Valentine's Day

​Valentine’s Day is a good day to ponder the mystery of love.  According to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu from Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing ) Chapter 1, “The Tao (the Source) that can be told is not the eternal Tao."  For me, this is the case with love.  Love is mysterious and cannot easily be told or understood.   

Psychologists try to understand love by categorizing it into many different types of love:  Agape, Eros, Philia, and more.  Musicians try to express the meaning of love in songs.  In 1984 U2’s Bono composed Pride (In the Name of Love). The Persian poets Rumi and Hafiz wrote about the ecstasy of divine love.  The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote a book of love poems, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair.  Artist Gustav Klimt depicted love in his work The Kiss.  Sculptor Robert Indiana created a 12 x 12 x 6 foot sculpture out of the word LOVE.  Most of us have heard the quote, “Love makes the world go around.”  

Why do we have this need to express love in so many ways?  A Yogi tea bag message wrote, “You don’t need love.  You are the love.”   A friend's refrigerator magnet said,  "We are made in the image of God and the name of that God is love."  If we are love and come from love, it makes sense to me that we would want to express our true nature, which is one of love.   

A spiritual teacher, Ishwar Puri, had this to say about love.  Love comes instantaneously and does not involve the mind.  We love at first sight but then our minds confuse us.  Our minds start asking questions and doubting.   Ishwar is not talking about not using our minds wisely to decipher whether someone is healthy for us or not, but rather, not over analyzing so that the essence of love is squeezed out like an old rag.   

Because we embody love, we must first honor and love ourselves.  Self-love is not selfishness but rather it is a spiritual principle, which leads to self-care.  We must love ourselves so that we can honor and love each other in a healthy and pure way, without strings attached.  Ishwar Puri said, “No matter what the question is.  Love is the answer.”  If our actions are guided by love, it most likely will benefit us as well as others. 

Eternal and unconditional love, like the Tao, is hard to be told, or to be understood. Love exists in its purity.  Love flows inside us and we can work with its energy to manifest a lot of good within us and for others around us. 
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Love is also fun and playful to experience.  We might never understand love’s mysterious ways, but we can feel it and enjoy it, especially on this Valentine’s Day!