For Matt — because you saw it in me first.
Introduction
Let’s assume, just as a starting point, that I’ve got this right and love actually is power. Before it is possible to explain what this means we first have to address what I mean by love. I will say at the outset, I am no expert in knowing what love is in its entirety. I have some interesting ideas that I would like to expound on, but I make no claim to know everything about love.
However, I feel I have some experience in what I think love is not. So that’s where I want to start. Then I will explain the nature of love, its relationship to Love, the difference between Love and love, and how an understanding of how these two aspects of the same notion lead to power on many levels – physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Before I go further, I would like to explain my terminology. The basic premise of this book is that everything in the Universe has its source in a Divinely Creative Power, which I will refer to using a number of synonymous terms, including Divine Love, Source, All That Is, That Which Is, or Divine Principle. I could also use the word God, but I am often loath to use such a culturally and historically value-laden word. Over the ages the word God has been, misleadingly, anthropomorphised and has come to signify some super human in the sky who suffers the same emotions and shortcomings of the rest of the human race, and is thus not only capable of extreme love and care, but also of equally extreme vengeance, cruelty and judgment. I would like to offer an alternative understanding of God.
Also needing explanation is my use of capitalisation which may seem rather random and obscure. Capitalisation of words is a way to signify the spiritual Absolute. Words that are not capitalised refer to their human or physical world equivalents. Everything that we understand to exist in the physical world originates in Spirit and is, in fact, spiritual. As internationally renowned speaker and writer Wayne Dyer likes to say, we are actually spiritual beings having a human experience, rather than the other way round. The evidence of our five senses does not support this fact, but I hope to explain to some degree why sense testimony is fundamentally misleading when trying to understand the metaphysics that underpin Life and, therefore, life.
The difficulty lies in the fact that life as we know it is essentially a paradox. It seems to be one thing but is, in fact, something else and that what it seems to be has no bearing on, and gives no true indication of, what it truly is. For example, while we all think we understand what love is, we have no real notion of its spiritual source, Love. The best way to view this dichotomy is to see everything in its spiritual origin as existing in the realm of the Absolute, with their physical and human counterparts only being real in the physical world, or, the realm of the relative.
Because I am here in physical form my understanding of the Absolute is limited. This is the fundamental nature of the physical world: everything in it is limited. But just as the essence of the wave is that of the ocean, we can gain some understanding of the Absolute by our experience in the relative.
It is important to note, however, that while the essence is the same, the ocean and the wave are not identical. And that is the relationship of humans to Source. The Divine is within us, and gives life to us, but that is not to say that we are the same as the Divine Source, or Creative Principle. We contain within us the Divine Spark that some would call God, and it is from this notion that we learn to see ourselves as worthy of All That God Is. But while this demonstrates the deep, inextricable connection between the Spiritual, they are not one in the same. The Spiritual came first and the physical is merely a temporary phase we have adopted to obtain a more perfect knowing of what Life Is.
We are Life, or God if you prefer, manifested. The Divine Principle of Life that gave life to us exists in us as essence and we can use this knowledge to interpret our experience in this world to understand more of the Spiritual Universe, because knowing what Life Is is why we are here. The trick is knowing what Life Is in a world of what it is not.
The first term that requires definition and explanation is the word love. Our language and culture have ascribed meanings that I do not intend to include in my definitions. There are many emotional states that come in the guise of love but, in truth, have nothing whatsoever to do with it. Some of these states are neediness, loneliness, control, sexual appetite, lack of self-worth, fear, financial or emotional security, self-aggrandisement, jealousy and quid pro quo.
We often cannot admit to ourselves, let alone others, the true motives behind our behaviour and interactions with others, but we all know if we call it love, we are in the bounds of acceptability and we do not have to explain or justify ourselves. But we make a mistake if we listen merely to the words people use. The best way to discern the presence of love is to examine our own feelings.
If love is indeed present we feel we are where we are meant to be, that we are spiritually home, and that we can cope with whatever happens. Love is a deep spiritual resource in us that enables us to find peace, truth, beauty and power regardless of the external conditions of our lives.
A truly loving person does not try to change others. Love respects the other as they are and gives him, or her, the freedom to find their own truth in their own way. When we align our life with Love we understand that necessary adjustments occur externally so that we are all okay. Within us all resides the spiritual and emotional wisdom we need to align with Love.
Love is like a fountain that continues to flow, regardless of who is there to receive the water. Love is our essence, our reason for being. We are our true selves – that is, we are aligned with our true nature – when we love as perfectly as we can. Our quest is to be the fount for love.
Before we try to love others, however, we must first love ourselves. Part of this means we only stay in situations where we can live according to our own truth. But it first means that we only ever listen to our own inner voice and if that voice urges us to move out of a particular situation, then it is never love that keeps us in that space. That would be another emotion entirely.
It is difficult to speak in specifics on these topics. Each person must discern their own route in life; it is never valid or wise to allow others to dictate the path we should follow. Neither is it right for us to direct another in how to live their life. That is why we all have our own conscience, our own individual connection with Source or Spirit. Only we know what is right for us. None of us knows what is right for anybody else.
In practical terms, this may mean that in identical circumstances, one person might leave a situation or relationship, while another might stay. There are no hard and fast rules, no generalisations, no easy blueprints for how we are meant to live our lives.
The only hard and fast truth is that everything we ever need to know to live a meaningful and fulfilling life is within us. Love is the guard and guide that only ever speaks true wisdom and offers the wisest counsel. So the more we know about Love and its human counterpart, love, the more we know and understand about life and how each of us is meant to be living it.
If we truly love ourselves then we will never place ourselves in the way of harm, or expose ourselves to disrespectful, unkind, or unloving treatment. As I will explain in this text, we are the emanation and manifestation of the Divine and so we are worthy only of the best, in all aspects of life.
If we are living a life that is not peaceful, fulfilling and loving, then it is because we have not chosen it. To change our life circumstances we need to silence our fear and choose differently. We are always free to choose differently. That is the true power of Love. The Universe will always support and assist us in making the changes necessary to align our lives with our true nature as the manifestation of Love.
A
