Love may mean different things to different people, but a general model includes a boy and girl who feel some mutual, perhaps mysterious attraction, and proceed to fall in love - of some type.

Most who fall in love, agree that some type of surrender and service is part of the package; a surrender of a me-first mentality plus a willingness to serve the needs of the beloved. When both parties in love are equality committed to the mood of service and sacrifice, love flourishes.

But what happens when one party is unable, or unwilling at some point, to meet or serve the needs of the other? Usually, the contract of love breaks, and one falls out of love, perhaps as quickly or as slowly as one fell in love. The attraction that once bonded the lovers fades, and the agreed  conditions that supported the love dissolve to point where one feels no impetus to invest any more energy into the relationship. Such is the state of conditional love; a shadow form of love without conditions.

There are exceptions to this dynamic, wherein one is able to give and receive unconditional love, when one has been blessed with an unconditioned, spiritual vision of reality.

Attraction sparks the beginning of love; surrender and service gives love wings.

Love for a person rather than an object, involves perceiving attractive attributes such as beauty, knowledge, strength, fame, wealth and detachment, qualities which attract one's mind and more.

A person with some degree of any, or all of these qualities, is attractive. As if by gravity, we are drawn to such personal opulence which can be seen on both the material and spiritual planes of reality.

However on the material plane of conditional life, an attractive person's opulence is limited and temporary. Conversely, on the spiritual platform, there are no limits. The Source of all-attractive opulence is unlimited and eternal when in a relationship the Supreme Person - who is the All-Attractive giver and receiver of unconditional love.

Because we, as sparks of spirit were created in the image of God, the form our love takes on the spiritual platform, is the same as that of our Creator - one of unconditional love, and service in love.

Having been created for the purpose of expanding ecstatic spiritual love, without spiritual vision and  practice, the surrender to and service of another materially conditioned soul has it limitations.

Ignoring both the divine existence of the Creator and the divine spark within each material body, the material conditions prohibit full expression of limitless unconditional love because of the shadow nature of material existence - where everything changes and is short-lived.

If we realize we are of the Supreme, for the Supreme, we will see symptoms of the Divine in everyone and everything. By surrender and service to such divine vision, one's unconditional loving nature will manifest automatically and proportionately, to one's deepening loving relationship to the Supreme Person.

Love allows for free will; love cannot be forced by us or God. When we choose it, it will manifest because it is already there, just slightly covered over, like dust on a mirror or smoke covering fire. The dust and smoke just need to be cleared in order to reflect and blaze, love of and for the Supreme - which divinely extends to everything and everyone.

Ancient scriptures describe that God has innumerable inconceivable attributes, and has names describing those qualities such as the All-mighty, or All-Compassionate, with a primary name for  Godhead noted as  Sri Krishna - the All-Attractive source of divine love.

We normally exist in the realms of duality; the push and pull of Yin and Yang; pleasure and pain, light and dark, union and separation, clarity and delusion.

Some think that without polar opposites, neither pole has meaning; that one has to know darkness to know light, or that pleasure cannot be appreciated without pain, or that love needs the shadow of hate to define itself. But in a higher sense, some things stand alone.

Although there is some measure of truth in the relative experience of duality being necessarily co-dependent, another model also exists where two can harmonize as one, through loving exchanges free from any shadow opposition, or hurtful polarity.

The higher model is experienced through Transcendence; by re-connecting with the Source of love, who expands both impersonally by His energy, and as the universally cognitive Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Just as the Sun radiates dual energies of both heat and light, so according to revealed knowledge  the Source of Creation radiates both material energies and eternal spiritual energies. The living entities seen within creation are of the eternal spiritual nature - it is as spark of conscious spiritual energy which animates the temporary material forms which house the spirit. Matter fades, spirit endures.

