, the memory of true self remains in the recesses of our consciousness where there is no separation from all that is. Our natural state of being love is where we merge with all and everything. There is nothing that we are not and there is nothing that is not us.

We often refer to love as being physical. This is true on two levels. The physical proximity of the beloved does remind us of the sensation of love within our self. So we want to keep the beloved close to us. There is also the desire to merge with the beloved to remove our separateness. The act of making love is about merging with our lover. Obviously, the physical act of love is also about procreation. This goes without saying. But procreation does not necessarily mean one is experiencing the feeling of love. This desire may be based more upon the primal need to continue the species rather than upon experiencing the state of love.

There are times when we experience love within that is not focused upon another. It is a state of euphoria that encompasses our bodies and we are elevated by the experience. When we are kind, gentle and compassionate towards ourselves love surfaces. We slow down and observe stillness in the moment. There is a sense of peace that envelopes us. Our outward expression becomes one of loving towards all beings. We are not lacking, seeking, desiring or craving. We are simply in the bliss of the moment. The truth of our existence is here and now. There is no more.

A poem written by Rumi in the 13th century speaks about the meaning of love where all illusion of separateness disappears. I have provided his poem below.

The Meaning of Love
Both light and shadow
are the dance of love
Love has no cause
It is the astrolabe of God’s secrets
Lover and loving are inseparable
And timeless

Although I may try to describe love
When I experience it I am speechless
Although I may try to write about Love
I am rendered helpless.
My pen breaks and the paper slips away
At the ineffable place
Where Lover, Loving and Loved are one

Every moment is made glorious
By the light of love

At the point where “… lover, loving and loved are one..” is a moment of bliss. There is no explanation that can be written or spoken. It is experiential as is true understanding. Can you explain the experience of love to someone who has not felt it? How would you describe love? One cannot understand until one experiences it and in the experience we recall that it is all and everything. It is the eternal flame of what we are and what is the bliss of being.

Namaste
Wayne