what is this "love" of which you speak?

What do you guys think about the role or place of love (in the sense of unconditional love, not romantic love) in practice and awakening?

It's certainly got a place in Christian mysticism, but is there an equivalent in other traditions?

It's a bit of a vocabulary question, I guess, because the sensation of peace/bliss/connectedness that I would call unconditional love might be called something else by others.

I always thought that was what 'bodhicitta' meant...?

(just realized this went in the wrong forum category by accident, sorry about that)

@Kate - perhaps - it seems to overlap anyway, though be a bit more technical - based solely on looking it up on wikipedia! In sum it says:

"So, the term bodhicitta in its most complete sense would combine both:
the arising of spontaneous and limitless compassion for all sentient beings, andthe falling away of the attachment to the illusion of an inherently existent self."In any case, that seems quite a bit weightier and more complicated than the simple word "love" but perhaps it is quite related. Not sure.

While I was reading that page, I came across this fascinating tidbit:

"Buddhism teaches that many bodhisattvas neither teach nor announce
themselves in any way at all, but live apparently ordinary lives and
help other sentient beings by stealth. It is regarded as a very healthy
contemplation to hold the view that all other beings may actually be hidden bodhisattvas, including those we do not like."

Reminds me of dozens of folktales I've heard where a beggar/homeless guy/strange wandering person is taken in (or spurned) by a family and fed, only to turn out later to have been a holy man, saint, angel etc. in disguise.

Also reminds me that despite feeling quite loving in general in recent days, I killed a spider that I discovered in my bed last night. I did apologize and wish him a beneficial reincarnation, for what it's worth.

It's funny, because on of the changes I've had over the past year is far less inclination to kill insects. I rescue fruit flies from my drinks, save snails that I discover on store-bought produce, help strange lost insects out of the path of foot traffic and onto nearby bushes, and have tolerated two species of wasp nesting on the veranda. I usually chit chat with them gently while helping them out of the way. I have even in general been much more tolerant and unbothered by spiders, which were a huge phobia of mine since childhood (like run screaming from the room kind of phobia).

Hunting spider (tending to be venomous) of unknown tropical species in the bed - sorry, that required consideration of a late night hospital trip should it bite, and it was not in a location where I could capture it without a high risk of missing (and hunting spiders are notoriously fast moving). That I was then able to go to bed and fall asleep was a bit of a novelty. In the past I would have been jumpy and creepy-crawly for hours after, and probably slept on the couch just to avoid the association.

There was a great talk by Steven Weintraub that I posted here once. The gist of a lot of it was that "the great green earth is the gate of liberation," meaning that each thing happening or existing in each moment can be a gateway to lead us to liberation. Which is true, I think.
Anyway, in that view, all persons encountered at all times then are bodhisattvas whether they even know it or not because they are always offering a gate of liberation for us to enter if we so chose.
Thus, yesterday when my boss gave me an impromptu lecture about "what your job is" peppered with the F word, he was a perfect boddhisattva.

I must admit that rats and mice disgust me and if they enter my house, yard, or garage they have to die.

Buddhism has the concept of Metta (literally love, often translated as loving-kindness or friendliness) which is considered one of the 4 divine abodes. Metta has an important place for many practicing buddhists both eastern and western, even those who don't meditate (which is most of 'em). Chanting the Metta Sutta is a very popular practice among monks and lay people.

I think Metta is related to Bodhicitta. It is said (and you can probably see that in your own experience) that when love (Metta) meets the suffering of others it becomes compassion (that being one of the key components of Bodhicitta).

Metta has been a large part of my practice in recent months. I have been cultivating the feeling of love (for myself, for others) and open-heartedness and using that as an object for concentration practice. You might imagine, it can be quite a pleasant practice (although it took a while for me to get to the point of it being pleasant, Metta can be a purifying practice as well).

You can also use Metta as part of insight practice. The idea here would be to infuse one's attention with love, openness and acceptance. This can increase the intimacy one has with sensations as they arise and pass and I've also found it helpful in getting through blocks in my practice, especially when said blocks were related to fear or aversion.

/off my soap box.
Eran.

@mike - gotta love *that* kind of cussin' boddhisattva!! Did you manage to pour love right back at him instead of wanting to slap him upside the head?

