In the face of the hatred, conflict, and subterfuge that seem to be consuming our civic and political discourse, many of us find ourselves asking, How can we bring the deeper understanding of our essential inseparability to bear in our actions for the benefit of all? How does our awakening have an impact in the lives of our fellow human beings and the rest of the planet? What can we do in these contentious times to make a difference?
The answer is simple: love. Love is not a quality, an emotion, or an element; it is the essence of what we are, our life blood, the ethereal energy out of which we’re made. We don’t make love; rather love shapes and infuses us and animates our every action. Of course, we can ignore or deny this love through years of conditioning, and the exploration of what separates us from love can be the work of a lifetime. But love keeps surging forth to reclaim us, mend our wounds, heal our broken hearts, and make us whole again.
Our task as spiritual beings is to keep aligning knowingly with the love that we are, even though our minds may tell us that love doesn’t have enough power to make a difference. When we align with the love and invite it in to fill our hearts and radiate forth in everything we do and say, we become more authentically ourselves at every level and feel buoyed along by its energy and informed by its wisdom. Otherwise, we feel helpless, fragmented, and disspirited in the face of the seemingly overwhelming forces at work in the world.
The only thing we need to do, in this regard, is to knowingly turn away from the countless problems and distractions that consume us, and from the helplessness and cynicism they may evoke, and attune to the love, again and again, until it dissolves the apparent barriers that seem to separate us. If we engage in an awareness practice, we can begin by resting in and as awareness, then recognize that this awareness is inseparable from love. From the perspective of this awakened awareness, we can appreciate the inherent perfection of what is, and wise and compassionate action naturally follows.
Love is what we are—and it is the only way.