Here is a copy of EVERYTHING that I have added to Wikipedia so far plus some...
Please do not remove any of my additions: But you can leave constructive critisism after each one:
My intro on Love
editSince 1978, I have been personally struggling with coming to grips with the meaning of life. At age of seven, I learned that love was the greatest of all things and since then I have attempted to find it. But where was this great love? Ninety percent of all the “so called” love that I have seen in my life seemed to be just plain selfishness or at least it had selfishness mixed in to it with the illusion of goodness.
I am currently writing a book as I am discovering what love truly is, what motivates it, how to mature this true love in me, and help others find it also. But just because I am looking for this love does not mean that I an expert of pure love; In fact, the more I learn about pure, perfect love, the farther I realize that I am from it. As Socrates said, "True wisdom is realizing you don't know anything...".
I have found that all forms of love fall into two logical categories (EROS AGAPE), both illogical to the each other. This division is solely based upon what motivates the loving action. The exact action to love may be taken by both forms of love, but for opposite reasons/motives. For example: If at the same time, two people in separate cities run across an orphan child in rags that is starving to death and helps this child by feeding, clothing, and finding a home for him. Both are outwardly showing love to the child, yet what compelled the action of love to take place will decide which type of love was used. One was motivated with only loving care for the child in mind, while the other was doing it for a self centered motive - to improve their own self image. If you were this child: Which of these two would love you more? Which of these two would take better care of your needs? Which of these two would you rather have taking care of you?
But I truly hope that this writing will help you on your journey in understanding perfect love and increase your desire to experience true love by giving it to others. Wouldn’t this world be in perfect peace if all of us could all love this way?
Plato stated that EROS (Self-centered Love) cannot be divine since a god/goddess should not have any needs outside of themselves that they need to fill. I have come to this conclusion: AGAPE (Selfless love) doesn't seek anything for itself and therefore it is the only type of LOVE that can be considered divine. All other types of Love can have elliments of both of these types of love in them...
The more we know what pure, perfect love AGAPE is, the more we will understand who God is, because God is perfect and God is love AGAPE. He doesn’t just love this way, it is His essence. He is the very Source of this love and cannot be or do anything that contradicts with this type of love.
Experiencing Agape
edit- You cannot OBTAIN this love by yourself, since this love can only be given. For this love is always moving and is only Agape if it is being freely passed to another person. BUT to experiance this love, here are a few suggestions...
- 1. Desire to Love (Agape) in this way.
- 2. Work on not being Egocentric
- 3. Start looking out for what's in the best interest of friends & enemies alike. Placing their needs above your own. Giving value to others' lives even above your own life. What is so amazing about this type of love is that as you are loving an enemy this way, they can (not always, expecially at first) become your friend. In his Book "A Good Heart" when his Holiness the Buddhist Dalai Lama was presented with this concept of loving your enemies, he stated that if you don't practice compassion toward your enemy then on whom can you practice it, and then implied that animals cannot love this way...
- 4. Keep loving everyone this way even if they are mean to you and hurt you even to the point of death. (In other words, pratice loving in this fashion at all times; though rain, snow, and dark of night.) As Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." So to have this love, you must make it a part of yourself...
- 5. Accept the Source of this AGAPE Love into your heart and God (the source of Agape) will start pouring this love through you out to others...
- Welcome to the ROOT philosophy of Christianity, GOD is this selfless love, AGAPE...
- 1 John 4:16b - God is love (agape), and the one abiding in love abides in God, and God in him.
?AGAPE BIASED?
editThe reason AGAPE seems biased towards Christianity is that Christianity's main focus is: AGAPE. Take Agape away from Christianity, and it wouldn't have become a religion. The Christian's God is AGAPE. No other religion holds AGAPE so high... The Hindu religion says that God is Love, but what type of love? There are many types of love, either self-centered (EROS based) or others centered (AGAPE based)...
As Buddah put it: "After observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and is conductive to the good and gain of one and all, then accept it practice it, and live up to ir."