My writings are the result of decades of reflection, and listening to and learning from many people. I am profoundly indebted to all those who have helped guide me and inspire me. So, as I have been influenced (and continue to be influenced) by a wide variety of people, I wish to return this favor in kind and offer my own views . . . on truly living from the heart of happiness and peace—on truly living as love!
In Praise of Love and Being Home is the book that my five previous books have led to: a summary series of writings that are best read and re-read, slowly; and allowed to sink into and saturate our whole being, in any instant and over time. How good, then, to take this message, this meditation, with us wherever we go . . . and feel for ourselves how this can have the most positive and profound impact on every aspect of our life and our world.
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Is there any doubt? Love is what provides the deepest sense of happiness, peace and well-being in our life; the deepest sense of satisfaction and meaning. Purely and simply, love feels the best, does us the most good and nurtures and nourishes us like nothing else can! When it comes down to it, only love works . . . really. Only love matters.
Only love reaches deep enough inside us to truly touch us and align us with our very being and true inner beauty. When we simply and genuinely love, we are being true to ourselves, by reflecting our innermost nature and most intimate bond with the Source of all creation. This union with what is pulsing life in our every molecule and cell, and heartbeat and breath, is an open-heartedness at our core that is our very being, our soul, our heart's truth, our true home.
Thus, when we are being open-hearted, tender-hearted, kind-hearted, big-hearted and such, we are living in sync with our true nature and exuding it. Yes! By extending love’s caring warmth to anyone, we are resonating with our Source-connectedness and emanating this: the God-created innocence and goodness woven in every fiber of our being. When we love another—when we encourage, support, inspire, help and guide another—we are acknowledging and expressing our essential oneness . . . with God . . . and with each other. Love is the connectedness—is our mutually shared essence and what unites us all, in truth.
So, in listening to these words, we can be continually reminded that no matter where we are, or what’s going on in our life, we can open—in and as the entire body-mind—and simply love. Such is our being attentive and caring toward anyone or anything, our being kind and generous, compassionate and forgiving, and the like. And when we are conveying these kinds of qualities, even just a little bit or for a little while, we are actually mirroring the vastness of the Life-giving energy, or spirit, which pervades every nook and cranny of the universe. . . . And, likewise, by opening the “arms” of our heart and inviting anyone or anything into this embrace, we are reflecting our very essence, our true self, and able to wholeheartedly confirm this: Love is an open-heartedness, an openness of being, a spirit-awareness in us, which is our deepest, widest-reaching happiness and peace . . . and the way to truly feel at home and thrive here!
How good, then, to feel for ourselves how love can move us so, touch and warm us so—how a genuinely fulfilling, meaningful and joyful life is a life based on love, and our being given to this and filled with this. And how good it is, truly, to endlessly fall in love with love itself, and the way of being this inspires! . . . We can actually feel this goodness, this “vibration,” in our very cells; and how this energy feeds us, and soothes and heals us like nothing else can. And there’s no question, this is what we really need and our world needs—now, more than ever.
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We all have a great opportunity in this life: to find what we love to do, what really interests us, moves us and brings out the best in us—in terms of our vocations and avocations, creative pursuits, leisure time activities and such. Likewise, a big part of life is finding the most fulfilling intimate relationships, the right life-partner, the best friends, and how to spend our precious time on this earth.
For many of us, this may be an ongoing process, with much “trial and error” and “living and learning” as we go; for others, any or all of this may come much quicker and easier. In any case, how wonderful it is to “follow our passion,” “follow our dreams,” in whatever ways we can, and look to realize the joy and satisfaction in doing what we really love to do.
Most importantly: Whether or not we have found our “true calling,” our true “labor of love,” the key is the love we give to whatever we’re doing—the passionate interest and energy we bring; the attentiveness and caring and generosity of spirit that is happiness itself. . . . Thus, it can be said that every moment of our life, every encounter, is another chance to do what we’re here to do, “meant to do”—to purely and simply love—even in the least of ways, no matter what! Then, we just might find the happiness and inner peace that can found anywhere and everywhere, even amid the most mundane and ordinary activities and circumstances. And isn’t this what’s truly rewarding and meaningful in life—whether or not we have the ideal job, or mate, or friends or creative endeavors?