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Love is a powerful force and changes the world
The most important and sublime task for us human beings is to develop unconditional love for God, for all people and for all living beings. We are all called upon to work on our unconditional love toward everyone, even toward our greatest enemies. We should also love ourselves fully. Love encompasses everything that is. Every day, every hour and every minute we can send loving thoughts to other people, to all living beings and to our planet -
"God is pure love. By 'pure' I understand ... that there is nothing higher, nothing better, nothing that could or should contain additions to this pure divine love. It is the perfect love. And the networks of this perfect love are ... designed in such a way that depending on the spiritual development and the level of cognition ... [every human being] approaches a certain network reception threshold, which is accordingly ... important. ... How does the network of the Creator work? ... The network of God in us is the spark of God" (Weidner 2010:114/115).
Benedictine and Zen master David Steindl-
"Love is longsuffering and kind, love is not jealous, love is not wanton, it does not puff itself up, it does not put on an unruly front, it does not seek its own, it does not allow itself to be begged, it does not impute evil, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but it rejoices in the truth; it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things" (1 Cor. 13, quoted from Kuhn and Kuhn 1988:3).
The Christian mystic Meister Eckehart -
"The greatest power, pervading and sustaining all life, is love. To increase, to spiritualize, to actuate the love which the spiritual being [-
Martin Arnold (2011:89) speaks of "goodness power" in this context: drawing on Wahrig's (1992:595) definition of goodness as "noble, helpful, magnanimous disposition, selflessness (goodness of heart); forbearance, kindness; complaisance, helpfulness; value, nature, quality (of a commodity)" and power as "strength, ability to do something (difficult)..." (Wahrig 1992:786; quoted from Arnold 2011:89), Arnold defined "kindness power" as the "ability to make a difference that lies in the (person-
"Truly noble love arises only in humility. Only in humility is it proper to become rich in giving oneself away. Only in humility does love reach that height of intensity of being, that detachment from self" (Boros 1978:59).
"Life is love. Love is life. Life fills God through love. Love fills God in life" (Chinmoy 1977:64).
And the Catholic priest and Trappist Thomas Merton (1954:19) wrote: "When we are united with the love of God, we possess all things in Him and offer all things as a sacrifice to Him in Christ His Son. For all things are ours, and we are Christ's, and Christ is God's."
"Do your best, so leave everything else to the love, justice, and will of your Creator!" (Weidner 2003b:84/85).
Albert Schweitzer (2005:32) once said, "The only important things in life are the traces of love we leave behind when we go away."
"Love. -
"When I say that I am made in the image of God, I am saying that love is the source of my being -
"Love is a force. Love is an act which you are to pass on to all. ... If you can love with all your heart, nothing evil can come to you, for the opposite does not love. Love is an all-
"Either men will learn to love one another, to understand one another, and man will at last live for man, or men will perish, all of them, and all together" (Raoul Follereau, quoted in Hettinger 1987:48).
"If you love, radiate something from you! But you can only love like this if you are humble, forgiving, and if you do not judge people negatively" (Weidner 2003b:133).
"To love God, that is the most beautiful wisdom of all" (Sirach 1:14).
Love also has to do with will: One must "note two things that are found in love: One is the essence of love, the other is a work or outburst of love. The place of the essence of love is in the will alone; he who has more will has more love" (Eckehart 1979:66).
We get energy "through prayer, thoughts of love, sending forth good thoughts, and-
"Man is a piecework. Only love remains from him. He may speak as beautifully as a human being can, he may speak like an angel -
"A new day is like a white sheet on which we can write, draw or paint many wonderful things. If you know how to awaken loving thoughts in yourself, if you know how to speak mindfully, you will water the positive seeds in yourself and in others. And if you know how to act mindfully, you will give yourself and the other person a great gift. Fill your day with loving thoughts, loving words, and loving actions" (Hanh 2004:20).
"We should reflect on ourselves in the morning, introspect in the evening, and continue the life of 'purification' to purify ourselves, and should make the greatest effort to live in truth (mahaprajna) and love (mahakaruna)" (Shibayama 1974:147).
