Fiction and life . . . from the desk of Gwen M. Plano
  • Home
  • Blog Reflections
  • REDEMPTION THRILLER
  • THE CONTRACT Series
  • My Memoir
  • Poetry
  • About

Really, what is Perfect Love?

8/6/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
My friend and colleague, Fran Kramer, shares her perspective of Perfect Love. As a life coach, writer, educator and artist, she uses intuition to heal, problem solve and create. She lives in Hawai'i - a real garden of healing.

Her beautiful reflection follows:


Picture
We all want to experience Perfect Love yet do we ever seriously ponder the subject?  In answering the question most of us have no trouble coming up with definitions based on our experiences of not receiving it.  We all know what it isn’t.  To take a positive approach in defining Perfect Love, we could use St. Paul’s classic definition found in his first letter to the Corinthians 13:4-13 which gives a long list of love’s attributes such as “love is patient”, “love never fails,” etc.  Then there is the Dalai’s Lama’s pithy and direct bombshell, “Love is the Absence of Judgment.”   Or for an extended and complete analogy of love we may look at the life and death of Jesus who, paradoxically, made many judgments on people.   

Love: A Universal Truth and a Conventional Truth

I think Perfect Love is one of those spiritual paradoxes which can only be understand and practiced through an open, intuitive heart that doesn’t see reality as “either/or” but as “both/and.”   (See my blog “Intuition Helps Us Plumb the Depths of Spiritual Paradox,” May 30, 2014.) There are two levels of reality we are dealing with.  On one hand we have “Love is the Absence of Judgment” which conveys a universal truth.  It implies that at the root of all reality there is a perfect love that draws all things to itself.  This is a universal truth which is true for eternity and in all situations.  It underlies the teachings of all major religions.   To intuitively realize this truth at an experiential level is a major accomplishment of a human life.

On the other hand, we must live in the everyday world of conventional reality where we are called upon to make judgments all the time such as when we are evaluating our own behavior or that of our kids.    There are times when we must make difficult judgments indicative of tough love that often don’t look very loving on the surface such as when to divorce an abusive spouse or send a childish adult packing.  How and when do we love in these situations?   The complexity of these situations can be compounded if I need to ask if my judgment helps the greater good or helps the individual.   Often following the rules will only complicate or cause harm in the situation.  Sometimes to do the loving thing, we have to break the rules.  Then there are cultural differences.  Some cultures say doing one thing is right and another culture will say doing that very thing is wrong.  These are conventional truths we all have to live with which are only true for particular times, places, people, and cultures.  But when we do the right thing at the right time based on an intuitive, empathetic understanding of the situation, we are practicing love in conventional reality.  And most people will recognize it for what it is.

The Deeper Question

How do you resolve the differences between the Perfect Love of Universal Truth with the love of Conventional Truth?  That is the deeper question.  It is a paradox:  How to not judge in a situation that requires making a judgment.  In practicing Perfect Love, the task is to intuit moment by moment how the Universal Truth of Perfect Love can apply to this conventional truth I am dealing with now.    Only the intuitive heart has the answer.  It is the center point holding both Universal Truth and Conventional Truth.  It is a spiritual dimension which processes
the tensions between these two realities, the point that visualizes “on earth as it is in heaven” – and acts accordingly.  The result is Perfect Love: An intelligent action informed by the empathetic awareness of Universal Truth and Conventional Truth acting in my life.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    For blog updates, please subscribe below. 
    * indicates required

    RSS Feed


    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    June 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. ―Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning


Plano Enterprises, LLC
Photos used under Creative Commons from Kevin M. Gill, Joel Bedford, qthomasbower, crosescribe, Juho Holmi, diana_robinson, W Presley & B Kunce Photography......WI. USA, U.S. Geological Survey, Ian Sane, florianric, NikoMC, van Van Es, Yen Chao 趙彥, MissMessie, Yuriy Kuzin, Ben Zvan, Bichuas (E. Carton), Nina Matthews Photography, hehaden, alexdecarvalho, Tim RT, Kurdistan Photo كوردستان, Candida.Performa, peddhapati (Thanks for 1M Views!!!), Jhong Dizon | Photography, Waheed Akhtar Photography, lawmurray, USFWS Pacific, JalilArfaoui, SurFeRGiRL30, Lauren Finkel Photography, maf04, SantaRosa OLD SKOOL, Dakiny, vauvau, Zanastardust, Monica's Dad, timpeartrice, marumeganechan, Rafael Acorsi, seyed mostafa zamani, Jorge Franganillo, Irene Grassi (sun sand & sea), The National Guard, D.Fletcher, nada abdalla, Ted LaBar, alison.mckellar, Infomastern, Elvert Barnes, m01229, theglobalpanorama