THE PATH TO UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

When the term “unconditional love” became current, it marked a change in how we view love itself.

- Deepak Chopra

A mother loves her newborn child without reservation, and romantic love, in its first stages of infatuation, can make the beloved seem perfect. But it was new to believe that love without reservation, completely forgiving and accepting, could exist between two people in everyday life - in other words, a spiritual dimension has to be involved. This means that to love yourself unconditionally must come from a higher level. Looking in the mirror, all of us see too many flaws and remember too many past wounds and failings to love ourselves unconditionally.

There is a path to unconditional love, as with any spiritual aspiration. On this path, there is a beginning, middle, and end. Let me describe them a little to give you an idea of how the path unfolds.

Beginning:

You see yourself as wanting and needing love, usually more than you are receiving. You feel insecure about being lovable, but your ego is there to boost you (or not). You love others for the most part according to how much they love you or appeal to your sense of romance, sexuality, and compatibility. Relationships involve a constant negotiation between what you want and what your partner wants. Words that apply to love include the following: passion, attachment, dependency, merging, romance, mutual need, liking, and compatibility.

MIDDLE: