Love is the fabric of the universe, it is the frequency of the universe and it is the flow of communication between beings. So much of love is discussed in popular culture, in songs and in entertainment but is that really love? We are not talking about romantic love here although that is a very small part of the love equation. Any part of the love pie can lead us to the true nature of love; romantic love, familial love, love of pets, love of tribe and especially love of self, as long as the ego is held in check. Unfortunately the ego can derail any of these paths of love with tragic consequences and it takes discipline to walk the knife’s edge toward enlightened understanding of the nature of love.
The closest that we can get to the concept of primordial love or of the kind of love that the Mother Creator has for her beings is unconditional love. Yet even that does not begin to express it fully. In the Vedic tradition we hear that our true nature is that of the unknowable divine, of Shiva, the one unmanifest God and we learn that that nature is Sat Chit Ananda – Being, Consciousness and Bliss. This is the kind of love we are talking about. It is a natural state of awareness, isness and acceptance. This is the state of Heaven, it is a state that is your natural birthright. It is a state that we all know, that we often chase after without really knowing how to get it.
Tiny hits of this bliss of heaven, our natural state can be tasted. We may feel it in a perfect piece of chocolate, the warmth of our loving interactions, in profound gratitude or in meditation and yet the feeling is fleeting. We chase it in even more dangerous ways, through drugs, sex and dangerous forms of stimulation that can never provide that lasting connection. One of the most delicious paths to cultivating this understanding and ultimate immersion is through the ancient Indian Bhakti tradition which simply prescribes love; love through service, love through chanting, love through dancing and love through worship. It is an easy and a most delicious path.
I feel singularly blessed to have experienced the primordial nature of love as there was a time in my life when I would lie awake at night and feel blissful waves of the energy of the universe roll over and past me. I have felt breathed by the universe and like a rushing river flowed through me. These are experiences of the natural and perpetual movement of love that is a conscious force of creativity, that permeates all things and nourishes all that is created. Once the impetus of creation moves from the stillness of the emptiness, which is really the universal field of potentiality then it becomes that love; a kind of nourishment, glue, substrate and consciousness all at once out of which we become.
So there it is, perhaps, the easiest way to know heaven is to commit to love. Commit to love unconditionally, commit to “love the one you’re with”. Commit to love anyone you can – family, friends, pets, enemies, co-workers and your self. If you don’t or can’t then focus really diligently on where you can love because where you focus is where seeds will grow. Commit to love in all circumstances. Seek out circumstances that foster love and while you are a fledgling unconditional lover avoid circumstances that circumvent your natural love. Be selfish with your cultivation of love. By this I mean selfishly cultivate love rather than fear or hate or jealousy or competition or any other state that chases your love away. Your love is more important than any other state, be grateful for it. Be grateful to those that provide you the opportunity to explore and expand it. Love will save you, it will save the world, Love is the world.
I want to share something with you that I was working on for a while starting in 2006. One day I picked up a Bible and it occurred to me that the creation story could be retold from a different point of view. Imagine that instead of a vengeful, judgmental God the Creator is a Mother – a loving, generous Mother whose only hope is that her creation will succeed and flourish and know its own greatness within her. Here is the result of my first few verses. I hope that you enjoy them.
BIRTH
Chapter 1
- First and always there was The Immaculate Womb,And this principle includes both male and female; for That Immaculate Divine Creator truly includes all and all is made from That. The Immaculate is all that ever was, is or will be as well as all that might and may never be as well as the potential for all that is and is not.And Its nature was, is and will always be perfect Love.
- The Immaculate Divine Creator is eternal absolute bliss where no thing and all things rest together in vast potential.
- All is merged in bliss and at once knew and did not know its fullest nature.
- Then in one eternal moment She inhaled and an extraordinary light burst from no being into being.
- When She saw this light she was overwhelmed with perfect Love and She knew that this was good.
- In this way the Immaculate Mother and her beloved, now separated may see and know each other. And the Divine Mother marked the birth of the first dawn.
- With sudden knowing and seeing by this extraordinary light came her divine desire to create, so out of her Immaculate Womb came the first thought.
- And She determined to reflect the unknown bliss of her non-being within this new thought that her fullest love might be known.