It is said that loving another person unconditionally is the same thing as loving God. When you think about it, it makes sense. We are all made from the Creator, so when we love each other, we are loving the Creator as well. But having love for someone and caring about them is not the same thing as unconditional love. Loving unconditionally means that we share with others without any expectation of something in return. It’s the purest form of unselfish love. But it’s not as simple as it sounds.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself. The rest is commentary.”
When we share, we often think we deserve something in exchange for being so “selfless.” It could be that we expect someone to do a favor for us or even just that they should show their appreciation to us. We might even think we deserve blessings from the Creator – we are sharing after all, shouldn’t that mean the Creator gives us what we want? But when we focus on the things we can get, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually, from acts of sharing, they aren’t truly selfless, and therefore, aren’t really unconditional.
Unconditional love is the highest level of sharing. But reaching this level is not something that we are able to do overnight – it’s a process that all of us go through throughout our lifetimes. There is a story that states a teacher was asked to explain all the wisdom of Kabbalah while standing on one foot. He rose his foot and said, “Love thy neighbor as thyself. The rest is commentary.” The story is a powerful reminder that all the precepts, the principles, and teachings of Kabbalah are really just tools to help us reach a level of unconditional love for each other. The reason that we need all of those tools is because it isn’t easy to achieve. But the more we practice unconditional love, the easier it becomes.
Here are 5 ways to practice unconditional love:
1. Share with the intention of wanting to connect to the Creator.
Our intentions are incredibly important. Loving unconditionally and sharing with others from a selfless place connects us directly to the Creator because we are emulating Him through aligning our thoughts and actions. This is what reveals tremendous Light and actually heals the world. This should be our only intention - not what we can get from other people or from the Creator, but how we can be like the Creator and bring Light into the world.
2. Let go of attachment.
It’s only natural that we get too attached to the things in our lives. Sometimes these are material things, like our money, our cars, our houses, but sometimes they are our expectations, our pride, our plans. We know that we get attached to these things, because it is incredibly difficult to let them go.
Whenever we are upset or disappointed, it’s a signal that we are too attached to something. We get attached to the way we think things should be. When we do this, we tell the Creator that we know what should happen better than He does. The more we attach to these things, the more we detach from the Creator and the more we operate from a place of selfishness.
3. Diminish the ego.
Our ego is what tells us that we deserve things. It says, “I’m a good person, so I’ve earned these things in return.” It blinds us to the parts of ourselves that we need to improve. But we have a choice in the matter! When we set our consciousness on connecting to the Creator and digging deep to find the areas we need to work on, we can fight our ego. The more that we diminish our ego, the more we can do the work that our souls need to become more selfless, sharing, and loving.
4. Take care of yourself, body and soul.
Have you ever noticed when you are tired and stressed, it is so much harder to provide for others? But it can also feel like taking time for yourself is selfish. It is not selfish, however, if we take care of ourselves with the intention of bringing ourselves to a place where we can share more with others. When we are happy and healthy, we are better equipped to provide for others.
This means that we cannot be lazy with ourselves. We must actively take steps to take care of ourselves and not make excuses. It’s easy to feel like we aren’t in a place where we can give to others. But if this is the case, we must ask ourselves how much we are doing to get out of that place so that we can give.
5. Love yourself despite your flaws.
A person who cannot love themselves cannot love others. Though it is important that we dig deep and find the areas we need to work on, it is equally important that we love and respect ourselves. It is not a contradiction.
Think about when you see a small child who is throwing a tantrum. You know that the child is acting out selfishly, but also know that the child is pure at heart. This is the way we should see ourselves. Deep down, our souls are a perfect spark of the Creator, but sometimes we act in ways that are out of alignment with the Creator. This does not mean we are any less pure or special – it just means that we have some work to do!
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Getting to a place where we can love others unconditionally takes a lot of hard work. It is such a powerful concept that even when we know we need to work on it, we forget about it every day! It’s a lifetime commitment towards bettering ourselves and the world that gets us to a place where we can love each other unconditionally. And that is what will truly bring Light and healing to the world.