How the creation is manifested and for what purpose, is also found in revealed knowledge - with the conclusion being that creation is a type of cosmic playground, bullies included, meant for evoking the dormant spiritual love in each heart into action, by consciously re-connecting to one's universal Source, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who creates the conscious universe and resides energetically everywhere, including the heart of all living beings.

The Supreme expands without limits, for the purpose of expanding love. As God has complete free will, as emanations from the Supreme, each emanated spark of spirit has a spark of free will also, which allows the soul to choose union or separation from it's source. One can face the sun and move freely in it's light, or one can turn away from the light, wherein one's shadow instantly created - and the beginning of shadow reflections of karmic bondage are created with each action performed with one's back to the light.

How Supreme expands the material and spiritual energies is revealed in ancient Sanskrit texts. It is also reveled that the individual sparks of spiritual consciousness that populate the material universe such as you and I, are of the same spiritual quality as the Source we emanated from - but we are quantitatively different - as a spark's potency is significantly less than the raging fire from which it emanated. When one's actions are performed with love in service of the Supreme good, one becomes godly, but not God. In spirit we are one with God, constitutionally equipped to participate in a loving dance with the Supreme, if we so desire. It takes two to tango. This truth plays out both in our earthly circumstance, and continues intact even after one's spiritual liberation.

Across all spiritual traditions, saints and sages have described the divine feelings of ecstatic love that manifest within and without, as they traversed the path of transcendent spiritual enlightenment on the way back home, back to Godhead. Occasionally revealed in the heart during a state of trance, or in a continual state of transcendence called "samadhi', one consciously experiences that material duality dissolves into a non-dual spiritual plurality wherein three aspects of spirit abound in oneness, namely: 1. you, as an eternal spark of individual consciousness 2. the Source of all forms of consciousness and all that is 3. the personal energetic exchange; a dance serving the mellows of love exchanged between each conscious spark and it's energetic  Source, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such loving exchanges even when performed through one's earthly body, manifest one's eternal spiritual form, function, purpose over time, allowing one to actively enter non-dual timelessness, fully endowed with a loving purpose manifested.

BHAGAVAD GITA (APPROXIMATELY 3,000 BC) Chapter 6, text 20-23

"The stage of perfection is called trance, or samādhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga (connecting with God). This is characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact."

“What you seek is seeking you.”

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”

“I was dead, then alive.
Weeping, then laughing.
The power of love came into me,
and I became fierce like a lion,
then tender like the evening star.”

“Gamble everything for love, if you are a true human being. If not, leave this gathering. Half-heartedness doesn’t reach into majesty.”

“Give up to grace. The ocean takes care of each wave 'til it gets to shore. You need more help than you know.”

“For ages you have come and gone
courting this delusion.
For ages you have run from the pain
and forfeited the ecstasy.
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul...

You descended from Adam, by the pure Word of God,
but you turned your sight
to the empty show of this world.
Alas, how can you be satisfied with so little?
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul...."

It is said "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". Although not an absolute truth, it sometimes applies.

In a material sense, sometimes the tendency is to take another person's presence for granted until a day comes when separation happens by time or circumstance, at which time that person's value is more clearly recognized, fostering a desire for re-union.

In a spiritual sense, the conscious spirit is suffering separation from it's spiritual Source, while living covered over by material elements and conceptions. For one truly seeking re-connection, the path is usually one of glimpses in stages to that state of grace, where the presence of the divine is felt within one's field of activities. Once felt and nurtured in the heart, nothing compares to that deepest awe and personal love of the Divine's presence; taking the form of loving reciprocation with the ever-present and all-pervasive Supreme Lord who is looking to reclaim His willing dance partner.

In post-graduate spirituality, it is described in sacred texts that the pastimes in the spiritual realm contain inconceivable oneness yet difference, in each soul's union with the Supreme. Such pastimes are laced with ecstatic varieties of union and separation - rather than static monism with no varieties of flavor or 'Rasa" - the mellow of loving exchange. Thus even a lover's lament during separation until the next union on the spiritual platform, is supremely sweet. Absence makes the heart grow fonder..

