All roads lead to love

I recently said to someone, ‘All relationships, in whatever form, eventually teach us love.’ She could not understand it, and cited references of abusive marriages or parents or vengeful business enemies. How was it possible for such relationships to teach us love when all we took away from them was angst, rage or the fire of loathing?

So let me try explaining. Recent developments in quantum physics and molecular biology have reaffirmed ancient Vedic assertions that the material world is nothing but energy – spinning at fantastical speeds, creating an ‘illusion’ of physical form but in essence being formless. With our naked eye, and limited intellect, we are unable to fathom this curtain of illusion, and we see it as the ‘truth’, as ‘reality’ and all that there is. But when powerful microscopes and other scientific instruments go to the core of the matter (pun intended) – well, there’s nothing there, but energy. And it’s the very same energy that runs through every single form in the universe.

That reaffirms the Buddha’s teachings that we are all One.

Further, most life forms follow the phototropic principle – that is, they gravitate towards light. Mammals not only gravitate towards light but also warmth and bonding. Humans, going further, gravitate towards light, warmth, bonding and love. If we accept the fact that we (all animals, plants, humans, non-living objects, space and the universe) are One, and made up of the same energy, then maybe we can also accept that we all love Love, and will move and grow towards it.

From the philosophical perspective, gurus tell us that we karmically attract situations to our life which will teach us exactly what we need to learn in order to grow as a spirit on the path to enlightenment / attainment of moksha. So even what we perceive as a 'negative situation' is not negative: it is merely a situation, but given our social conditioning and limited knowledge, we label it 'good' or 'bad'. So hate is not necessarily bad, and neither is rage or jealousy or vengeance. Even the worst atrocities committed by humankind show up later in the cycle of human evolution as a lesson in unity, compassion or a surge in humane consciousness. Eventually, even the most 'negative'-seeming situation WILL teach us love, which is why it happened.

And why do all living beings gravitate towards love? Because that is what Brahma is. Infinite, spontaneous, compassionate love. It's simple really, and so obvious, no?