True Love (an extract from Opening The Door Of Your Heart and other Buddhist tales of Happiness by Ajahn Brahm, a monk from the UK)
The trouble with romance is that when the fantasy is broken, the disappointment can badly hurt us. In romantic love, we don't really love your partner, we only love the way they make us feel. It is the 'high' we feel in their presence that we love. Which is why, when they are absent, we miss them and ask to be sent a bottle of ... (see the previous story). Like any 'high', it wears out after a while.
True love is selfless love. We are concerned only for the other person. We tell them, 'The door of my heart will always be open to you, whatever you do', and we mean it. We want them to be happy. True love is rare.
Many of us like to think that our special relationship is true love, not romantic love. Here is a test for you to discover which type of love it is.
Think of your partner. Picture them in your mind. Recall the day you came together and the wonderful times you have enjoyed ever since. Now imagine receiving a letter from your partner. It tells you that they have fallen deeply in love with your best friend, and the two of them have run away to live together. How would you feel?
If it were true love, you would be so thrilled that your partner has found someone even better than you, and is now even more happy. You'd be ecstatic that they were in love. Isn't your partner's happiness the most important thing in true love?
True love is rare.
etc etc
haha k anyway i post this in light of Feb 14th.
Entry @ 9:28 PM;
Friday, February 10, 2006
