Love

Intro

Introduced the Principles of Happiness as concrete practices for the exploration of Right Mind. In answer to the question “What does the exploration of Right Mind mean?” I would reply, “It is an exploration of the Principles of Happiness.” By the Principles of Happiness, I mean the principles that assure your happiness if you focus on exploring them and you endeavor to practice them. The Principles of Happiness include different principles, the first of which is the Principle of Love, the second the Principle of Wisdom, the third the Principle of Self-Reflection, and the fourth the Principle of Progress. Of course I have talked about various other principles; there are an abundance of ways to bring people happiness.

I have taught the importance of following these four tenets, explaining that if in your explorations of Right Mind you constantly keep these principles to the fore, you will not wander from the path and will be able to return to the heavenly world after death. In these explorations, you will even be able to endeavor to become an angel of light. This is why I tell the members of our Institute to endeavor to explore Right Mind, to find their Buddha-nature, the divine nature within, and to practice the four principles of love, wisdom, self-reflection and progress as concrete goals in their daily lives.

Firstly, I would like to offer the following words to open your eyes to enlightenment: “Are you sure you are not taking love when you think of loving someone? Are you sure that you do not consider love to be something you receive from others, or something you crave from others? That is not true love. It is because you think about receiving or taking that you are suffering.”

In ancient Buddhism, this was what was called “love,” love as an attachment. In the early days of Buddhism, attachment was referred to as “love,” whereas the true love, the giving love that I teach, was known as “compassion.” The love I teach is not attachment; it is compassion. Compassion means giving without looking for anything in return; compassion is the heart that only gives.

I refer to this as “giving love” because it is easier to understand in worldly terms. I could simply have called it “compassion,” but this is rather an old-fashioned word that modern people might find difficult to understand. So I translated it into the modern vernacular as “giving love,” something that even an elementary or junior high school student has no trouble comprehending.

When people think of “love,” in most cases they think of being loved by a man or a woman they like, or by their parents or children. In other words, they think of receiving love. When they do not receive sufficient love, they suffer. This kind of thinking is something that they have to change. If everyone wants to receive love and no one is left to give it, this will lead to a worldwide shortage of love. It is important first to supply love. If everyone supplies love, then the world will be filled with love.

<The Developmental Stages of Love>

Fundamental Love – Love for your neighbor, or neighborly love. It is the love you have for family, friends, or others you come into contact with daily. This may appear to be a low level of love, but this is not the case. If you can master this stage, you will be able to enter heaven

Spiritually Nurturing Love – Spiritually nurturing love is a love that requires wisdom, and it combines gentleness and strictness in the necessary degrees. This reveals a sterner side to love and requires wisdom to practice. It is the love of the teacher or leader. If you manage to achieve this level of loving, you will be recognized as an excellent leader in this world.

Forgiving Love – A spiritual state that is a much deeper form of love. You will be able to view things with an abundant sense of compassion. You will be moved by all living things undergoing spiritual refinement in this world. No matter how mistakenly a person may appear to be living, you will be able to discern in them the light of goodness, the light of their Buddha-nature, the divine nature.

Love Incarnate - The love of the great angels. Love incarnate indicates a state where a person’s very existence represents the spirit of the age, shining light upon the world. This stage is not something you yourself search for; it is public and later generations that will acknowledge it. Nevertheless, you can aim to be like the sun, bestowing life on all beings. Your wish to become the embodiment of compassion, like a cloud that blesses nature with rain, quenching the parched earth with the benevolence of water, this is the desire to manifest love incarnate. It is a determination to cast light on many, not only on the people around you.