"Live loving! Love God above all, as you already know, and your neighbor as yourself! But living lovingly means much more. It means to love not only the brother, the sister, who in their turn also love you -
The Muslim theologian Šiblī said, "'The way of the friends of God is love.' The One does not allow shared love to His own" (Gramlich 1998:186). Yet this love is boundless, comprehensive, and unselfish. "Šiblī said, 'Perfect love is that you love him for his sake.' After all, you don't need anything else if you love him" (Gramlich 1998:187).
"If you have not yet learned the control of thoughts and feelings, if you have not learned to concentrate on Christ and in such a way that you do not let your forces flow with clenched strength, all eyes tightened, all nerves, but on the contrary calmly and serenely, then I give you the practical tip: to say in your thoughts the word 'love, love, love, love' while thinking of Christ. This practical execution brings help not only to Christ and the messengers of God, but also to the one to whom you want to directly send your thoughts, your forces" (Weidner 2010:132).
"Pilgrimages without bhakti [= active love, note] are useless. With bhakti in your heart, however, there is no need to go to holy places. For you are in the right place where you stand. Bhakti alone is meaningful" (Ramakrishna, quoted from Hecker 1981:75).
"Imagine ... those people whom you feel are not well disposed toward you, and place them in a center of light. Put a radiant Christ cross before them and practice imagination" (Weidner 2003b:149/150).
"But I say to you, 'Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you; pray for those who insult and persecute you'" (Mt 5:44).
Jesus said, "Let love for me grow" (cf. Weidner 2000c:98). We should nourish and grow our love for God, Jesus and all people. "Everyone can, should, as he wills, from within himself, as best he can, love his Creator and want to come close to him, for it is, after all, his primal duty to return to the original state from which he started and, beyond that, to reach his own personal perfection ..." (Weidner 2000c:151). Jesus desires that we give ourselves to him "forever" (Weidner 1986:136). "Deliberately place yourself under the love and goodness of Jesus, and freedom is assured!" (Weidner 2003b:109). For, "Love covers the fullness of sins" (1 Pet. 4:8).
"And finally learn to understand that you are to live like Jesus on this earth: humbly, obediently, and in love for the Creator, surrendering your will completely to the will of the Creator, for that is the right defensive struggle. The powers of darkness attack everyone on this earth -
"'Let your love for Christ grow!' This is the future germ, the living power of spiritual life in you" (Weidner 1996:129). "He who has love has everything! Do it!" (Weidner 2007b:60).
"Life has an inner voice. This voice is the light of the Most High. Life is protection, life is perfection, life is fulfillment, once we open ourselves to this light of the Most High" (Chinmoy 1977:64).
Jesus once said, "'Let love grow toward me!'... Let you also grow love toward Jesus the Christ; and Christ is the reflection of pure love, and when he says, 'Let love grow toward me,' yes, what could be more beautiful and more intimate?" (Weidner 2000d:218).
"Affirm your growing spiritual love to the harmony with the divine love!" (Weidner 1994:64). "To love means to recognize, for only a spiritual lover can at first truly recognize God in part with growing love power. Why? Because your growing love leads to the spiritual-
"Whoever grasps this [the eternal value of God, note] will establish a devoted, loving heart connection with his Creator. This grasp of which I speak to you is not to be an intellectual one, not to be based on your thinking alone, but is to form a unity with thinking in pure, loving, intimate heart connection. This bond was taught to us by Christ as Jesus in his life on earth" (Weidner 2007b:90).
"True spiritual love is a dynamic force. Remember, all giving in love is positive. True love gives strength to the weak, courage to the despondent, comfort to the sad, truth to the ignorant, etc. It conquers fear and gives healing water to thirsty virtuous souls. It influences and fertilizes the barren heart godly. True love is God. It has become the Redeemer of mankind in the form of Jesus, the Christ. Understand this powerful, miraculous love!" (Weidner 1986:143).
A "network of love wanted ... Jesus the Christ to build up and to realize on earth, by giving to the people practical life tasks to realize what the Creator has built in the network, namely the reasoning being in love, paired with the Christ light, striving upwards, leading home, respecting the divine laws, carried by them. And this is the network of the Creator, in the real sense for the fallen creation the finite laws. From this, in fact, arises the carrying capacity of the network of love" (Weidner 2010:118).
