HOW CULTURE SHAPES Our Opuersanding of CORPSON

Exploring how cultural roots and spiritual traditions redefine love as a conscious, cultivated practice, far beyond fleeting emotion.

- By Anshu Bahanda

Recently, while walking down a crowded street, dropped my handbag by accident. Before I could even react, two strangers bent down to help me gather its contents. It was a moment so brief, and yet so powerful.

In a world where we're often told to be cautious, to guard ourselves, to fear others, this small act felt like a pocket of humanity opening up around me. I thought about it for the rest of the day.

Not just the kindness, but the feeling it left behind. A warmth. A softening. And I began to wonder: What if love and compassion aren't just feelings that come and go? What if they're practices, skills we can grow stronger in, like muscles?

Love That Endures In my search to understand love as a conscious practice, I turned to Bhante Sujatha, a monk who has devoted his life to the path of loving-kindness. He became a monk at ten and now guides others around the world in the cultivation of inner peace.

He said something that truly stayed with me: "Love is a weak human emotion. Loving compassion is the quality." It startled me. But he explained, feelings are unstable.

"At first, love is mixed with excitement," he said. "But when that fades, the real practice begins." Through meditation, through self-reflection, love evolves. It becomes less about emotion and more about being.