This concept is only dimly reflected in our mundane realm as sometimes it may hold true, and at other times, continued separation from unwanted elements is required. But saints and sages have confirmed through their own experience - a higher reality exists wherein there are only unlimited grades of increasing sweetness flowing from the Supreme Lord, which cannot compare to any flickering thrill offered on the separated material plane of misguided exploitation.

More references: Bhagavad Gita (The Song of God)  Ch 7, Text 4-9, Ch 10. Text 8 - 11

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies.

Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which are all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.

Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both its origin and dissolution.

O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.

O son of Kuntī [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.

I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.

The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are surrendered to Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss enlightening one another and conversing about Me.

To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.

Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.

If there was a "Spirituality 101" educational course, most likely the first lesson would be:

"You, Are A Spark Of Eternal Spirit; you are not the changing body made of flesh and bone"


We can remember being present in a child's body, but that body is no longer present.

At some point, our present body will also cease to exist, but the conscious self, as a spark of eternal spiritual energy, goes on, and on, and on..

The Line Between Matter and Spirit

Rather than considering knowledge to be memorizing and coughing up temporary facts and figures, ancient wisdom considered that real knowledge consists of critically understanding: what is matter, what is spirit, and who is the controller of both. We did create our physical form, nor do we have full control of it.

It is something to consider; who created life, who created the universe, and who controls it.

We did not create ourselves, nor are we really in full control of anything much, including our own bodies.

Although we are sparks of conscious spirit aware of our own body, only the Source of all life is aware of all bodies at the same time. That is one of the differences between Source/God and the indevidual; both are constituted of pure spiritual conscious energy but one is finite, and other One is infinite.

This is the inconceivable nature of the Supreme, who can be present within each person's heart, and yet be very far away as well. Just as the sun although seemingly a remote 90 million miles away, extends it's touch as the light and heat felt personally by billions of people simultaneously.

It is furthermore considered that just as heat and light are produced by the sun which is the source of energy sustaining life on earth, similarly both matter and spirit are separated energies, produced by one Supreme Source.


Basically all spiritually-minded traditions explain that the individual consciousness which inhabits a physical body, continues to exist in one realm or another, after the demise of the fleshy body.

Tat Tvam Asi  Thou Art That (But not All That)
In the ancient Sanskrit language  "तत्त्वमसि" is found in the Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7  and more recently written about by the philosopher Joseph Campbell. "Tat Tvam Asi" is a phrase which translates as "Thou Art That" - considering  "That" as being the non-material essence of being, or spirit, which is not defined or confined by any material element or designation.

Thou are spirit, not the material body, just as the driver of a car is not the car, but is seated within the car. Without a capable driver, a car does not serve it's intended function. Similarly, if the conscious spirit within the body neglects to utilize the body in loving service - choosing only to race in obsessive circles, the intended function and purpose of one's body and journey on earth is unfortunately misguided - resulting in the spirit/soul missing the chance to realize it's highest potential - expressing and receiving unconditional love in this lifetime by beyond, by re-connecting with Source/Godhead.

Where that conscious spirit goes after death is another topic, but suffice it to say that one's destination is determined by one's use of individual free will; by one's strong desires and by one's actions, a future constructed to fulfill one's desires - be they material or spiritual in nature.

It's same principle as observed in daily life; today's choices and activities have a large impact on one's future state of being, even as related to work, exercise or eating habits.

Learning to live free from fear and obsessiveness comes naturally when one begins to discriminate as to what is matter, what is spirit, and understands how the Supreme Source is the the controller of both.

It is considered by enlightened spiritual masters that the last snare of illusion is to consider that one has become equal to God/Source in every way. Being created in the image of God, we are pure spirit as is God, but are described as infinitesimal sparks of spiritual potency, compared to the original unlimited, infinite potency of our God/Source.

