Watching a red-tailed hawk rise and wheel in silent graceful arcs above Meditation Mount on a warm spring morning had me pondering on what really gives lift to our lives and can raise consciousness to new heights.
What is the missing element that carries life ever upwards and liberates us from the gravitational pull of earthly fears and fixations? While contemplating this question in the timeless space overlooking the Ojai Valley in Southern California, the answer came swooping in from the blue above: “the Fire of Unconditional Love”.
Since childhood I have been fascinated with our avian allies and have often dreamt of emulating their skill to ascend. I am gradually discovering it is the warmth radiating from an open and caring heart that generates the needed currents and thermals of love that give lift to the outstretched wings of our humanity. Love breaks the cold circle of self-interest and turns this closed loop into an upward moving spiral that allows the Joy of Life to course and circulate freely through the arteries of our human experience.
The injunction to “love one another”, is one of the most profound scientific teachings ever given to humanity as all evolution proceeds upon the power of Love. This is not the sentimental love of teenage fantasy but the deep love of an open and compassionate heart that embraces the needs of others and seeks to build right relations with all aspects of life – both visible and invisible. It is the Principle of Goodwill in action.
With the countless horrors generated by hatred presently holding the human spirit in a vice-like grip of fear, the key to liberating ourselves is found in the power to love unconditionally. In the Agni Yoga teachings, it is stated that the three main culprits who block us from experiencing the flow of the Fire of Love are Fear, Doubt and Self-pity. This unholy trinity of traits holds the spirit captive – preventing us from reaching the starry heights where our earthly nature may merge with our essential Cosmic Nature.
It is painfully obvious we can no longer continue to live in a heartless society based on the illusion of separation where the ‘other’ is to be feared and despised. How much longer will it take to realize that the jagged blade of hatred severs our connection with Life and clips the wings of the soul – rendering us earth bound?
With the image of the soaring hawk still fresh in mind, a second question alighted that same May morning. “What is the difference between falling in love and rising in love?” Reflecting on my own experiences, I would say that, generally speaking, when we ‘fall in love’, a tendency to be enamored and focused on only one particular project or person can arise. This new priority takes over and often causes other aspects of life to fade from view and, without our focused attention, they no longer receive the love and care required to nourish and sustain them.
Conversely, when we ‘rise in love’ more of the vast panorama of life can be taken in and embraced. Teilhard de Chardin declared: “Everything that ascends, converges.” It is through the ‘eyes of the heart’ we perceive the Principle of Unanimity and understand the interconnectedness and underlying love that infuses and permeates all Creation.
By rising in love, we embrace the world within the infinite space of the heart. This is what the Buddha and The Christ were able to do so skillfully – to hold the pain and sorrow of the human experience with deep compassion and loving understanding in the chalice of their hearts.
These two great lives are irrefutable testaments to the power of Love to transform and dissolve all obstacles and a steadfast assurance that there is a lighted pathway through the present human suffering. Unconditional Love is the Fire of Heaven manifest on Earth through a liberated consciousness alive to new possibilities and no longer constrained by pain and conditioned by fear.
By rising in love, we lift all beings with us on wings of compassion.
By rising in love, ’the doors of the portal of the heart swing open and we gain entrance to that fiery path which leads towards that eternal Presence we call Unconditional Love.
By rising in love together, Paths of Beauty are revealed that lead to a longed-for planetary re-birth on a new turn of the evolutionary spiral.
by Michael Lindfield
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