...what’s love got to do, got to do with it?
what’s love but a second hand emotion?*
Been thinking lately
About how love is both universal
and probably the most misunderstood human state of being.
What’s love got to do with it?
It’s easier to say what love is not.
It’s not a feeling.
It’s probably not comprehensible.
It’s not lust, although that may be a doorway.
It’s not about being in it, and then out of it.
What might it be like, then?
A force that requires learning about our universal human frailties.
A mirror for un-doing our perceptions about ‘the other’.
The sense of being a small but vital part of the universe
as when an infant wraps her fingers
around yours as she struggles to release to sleep
and then drifts off, feeling your presence and care:
you see her and she sees you
clearly and with compassion.
Love just might be the driving force that is leading us Home.
*NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO, Nirchiren Buddhist chant. This popular chant has helped millions, including Tina and me, to find peace and a sense of perspective, transcendence and a sense of self-mastery.
Nam (devotion): Devoting one’s life to this law through faith, practice, and study, one can attain enlightenment.
Myoho (mystic law): Symbolizing the mysterious nature of life that we rarely even glimpse, to say nothing of fathoming.
Renge (cause and effect): Perceiving life through the universal law of cause and effect.
Kyo (sound or vibration): The ultimate universal truth expressed through sound/vibration. (Most ancient religious traditions speak to the power of sound--the words we speak, made up of sacred sounds are far more powerful and complex than we know.)
This mantra assumes it is possible for all individuals to attain buddhahood, or awakening. Buddhahood is often misconceived as a transcendental or esoteric state. However, Nirchiren Buddhists view enlightenment as an attainable life condition, characterized by boundless hope, positive energy, courage, wisdom, and compassion.
This offering is for this week’s One Single Impression prompt, love. The week's prompt is from Cassiopeia Rises.