"Only true love can liberate from the power of the dark forces" (Weidner 2005a:41). "Every conscious creature can take up as much of the Creator's love as it creates according to its stage of development, because God's love is inexhaustible!" (Weidner 2005a:41). From this follows: If we are all allowed to take as much of the Creator's love as our spiritual hearts can receive in love, then we should also be radiators, passers-
"Let us suppose that a person, a brother or sister, no matter what, has cleared a certain sector in his spirit soul. He has adjusted himself, for example, to this: I love everyone and make a sincere effort to present this love, let us suppose, to Christ. He wants to love his fellow man, but he does not keep to the order of God, and this is not compatible! He loves, but he does not recognize the continuation of love in the order of God, he wants to control love from himself, and this is not possible! The order of God is there to harmonize love in all areas and to all beings" (Weidner 2000d:110).
"To love means: to promote the spiritual development possibility in oneself and in others up to the personal perfection. Because the creation is only then completely happy in itself, secure in itself, free in itself, when all have reached their personal perfection! ... To love one's neighbor means: to recognize his basic needs, to find them good and to give no reason for restriction by respecting the freedom of the other, by tolerance and helpfulness towards the other, but especially by promoting the other 'closer to his perfection'" (Weidner 2003b:50/51).
"To be able to live consistently in purer love requires being of good will and taking the first step toward the neighbor oneself. This proves itself in practical earth life simply like this: Please, Father of pure love, let me experience in my own spirit-
The "love energies sent out by the Creator and by Christ do not consume themselves in perfection! ... The love energy of the Creator and Christ is permanently there! And these love energies affect all perfect creatures. And these reflect the energies back to the Creator and to Christ. It is a constant exchange, which works itself out in the perfection in such a way that they do not consume themselves" (Weidner 2003b:48/49).
The power of love can best be allowed to grow when we free ourselves from all the unkindness, from all disobedience and from transgressions of the law that we can recognize in ourselves: "Only then can Christ grow in you, then can Christ flourish in you. You have then become the instrument of Christ" (Weidner 2000c:118).
Love means "doing good for the sake of good, this is the fulfillment of the divine will of love" (Weidner 2000c:150).
What can be said about love?
"Love has neither beginning nor end. Where love can grow consciously, there it grows steadily!
Love is the guardian of the freedom of all!
The love avoids nobody, it gives way, however, if it is not wanted or is driven away by force.
The love does not look for motives, it works simply and wants to make happy.
Love wants to connect everyone and everything.
True love does not reproach, it excuses, understands, tolerates everything.
Love makes no demands and imposes no conditions" (Weidner 1986:141).
"The more one has matured spiritually and the higher one's spiritual outlook is, the stronger one feels the love and affection for those who, out of ignorance, through their not knowing the spiritual laws, live in suffering, distress and agony, who voluntarily put themselves into difficulties, who, through their own wanting, detach themselves more and more from God, who, through striving for what Lucifer gives them, listen to him!" (Weidner 1990:167).
"If you know that God is love and radiates the absolute power of love, then it is right, fair and wise of you, beloved children of men and friends, that you devote yourselves with all your love to that one who is the absolute love. This intimate love relationship in going together, merging, living, becoming, thriving and growing into each other, that is life in God!" (Weidner 2008a:151).
"You have your earthly terms much too narrow! Wider your hearts out for all! Mission for all! We are not asked what we have done to the one who loves us anyway, we are asked what we have done to the one we do not love!" (Weidner 1988:80). "'Love one another!" were the words of the Master that he spoke to you. Help and serve one another! May strength, joy, peace and health enter you and remain in you, so that you may cast off all the fetters that bind you to this earth!" (Weidner 1988:81).
"No obstacle should stand in the way of love, therefore this love must also come to the fellow creature, i.e. the neighbor, in full measure. Love connects, unites, embraces and endures everything, it forgives everything, because it is the true element of the spirit from its Creator" (Weidner 1988:83).
Today, the opposite of love is not so much hate, but indifference: "Indifference is a clear 'no' to belonging together. Neither love nor hate is indifferent. Indifference says, 'I'm not interested. I have nothing to do with you.' So a 'yes' to belonging together is a characteristic of love because it is diametrically opposed to indifference. We can test this understanding of love ... by the commandment to love our enemies. ... We and our enemies clearly belong together -
"True, genuine love vibrations of individual beings must take into account the fact that they consciously want to enter into this vibration and are willing to give up of their love in order to be seized by a higher vibration in return and to ascend with it" (Weidner 1988:84).
