What it is to truly love life

3/11

Enlightenment may look like a complete detachment from all things, a complete containment of the world within oneself and the inability to interact with others on the same level.  To me, it represents a complete embrace (not just acceptance) and love of everything down to the atomic level. There is no longer a hindrance of human facades, of judgment; there is just understanding in an empathic manner so strong that there is no division between you and I. In the great river that is existence, I don’t believe we are definable rocks or entities. Instead I believe we are all of the same essence, responding to the unique currents and eddies within ourselves. I believe my personal path is to see the beauty in how the great flow of existence shapes our paths uniquely, embracing the loves, the desires, the paths of others (as long as they are true to who they are) as our own. Just pause. Even when you’re not listening, you’re subconsciously reacting to other people, judging them perhaps. Tone of voice, posture, attitude. For me, only by becoming completely aware of these can I teach myself to not judge, but instead embrace. And I find myself smiling as I see the way they are in life. It’s often said that enlightenment is the ability to love everything and anyone, though to me the caveat is that this love is not blind. Like true love for another person, it requires seeing someone in their entirety. I was reminded by a close friend recently that my own principles and the way I think people should be are something I cannot, if I desire enlightenment, apply to anyone else. This is because I am trying to change them, I am victim to the shallow mindset that my inner truths can become universal truths. Perhaps many are, and perhaps the realizations I come to could apply to someone else, but by pushing them upon other people I am actively saying that I don’t accept them as they are. Yet the questions arises: how are we supposed to help other people go through this catharsis if we aren’t allowed to share the answers we have found? To me, the most useful thing you can provide someone with is not an answer, but a question because only a question gives them the chance to find their path. Questions are indeed universal, and by asking them you invite others alone the path of enlightenment without defining it for them. For me it’s not about falling in love with “what” the universe is, but rather “how” the universe is. This distinction avoids loving the world based on how it treats YOU, and instead focuses on embracing the great currents of existence that are forever constant. I believe that after applying this distinction, enlightenment is forever. Bustling sidewalks, the cool breeze on my skin, the pain of my heart breaking. Failure, success, triumph, disaster. I aim to embrace this world for what it is – good, bad, wrong, right. Because they are all just currents in this great river, and we are all in this together. As One.