But you make a good point, and it reminds me of a meditation we did at the Tendai center near my house once, where the phrase to contemplate for an hour was "Every moment is equally worthy of mindfulness."

If every moment isn't equally worthy of mindfulness, which should be left out?

@eran great stuff. There's a related quote in a talk I read last night by a Christian teacher, who said "Moving deeper into love is simply the opposite of resisting."

(a little elf pointed me at this talk, for those interested in more: http://www.soundstrue.com/podcast/cynthia-bourgeault-encountering-the-wisdom-jesus )

Metta practice is good stuff. It was interesting, the half dozen times I worked with a Tibetan teacher all of the practices were (after much lengthy chanting in a foreign language) visualizations of compassion being extended to all sentient beings. The times we did specific metta practices at the Tendai center it often involved sending compassion first to those you loved (in the worldly sense), then to neutral people, and then to people "you had difficulties with" (ie hated), and that indeed was not always easy to do.

I think in modern usage the word compassion doesn't quite carry the fullness of what I mean by unconditional love - it tends to be (mis)used in common conversation to connote a sort of pity, or be bound to this idea of suffering. I mean, do you feel the same compassion for the beautiful flower in the sunshine as the injured deer by the side of the road?

I guess I feel like this sort of love I'm thinking about is so vast it is contains or includes suffering without any disturbance, and it also exists apart from suffering. Not sure that makes sense.

Well, the truth of it is ... he was right, sometimes I need a wake up call on work stuff. It's his law practice I'm supporting so he has a right to get adamant every once in a while. He is basically a good guy -- just very very blunt, which I actually prefer.

@eran great stuff. There's a related quote in a talk I read last night by a Christian teacher, who said "Moving deeper into love is simply the opposite of resisting." (a little elf pointed me at this talk, for those interested in more: [url])

-ona

I read a part of the transcript where she talks about love flowing around in the trinity and I think what she's talking about is very similar to what is meant by Metta. I can't say I've explored it nearly as deeply but it seems to be pointing in the same direction.

Metta practice is good stuff. It was interesting, the half dozen times I worked with a Tibetan teacher all of the practices were (after much lengthy chanting in a foreign language) visualizations of compassion being extended to all sentient beings. The times we did specific metta practices at the Tendai center it often involved sending compassion first to those you loved (in the worldly sense), then to neutral people, and then to people "you had difficulties with" (ie hated), and that indeed was not always easy to do.

-ona

Yep, that's a classic form of Metta and compassion practice. One can also practice it in a less formal way where you just infuse your attention with love throughout the day. I think that form of practice may be closer to what you're thinking of.

I think in modern usage the word compassion doesn't quite carry the fullness of what I mean by unconditional love - it tends to be (mis)used in common conversation to connote a sort of pity, or be bound to this idea of suffering. I mean, do you feel the same compassion for the beautiful flower in the sunshine as the injured deer by the side of the road? I guess I feel like this sort of love I'm thinking about is so vast it is contains or includes suffering without any disturbance, and it also exists apart from suffering. Not sure that makes sense.

-ona

I agree, compassion is not pity, but i think we may just have a semantic difference here. I see love as complete and all inclusive. When I speak of compassion I mean a form of love, love transformed by meeting pain or suffering. Similarly, Joy is a form of love, transformed by meeting goodness, success, accomplishment, etc.

Love/compassion can include everything and anything and is not disturbed because it is supported by equanimity. It accepts and includes everything, leaves nothing out. However, you may notice that the feeling in your body is different when you experience love, compassion and altruistic joy (as I described them above). All are forms of love or fueled by love but they manifest slightly differently in my experience.

...
I agree, compassion is not pity, but i think we may just have a semantic difference here. I see love as complete and all inclusive. When I speak of compassion I mean a form of love, love transformed by meeting pain or suffering. Similarly, Joy is a form of love, transformed by meeting goodness, success, accomplishment, etc.
Love/compassion can include everything and anything and is not disturbed because it is supported by equanimity. It accepts and includes everything, leaves nothing out. However, you may notice that the feeling in your body is different when you experience love, compassion and altruistic joy (as I described them above). All are forms of love or fueled by love but they manifest slightly differently in my experience.


-eran

Yes, I think it's just a semantic difference. I hadn't thought about the distinctions of the differences in manifestation as you describe it. But "It accepts and includes everything, leaves nothing out" hits the nail on the head for me.