For most people, whether worldly or spiritual seekers, making the connection between love as the Self or Consciousness is not logical. Most of us feel we need someone to love or love us to feel loved and lovable. And most of us don’t feel like we are that loving or lovable, most of the time. A feeling of limitation, low self-esteem and self-judgement plagues most people. Seeing myself as inherently flawed and lacking, it certainly seems like love is something quite apart from me, looking at it from the dualistic perspective. It is something I must gain to be happy. How can it be what I am when my life seems so empty without it? I must have the special other! How can love BE what I am?
However, Vedanta stands resolute and contends that there is a logical connection between love as my nature and the Self/Existence. But it will ask you to shift your perspective from duality to non-duality, which may be a big ask. If love exists (which we know it does) and reality is not a duality but a non-duality, therefore, then there can be no difference between love and Consciousness. Non-duality means just that—there is only one principle and I am it. I know this is still a stretch to believe for those of us convinced that duality is real. To convince you, I need to reveal a bridge between love and consciousness.
That bridge is attention.
Think about it. I am always paying attention to something. This fact means I am always loving something. If you love your child, you are always thinking about them, you take care of all their physical needs, cuddle, and play with them. If you do not pay attention to your loved ones, they do not feel loved. You know this is true because you don’t feel loved if the ones you love do not pay attention to you.
So, what is attention? Attention is Consciousness (love) directed through the Heart towards an object. This is a difficult concept to grasp because we are conditioned to believe that love is a special feeling or state of being. But as stated, it isn’t. It is the nature of Consciousness, my Self. It does not come from objects, it comes from me. Although certain objects invoke the love I am.
Sundari
ShiningWorld.com
