Dharmic Love, Anyone?
Sojong Reminder from Anam Thubten
Dear Dharma friends,
​
The idea of enlightenment and the opposite, unenlightenment, are built into our spiritual language. We may not talk about them in everyday life, but we all have a rough idea of what they mean. Yet these notions become extramundane to many people and they may not even think about them. Some people may even conflate these notions with quasi-religious concepts that belong to a metaphysical realm that is beyond their reach. The truth is that enlightenment not only exists but is a living, dynamic freedom that we can taste in the realm of the here and now. That said, enlightenment is not always a singular phenomenon and it has its own variations. People may have unique descriptions of what it is based on their own spirituality.
In contemporary understanding, enlightenment is a state of our consciousness that is not lost in the phenomena of our thoughts and emotions. It often comes with a quality of openness or expansiveness in our consciousness that is not painfully attached to the identity of a separate self. That opening comes with deep inner peace and joy. Love turns out to be one of the immediate ways to be in that openness.
Love has many forms. It is said that ancient Greeks had one hundred words for love. There is love that can be regarded as dharmic love, which is not so tainted by our ego or grasping. It can be love of the world, or love of humanity, or love of the sacredness of everything. Sometimes that dharmic love comes naturally and at other times, it may need to be cultivated. There are numerous traditional practices that can take us to that openness, such as intentional meditation on loving kindness or sadhana practice.
We may need to look inside and see what is holding us back from feeling such dharmic love. We may find that our ego is actually building a shield that blocks our open hearts. It may be anger that we’re very stuck with or sad narratives about life from which we don’t know how to break free. By looking honestly within, we’ll see what is hindering love from shining freely from our being. With that recognition and by using the traditional practices, we’ll find that it’s very natural for us to feel dharmic love. Once we carry that love in our hearts and into our everyday lives, it will literally begin to grow in us and will lead us to that which we’ve been seeking all along.
During this sojong, let’s take some time to reflect on the things that are blocking our hearts, name them, and hold the intention to release them. Let’s feel the joy of envisioning and living our lives fueled by this love.
With palms joined,
Anam Thubten
​