Love..

Barber

Is love important in Buddhism?I hope this does not come across as a naive question.As for me its the strongest and secure feeling that i have.

Mountains

Interestingly, "love" is seldom mentioned in Buddhism, except in the context of loving kindness (metta). I think what Buddhism would have to say about love being the "strongest" and "secure" feeling you have is that those words are describing attachment.

A question many of us newbies to Buddhism have is how do you love someone and not become attached to them? It's a tough concept, and there have been at least a couple of threads recently on that very subject. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has some interesting things to say on it as well.

TheJourney

If love is important to you, I would say there's nothing in buddhism that requires that it not be important to you. Attachment is advised against, however. If you truly desire to be awoken, you must find a way to love without being attached. Many people have a hard time wrapping their head around this concept.

ravkes

All emotions, thoughts, and sensations come and go.. I mean sheesh even our bodies come and go fairly quickly lol..
There's no such thing as a strong and secure feeling..
However, when one meditates and sees the impermanent nature of phenomena it's easier to let go.
Love really can't be conceptualized.. This world can't be conceptualized.
However, I'm also in a relationship and generally when I follow this 'feeling' of love.. it turns into possessiveness and lust. Love is truly beyond words.. it's an unconditional acceptance of what is.. but really descriptions fall short..

Keep practicing, the answers will come.

shanyin

The Buddha taught *metta* meditation. Metta is like love, translating to loving kindness. This is really all the solid information I can give you about it. There's alot more. I'm sure someone knowledgable here will help you and I encourage you to look into it on the internet or books.

shanyin

The Buddha described benefits of developing and practicing metta meditation, one of which is overcoming the hinderance of ill will.

Barber

But the love for your child is always there this does not come and go its just there.Also i dont lust my wife , i love my wife i also love my parents. For a newbie its extremely hard to see this in any other way..

Jeffrey

My teacher recently said that in meditation we begin to trust the ocean more than an individual waves.

So when you say love are you saying your trust your awareness of each individual wave? Or are you particularly attached to certain waves to the point of obsession?

Barber

Jeffrey not to sure what you mean by obsession, when it comes to loving your family?

Jeffrey

I didn't say that loving your family was an obsession. I was talking more in terms of momentary awareness. Each moment or thought is like a wave. We learn to trust the ocean more than one particular thought feeling possession event or whatever. Does that make sense?

The connections to your family are very meaningful and without connections to other people it would be harder for us as well. Loving other people is loving yourself from that standpoint.

The Buddha said that nobody was more deserving of love than you. (Don't have quotation link but I recall hearing that)

Chrysalid

I think the concept of love can be quite problematic. From the Western POV, that has it's origin in Christianity, love is pure, eternal, of divine origin. We have a very exaggerated conception of love, and use the term to cover a wide range of emotions and relationships - lust, familiarity, preference, loyalty, compassion, desire, respect, appreciation, infatuation etc etc etc.

Love from the Buddhist point of view is, as is everything, impermanent. It changes, "ages" and dies, like anything else.