"Just as the love of the Father, our Creator, connects all love members, holds everything together, brings back everything that was separated, cherishes and cares for everything that is sick and abandoned, so this law of love is the highest commandment and says that all should be there in each other, with each other and for each other for mutual help" (Weidner 1988:85).
"God works through his pure love ... The Creator works in his creation only in pure love since the very beginning. He cannot do otherwise at all, because he is exactly what I express with the paraphrase 'pure love'" (Weidner 2003b:51/52).
"The ... way was brought by none other than Jesus Christ ...: 'Love God your Father with all your strength, with all that you are and have, above all, and your neighbor as yourself'" (Weidner 1982b:53). "It is quite simple. When one loves God above all, everything else already falls away: no house, no goods, no worries of any kind, it all falls away. Then one has become a true child of God! It is written, dear brothers and sisters: 'Seek first the kingdom of God within, not without, the kingdom of God and His love and righteousness, all else will be added to you.' ... These are facts" (Weidner 1982b:54). "Worry is there to weaken you. You cannot improve anything by your worries. If you are clear about this, you can only really keep these so-
"Forgiving love is ... according to the law, the starting point for keeping pure. But the law demands even more, for love in the sense in which we have understood it results from the maturity of the soul and the union of the spark of God into an inseparable unity. Here already the highest that a human being of your stage of development can reach penetrates, that is the full gift of love to the Godhead, which Jesus expresses thus: 'Love God above all with all your strength and with all your mind, with all that you are and have!'" (Weidner 1988:96).
"It is the concept of self that expands when we finally understand what love really means. The current concept of love identifies our self with our little individualistic self. ... And yet the commandment, properly understood, is so simple: 'Love your neighbor as (like) yourself.' That is, realize that your self is not limited to your little self. Your true self involves your neighbor. You belong together -
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Love is a special expression: to forgive everyone and everything.
Love means: to give selflessly without wanting to take.
Love results in humility, freedom, spiritual heroism in exchange for many comforts which the 'little me' desires" (Weidner 2005a:39).
"Love is essentially not a feeling, but a freely chosen attitude. Only for this reason can 'Thou shalt love' be a commandment" (Steindl-
The "neighbor is not only every earthly human being, but also every animal and other living being. ... If you ... take the admonitions of Jesus seriously and know in your inner being about who you are, then you should also realize that this outer life, the animal and plant world and so on, should not be treated maliciously by you. For example, if you value an animal only as an external living thing and withhold help, assistance and charity from it, or even beat it viciously, you grieve the soul within it. Because all creatures have received the life and the love from the creator, therefore respect every living being as creation of God!" (Weidner 2011:19/20). For, "'How will you love God if you do not love the brother, do not love the sister you see, while in your present state you have never seen God!' You pretend to love God and carelessly pass by your brother. How does that fit together?" (Weidner 1983:29).
"The cosmic law says, after all, that the higher developed spirit man is to stretch out his hand helpfully, lovingly, servingly to the lower developed soul life in order to pull it up to himself" (Weidner 2011:20/21).
"The service of true love is itself a thanksgiving for the opportunity to serve. It springs from a deep inner listening, an openness to all that a given moment contains. It springs from concern for all to whom we know ourselves to belong. Every moment is a gift" (Steindl-
"Hatred, envy, anger and so on can only be remedied by love. This is what Jesus the Christ taught and lived to you. Do the like!" (Weidner 2011:84).
"Love God your Father above all things, with all your will, with all your strength, with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. The second, however, is equal to this: love your neighbor as yourself" (Weidner 1983:26). "'As thyself' means that the individual being ... lifts the spark of God into one consciousness: God dwells in me. It is this internalization that the enlightened apostle expressed: If you have won love, then you have won everything, namely love in you! For God is in us, we are parts of God, emanating from his primordial light, sparks of God, as we express it" (Weidner 1983:27/28).
"To live is to love God. Or a similar spiritual train of thought: 'To love means: to live in God!' ... 'To love is all God-
"It is not the outer field gains that count, but the inner gain of loving selflessly and thus serving that is crucial for ... spiritualizing growth" (Weidner 2007b:26).
Love is a very concrete, powerful force -
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