Love, A contemplation

Balancing family life and the Dhamma, in pursuit of a happy lay life.
Post Reply
User avatar
anthbrown84
Posts: 450
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:59 am

Love, A contemplation

Post by anthbrown84 »

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share with you all a poem that I written for my wedding which took place last week.

I put a lot of thought into this, as I know the word love is thrown around a lot, but when people try to explain what it is, andhow to cultivate it, many aren't able to do this... So I written the poem based on metta practise and my sister read it out. It was really special to me, so I just thought I would share it on this forum, thankyou :)

As I sit here searching for the meaning of love
Nothing quite stands out, no fit like a glove
Is it something we give, looking to get
Or a husband and wife when they feel truly blessed?

People often say, love hurts like nothing else
But is that simply us feeling a loss in our self?
Is love just a feeling, an emotion or both
Or is it something our hearts simply know

They say to love others we must love ourselves first
Accept our downfalls and forgive our worst
Be our embrace, through the good and the bad
And remind ourselves of the good traits we have

But loving ourselves is a hard thing to start
How do we look to ourselves and see into our hearts
We say may I be well, happy and at ease
Then the broken fragments will become one piece

We can then spread it onto someone kind
The knots in our hearts will start to unwind
A special type of warmth, a unique bliss
A tender feeling, simply, natures kiss

From this moment on we can deeply love others
and care for all beings, as we do our own mothers
You see love is boundless theres no need in return
A liberation from which, our hearts wont yearn

So, we can cultivate kindness, contemplating these phrases
Love will be by your side, like a shadow through the ages
Cherish every being, as a husband his wife
Love will then blossom, and grow in your life
"Your job in practise is to know the difference between the heart and the activity of the heart, that is it, it is that simple" Ajahn Tate
User avatar
Lucas Oliveira
Posts: 1890
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 10:07 pm

Re: Love, A contemplation

Post by Lucas Oliveira »

"Your job in practise is to know the difference between the heart and the activity of the heart, that is it, it is that simple" Ajahn Tate

Even Bhantes know how to love is important!

:thumbsup:


1 Corinthians 13:1–13

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have aprophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, bso as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 cIf I give away all I have, and dif I deliver up my body to be burned,1 but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 eLove is patient and fkind; love gdoes not envy or boast; it his not arrogant 5 or rude. It idoes not insist on its own way; it jis not irritable or resentful;2 6 it kdoes not rejoice at wrongdoing, but lrejoices with the truth. 7 mLove bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, eendures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For nwe know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but owhen the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For pnow we see in a mirror dimly, but qthen face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as rI have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

http://biblia.com/bible/1Corinthians13.1-13
http://biblehub.com/nasb/1_corinthians/13.htm


:namaste:


Itivuttaka 22 - Metta Sutta
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... ml#iti-022

Itivuttaka 27 - Mettabhavana Sutta
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... ml#iti-027



:anjali:
I participate in this forum using Google Translator. http://translate.google.com.br

http://www.acessoaoinsight.net/
User avatar
fivebells
Posts: 416
Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:52 am

Re: Love, A contemplation

Post by fivebells »

Metta is not love. Metta is goodwill, roughly speaking. Love leads to trouble.
User avatar
anthbrown84
Posts: 450
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:59 am

Re: Love, A contemplation

Post by anthbrown84 »

fivebells wrote:Metta is not love. Metta is goodwill, roughly speaking. Love leads to trouble.
ok thankyou for your input

for me, the practise of metta frees up the heart area, and Ive heard the Buddha callwed love the liberation of the heart, so for me, its not as clear cut as metta isn't love, I think its a combination of what we call love, kindness, good will etc.

thankyou for your input :)
"Your job in practise is to know the difference between the heart and the activity of the heart, that is it, it is that simple" Ajahn Tate
User avatar
manas
Posts: 2678
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:04 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Love, A contemplation

Post by manas »

anthbrown84 wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:18 am Hello everyone,

I wanted to share with you all a poem that I written for my wedding which took place last week.
Thank you for sharing. Of course romantic love for one person, involves attachment, and isn't the same as pure metta (unbiased goodwill), but it's a heck of a lot better, than just seeing women as sexual objects. Furthermore, deep affection between two people, when there is mutual love and respect, could be a fertile soil in which goodwill, patience, and understanding could grow. A lot of Buddhists seem wary of praising romantic love, since our Master (the Buddha), renounced it in his final lifetime, forgetting how many lifetimes previously, he had also engaged in it. My own personal belief is, there's a place for two beings to be on the Path together, loving and helping each other on their respective journeys. I have not truly experienced this sort of friendship in my current lifetime, but I'm happy for anyone who does.

with metta (and by the way, congrats 8-) )
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
Garrib
Posts: 605
Joined: Mon May 30, 2016 8:35 pm

Re: Love, A contemplation

Post by Garrib »

Isn't there a sutta somewhere in which a Gandhabbha or Yakkha composed and sang some verses on "Arahants and Love" ( romantic love! ), and didn't the Buddha compliment him on this?

Congratulations and may you two enjoy much happiness together!
Post Reply