The Elements of True Love | Sister Peace

This is a short meditation on true love, which can be practiced at any time.

You may like to use it to contemplate on the nature

and quality of your relationships with your loved ones.

If you're sitting in a chair, find a comfortable position,

preferably with both feet flat on the ground.

Allow your breath to come in and out naturally

and feel yourself settling in, to the present moment.

As you listen, continue to be aware of the movement of your breath.

Your mindful breathing supports your ability to dwell in the present moment and listen deeply,

allowing the words to penetrate deeply into your consciousness.

This kind of listening is called deep listening

and can be very powerful when applied in the context of our relationships.

As you listen to this contemplation, you are also cultivating your ability to listen deeply without judging

or reacting in order to be able to offer this kind of listening to your loved ones.

True love is made of four elements loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness.

If your love contains these elements, it will bring healing and transformation to any situation.

This kind of true love has no boundaries.

It is a love that continues to grow always.

This kind of true love is unlimited.

The first element of true love is loving kindness or friendship.

And the essence of loving kindness is the ability to offer happiness.

We become like the sunshine or the fresh air for the other person.

But in order to offer happiness, you have to have happiness yourself.

The practice of mindful breathing can help us to generate

a feeling of happiness whenever we like.

That way we have something to offer.

The willingness, the desire to make another person happy is not enough.

You have to have plenty of good intentions to make him or her happy.

But if you are not capable of offering happiness, that's not yet true love.

[BELL]

The second element of true love is compassion.

Compassion is the capacity to understand and embrace

the suffering in oneself and in the other person.

When you can understand your own suffering,

then you can help your beloved to understand his or her suffering.

Understanding someone suffering is the greatest gift we can offer them.

Understanding suffering brings relief right away.

If we cannot offer that kind of compassion to the one we love,

then it is not yet true love.

[BELL]

The third element of true love is joy.

If your beloved only makes you cry and you make your beloved cry too,

then that may not be true love.

Joy is one of the marks of true love.

And you can recognize true love by its presence.

As a true lover, you are able to generate a feeling of joy for yourself,

as well as offering joy to the other person.

Our love should bring us joy

and our love should bring the other person joy too.

[BELL]

The fourth aspect of true love is inclusiveness or nondiscrimination.

The boundary between you and the other person disappears.

Your suffering is her suffering.

Her happiness is your happiness.

Happiness and suffering are no longer an individual matter.

The element of inclusiveness or nondiscrimination is telling us

that true love is the kind of love that always grows.

There is no limit to true love.

You may begin with one person, and if your true love continues to grow,

it will embrace the whole world.

[BELL]

You may like to take a few more minutes sitting in silence, aware of your inbreath

and outbreath, to meditate on these four elements of true love.

Loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness.

[BELL]