SELF-LOVE: The Another Way of Divine Love

When the world is busy in valentine celebration, loving their better-halves …… where still people have less self worth and self love remained for themselves.

Treat yourself with love and respect, and you will attract people who show you love and respect

– The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

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As next to food to human soul every being seek for love. Love is an attribute that can never be explained through wealth or knowledge. According to Swami Vivekananda, love is an expression of the sense of unity, identification, relationship of a soul with another in a divine way. Love is unconditional and meaningless, it can be any form, it can be of any shape and size.

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But often, people do think and define it wrongly. They often confuse love with soul and body, but from sages it is believed that true love based on the unity of consciousness. That, we called as “Eternal Love”. Because from ancient ages, ideality for love is based on oneness of our own supreme self or God. First of all, love towards oneself that is, relation to oneself only proves the real love. As you yourself not pay love to yourself , then no one else will never bother to do.

So, principle of divine love in human relationship can be applied in between parents, children, brother-sisters, between friends, employers and its employees, teachers and their beloved students, doctors and patients, fellow travellers, pet-lovers and other innumerable relationships. And the love itself binds with number of mismatches, misunderstandings, quarrels, conflicts etc, which makes the meaning of divine love more stronger.

A musical verse by  Oscar Hammerstein,  from movie Sound of Music 1965 is

A bell is no bell’til

You ring it,

A song is no song’til

You sing it,

And love in your heart

Wasn’t put there to stay-

Love isn’t love

’ til you give it way……

Love is everything it’s cracked up to be, it’s really a worth fighting and risking as everything for.  There are number of philosophical theories explaining the meaning of divinisation of love, vast number of western philosophers believe love is a healthy behaviour, an evolutionary theory holding love or a natural selection, or else can be explained in terms of spiritual way of connecting with God or a mystical experience.

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Among the prevailing types it is defined further and classified accordingly:

• “Eros” or Erotic Love.
• “Philia” or Affectionate Love.
• “Storge” or Familiar Love.
• “Ludus” or Playful Love.
• “Mania” or Obsessive Love.
• “Pragma” or Enduring Love.
• “Philautia” or Self Love.
• “Agape” or Selfless Love

The truth is unity of; all selves with the supreme self and that is the ultimate basis of human love and love with eternity.  That is why it is believed that when you start loving yourself ultimately your love for humans and others will also persist meanwhile. Western philosopher St Augustine once quoted

“Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of soul”.