Our culture is quite confused when it comes to love: we tend to associate it with the romantic love we see in movies and read about in books. We view love as a sentiment that is mostly about what feels good for each one of us; it is something tumultuous, that comes and goes, that we can find and lose.
And yet there is another kind of love: one that is always present, always accessible and unconditional. It is what in Buddhist tradition is called metta. It is the kind of love that connects us all as sentient beings, the force that unites us as waves of the same ocean. When we feel metta for ourselves or someone else, we do so because we recognize the light that is within each one of us.
And yet, many of us lose sight of this light within us; through spiritual practice, we can cultivate and develop our access to unconditional love, and the light within. This can open the door to incredible and profound transformation.
"The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing [...]"
- Galway Kinnel
If you are ready to begin your spiritual journey, I invite you to join me on Sunday, November 6th, 2022 for a one-day mindfulness retreat titled "Re-Inhabiting our Bodies". You can sign up here. I look forward to practicing together with you!