To exchange unconditional love with Source, is the highest felicity, beatitude, and blessed destination of the individual soul. Being one with God means becoming godly but not becoming God.

Thou art That, but Thou are not All That; constitutionally we individuality eternally exists as a required component/medium for the exchange of love. 

This understanding of Oneness yet individuality on the spiritual platform, is the reality where the highest love can be exchanged.

To walk the line of understanding the duality of matter and spirit, as well as realizing Who controls both, allows for a blissful loving lifestyle of service and reciprocation from the Supreme, wherein God becomes the most dear to the individual, and the individual is most dear to the Supreme Lord.

When seeking medical advise for a troubling condition, it's sometimes wise to get a second opinion. It's not uncommon for authorized practitioners to have different diagnoses as to what one's present condition might be, as well the best course of action for optimal health.

As to everyone's present state, life is a process; an ongoing procedure of events registered both internally and externally over time. As time goes on we face conditions which alert us that there may be room for improvement in our human condition.

Life happens, but how life happens is still a mystery, plus life doesn't always play out according to one's plans. Or as more succinctly observed by John Lennon, "Life is what happens while you're making other plans".

The Thinker
(French: Le Penseur)
Bronze Sculpture 
by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
Paris
Inspired by Dante's narrative poem Divine Comedy

One thing we do know about life, and specifically about our own individual life, is that we did not create ourselves. It was only due the collaboration of one's parents that conception occurred and a living body as vehicle of consciousness was delivered into the world.

Science does not have all the answers as to how the body and consciousness function, or how to avoid/cure all unwanted conditions that appear over time. Although medical science has some knowledge of the physical body, much less is known about the consciousness within the body - aside from the fact that it is known to exist. Because scientists and laymen alike experience consciousness firsthand, laboratory experiments or mathematical formulae are not required to prove consciousness exists. Whether consciousness arises from chance chemical interactions, or is a symptom of something much more subtle with a specific purpose is something many have pondered over time.

(Latin: Cogito, Ergo Sum)
René Descartes (1596–1650)
French Philosopher and Mathematician

Some in science suggest that life and consciousness are only a result of random chemical interactions, manifesting by chance, arising without purpose. But this concept has yet to be proven, or demonstrated by showing that a dead physical body can be given life and consciousness by an infusion of chemicals; the same chemicals which are said to have alone created life originally and which are readily available in the laboratory.

Others in science admit that consciousness itself has yet be be rationally understood by the scientific method, yet ironically, it is only through the mysterious phenomenon of personal consciousness that we seek to rationally comprehend the nature of reality and life itself, such as being proposed in various theories such as Quantum Mechanics / String Theory.

Sir Roger Penrose, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, who shared the 1988 Wolf prize with Steven Hawking for physics, states:

"It is curious how physicists are reluctant to regard Quantum Mechanics as an incomplete theory in some profound sense even though it shows up inconsistency about itself"..."I definitely believe that QM is not a final theory and it is incomplete. i agree with Einstein in that sense." ..we certainly don't believe that consciousness can be understood in terms of present day science" ..... "consciousness is not purely for only a human being, but something which goes far down the the animal kingdom, but I do not know how far down.....Yes, I frankly admit that there are many things in Nature that we do not understand. There is something really deep, very deep. It is 'mysterious' if you what to use that word."

