The essence of LOVE

The essence of love 

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."- Albert Einstein.

LOVE is one of those things that are difficult to explain unless we can ‘connect the dots’ between a number of earlier thoughts and ideas. In other words, we must allow our minds to drift freely and delve deeply into different dimensions of meaning and perspectives in order to arrive at some idea of the true essence of LOVE.  

Romantics will sniggar at this and say “Oh you fool, this is so simple. Can’t you see that LOVE is a natural feeling, an intense attraction or emotional connection between people?” That is true, but is this the only true origin of LOVE, an evolutionary drive based on physical attraction? This takes us part of the way but still leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

For instance, what about other feelings such as empathy, caring, brotherly LOVE and ‘agape’, the pure, selfless, unconditional form of LOVE? Are these all just old DNA imprints inherited from past generations? Is there not some other principle that can explain the origin of this powerful emotion?

But what tools can we use to trace the origins of LOVE even further and reach a set of undeniable facts? Words have a magical quality in that they are symbols of our thoughts. Words and their meaning also form ideas and if done correctly, one idea can be linked logically to another. Logical reasoning has a valid mathematical basis and so I believe that we can use a critical approach, and by examining the relationships between words and concepts, find a path through the entangled thoughts in our minds regarding LOVE and arrive at an idea of its true factual origin.

So let us begin our journey into the magical world of words and concepts with Theology and see what ancient teachings say about LOVE.

One of the most well-known religious statements is ‘God is LOVE’. Although this sounds very tantalising, it does not really take us anywhere, as it means that in order to know what LOVE is, we would have to know what God is, and I don’t think there is anyone who can stand up and say for sure that he (or she) knows the true nature of God. So we are back to square one. 

Let us now enter the nebulous field of philosophy. Some thinkers may argue that the essence of LOVE is linked to moral principles and specifically the idea of ‘The good’. In other words, LOVE simply means one person treating another in a ‘good’ or selfless way. But if LOVE just means being ‘good’ to someone, we again end up in a situation in which LOVE is the moral ‘good’ and the moral ‘good’ is LOVE. This does not take us deeper into its more basic principles. We just can’t seem to get past these words and concepts to enter the realm of facts. 

So let us jump directly into the world of science and see what it has to say about LOVE. If we look at commonality, we can see that both LOVE and physics point to the idea of attraction. In science, attraction is the affinity between positive and negative polarities, whereas in the human sciences, it is the attraction between people. Let us use this idea of attraction as a starting point and search for more similarities.

As a general rule we could also say that LOVE, as well as the entire physical universe, finds form and expression in relationships. Let me explain. In physics dual potentials attract and form coupled relationships (sub-atomic bonds), which, when brought together, create physical things.

We also see attraction between people as LOVE and relationships (bonds of LOVE) as an ideal outcome. These bonds underlie the forming of families and societies. So in this case we would be quite justified in saying that two principles, namely ‘attraction’ and ‘relationships’ seem to be common to both human LOVE as well as the natural laws of physics. 

Let us now take this one step further. In science the source of this attraction and sub-atomic relationships is the principle of duality, in which positive and negative polarities are formed in nature and attract one another.

We normally explain polarity in human relationships as male and female, but in some cases, attraction and LOVE can occur between persons of the same sex. So we have to move beyond male and female and examine the concept of duality itself.

In order to do this we will have to again engage with philosophy and specifically the role of symbolism in metaphysical philosophy. Symbols also stand in for words or ideas, so there is no reason why we cannot use them. In this case we have powerful symbolism in the form of the apex of a triangle (representing unity) giving rise to two lower points or angles (representing duality). According to this symbolism, it is suggested that a unitary principle (ONE) can separate to form TWO opposing principles, thus giving rise to duality (the tip of a triangle extending downwards to the two base angles). In other words, in metaphysical philosophy, duality (principles of positive and negative), would be said to originate from a singularity which initially contains both in a perfect balance and unity until something causes them to separate.

In the triangle this separation is explained by the notion of extension, in that the triangle extends downwards to form the two separate points. In other words, in order to express itself fully, the first principle (unity) in extending or expressing itself, becomes duality, giving further rise to two distinct principles and subsequently leading to a dynamic interplay and bonding of energies which we could call creation.

However, this is not the end of the story. It is important to note that according to science, when the two polarities are formed, there is a powerful natural tendency for them to return to their original oneness (unity). This we call attraction. The question is now whether we can apply this tendency to return to unity (union) as an analogy to explain the energy or power underlying the notion of LOVE.

So we leave science behind and back we go to the realm of Theology. Here we find the idea of One Source of creation (God) and the question now arises if we can compare the metaphysical principle of the unity of ONE to the Unity and perfection within ONE Supreme Being (God). On the surface this seems a reasonable supposition, especially if we rephrase the scientific principles and apply them to Theology. This would imply that the First Source (God as Unity and perfection), in a similar process of extension and expression, creates the universe in a manner which involves the introduction of duality and the subsequent power of attraction. All that remains is to apply this to the notion of LOVE.  

Conclusions

So if we again pose the question ‘What is the essence of LOVE?, in terms of our long and winding path through the world of connected thoughts and ideas, we could say that LOVE is linked to the idea of an original UNITY within a First Source of creation, whether we choose to call this source ‘Nature’ or ‘God’, and that LOVE can be defined as the powerful urge to return to this unity (union). 

In scientific terms, this would be seen as the natural tendency towards reintegration and order by achieving balance and the UNITY of opposites.

Psychologically speaking, LOVE would arise in daily social situations whenever duality presents itself, whether as male or female or simply the attraction of personalities, and leading to the forming of relationships. 

Morally, this innate drive towards re-unification suggests an underlying brotherhood of man. This feeling of brotherhood, although not always known openly, would explain emotions such as empathy, caring and brotherly love.

Finally, in religious terms, LOVE would represent the soul’s desire to return to union with God as the source of LOVE, explaining the higher and more pure form (‘agape’) of LOVE.

I do hope you have found this discourse interesting.