Albert Einstein: "The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is in the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science..."*

Dr T.D. Singh PhD (Physical Organic Chemistry - University of California Irvine) a scholar-monk of India's Vedantic tradition: "According to the Vedantic viewpoint, beyond the quantum phenomenon of the mind, there is a conscious life particle called the 'soul' or the 'self' or the 'spiriton" as I call it".... the Vedantic literatures describe very clearly that all living beings from microbes to human beings posses different levels of consciousness. Thus consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality." .... "It ('Acintya') means something very mysterious, inconceivable and beyond our ability to comprehend... In this ancient tradition, this word acintya is an attribute given to God.. these (inconceivable) attributes are visible everywhere in quantum physics and in biological sciences."*

*From SCIENCE, SPIRITUALLY AND THE NATURE OF REALITY - A Discussion between Sir Roger Penrose and Dr T.D. Singh  Copyright 2005 The Bhaktivedanta Institute Kolkata

Vedantic texts describe consciousness as a symptom of the soul, or the spiritual essence of a living being. It is one's in consciousness, where experiences such as love, beauty, art, poetry, music and compassion are revealed. Such finer aspects, subjective experiences in consciousness which have have reality and meaning to the individually conscious knower, tend to escape the external scientific method which tries to objectively measure or grasp conscious refinement with lab equipment or mathematical models.

In conclusion, when considering one's life condition and the best prescription for moving forward with robust health on all levels, one may consider whether the mechanistic, hard-science-only based chemical model is sufficient, or if a second opinion where scientific views including a non-material, spiritual component defining life is included to gracefully fill in the materially inconceivable gaps - is useful.

Being present, or mindful of the present moment, is something that is being given more value as of late by thoughtful people in all walks of life. That the time is now, on so many levels, may be the impetus to consider whether life is a meaningless temporary exhibition of material chemical interactions producing random states of awareness - or if a mysterious but consciously-knowable spirit of life exists, which does in time manifest soul-full expressions of beauty, art, music and love eternal.

Eternal time is included right now, in the present moment, but as for the time left in one's present body to choose one's future direction;  "Time and tide wait for no man" - Chaucer.

Or as a new adage might suggest on choosing one's direction: Take your time, but hurry up. :-)

A second opinion as to the nature of life and one's purpose, which includes science plus the philosophical allowance for the inconceivable existence of a High Power working withing and without, may prove valuable; side effects may include experiencing increasing knowledge, blissfulness and the presence of Divine love, harmony and guidance revealed throughout one's journey through time.

Although love is of various types and may mean different things to different people, putting semantics aside for the moment, love's attractive, energetic power is a force to be dealt with and naturally nurtured, in everyone's timeless journey of conscious awareness.

Usually, love and attraction go hand in hand, reciprocated between a lover and beloved. But other times, a one-way attraction can be felt for a person or object, where an exploitative, consumerism-type mentality predominates, devoid of any genuine affection for the person or thing being objectified. Such a "love" then degrades into a selfish compulsion, rather than reciprocal bliss.

The Oxford Dictionary includes these dual components in it's definition of love: an intense feeling of deep affection, a great interest and pleasure in something. One may wonder about love's source.

The type of attraction felt for animate or inanimate objects, is first felt in the subjective mind of an observer; who's particular tastes have been developed over time, and fed by one's particular set of senses, grouped around the mind. In other words each individual has a particular set of senses and mental constructs, which determine what's attractive or not, on the subjective conscious level. How each person's individual tastes and desires are manifested over time, is described nicely in the Bhagavad Gita, As It Is - texts 15.8-11

"The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.

The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, tongue, and nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.

The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.

The endeavoring transcendentalist, who is situated in self-realization, can see all this clearly. But those who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is taking place, though they may try to."

How a person interacts with the object of desire or attraction, depends on the individual's nature as to mind, intelligence, material ego, as well as one's heart of hearts (real spiritual ego/identity) One's pure spiritual heart and soul, is underlying the other 3 subtle material bodies (mind, intelligence, false ego). It is on the platform of pure spiritual identity that one can reciprocate love of an eternal nature, with the Supreme Source of love, even in the present moment, in one's present body with one's purified transcendental senses. One way to awaken the spiritual senses, is through repeating the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra; the great chant/prayer for deliverance.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Prayers from Lord Brahma the secondary, co-creator of the material universe to Sri Krishna.
Brahma Samhita text 1,32,33,35,37,38