❤️Enlightenment Is to Embody The Greatest Love There Is
One way I see the highest state of consciousness — namely enlightenment — is to embody the greatest love.
Love here can be defined as wishing and acting for others to be free from suffering.
We All Have Conditioned Love
In that sense, we all have some form of love. We wish it for our loved ones, family, or friends.
Yet, our love is often tied to our own expectations, beliefs, and traumas.
When a mother sees her children not following her instructions to pursue higher education, she may become agitated and scold them. Yet, she fails to see that her children may find equal success by following their passions, even if they choose a less conventional path.
What she perceives as love becomes a form of pressure for the child.
In that sense, love also requires a great deal of skillfulness and the recognition of individuality in the process.
Another way love can be conditional is when it is bound by our values and beliefs.
Most romantic love exists within certain agreements and structures. In most relationships, loyalty is a core value.
A husband may happily support his wife financially and care for her — until she begins to love another man as well.
Unconditional Love in Its Greatest Capacity
But the greatest saints, sages, yogis, practitioners, and meditators hold a different form of love — or rather, a greater degree of the same state.
I believe it’s greater in a few dimensions:
- Consistency in being unconditional
- Scope of beings
- Scope of impact and its duration
1. Consistently Unconditional
The greatest saints hold this thought in a profoundly consistent way — the ability to still wish the best for all beings, even while in great suffering or difficult circumstances.
A memorable story I heard from a Buddhist monk was about his experience in a torture camp.
“I almost lost it,” he said. “I almost lost my compassion for this being. But I’m glad I kept it.”
In the biography of Yeshe Tsogyal, she maintained love and compassion even amidst rape.
I imagine Jesus also looked upon all beings with unconditional love and compassion despite being crucified and vilified by many.
2. Scope of Beings
If we stretch that even further, it becomes the intention “to unconditionally wish for the liberation of all beings, permanently.” That is the heart of Buddhist practice.
A skillful mother may love her children unconditionally and know how best to support them — yet her love is confined to her own children.
That love could expand to encompass all of humanity, and then even further — to all beings, including animals, beings of other realms, and even nature itself.
3. Scope of Impact and Its Duration
Lastly, there’s the question of impact and duration.
Giving a man a fish benefits him for one meal.
Teaching a man to fish benefits him for a lifetime.
In many teachings, the intention is to elevate consciousness to the highest state — because that impact can last across lifetimes.
By elevating consciousness to its highest state, a being remains in a perpetual state of bliss, love, and compassion despite all external ups and downs.
There will still be pain, separation, and grief — that’s the nature of our 3D reality — but underneath it all flows a constant current of love guiding our every action.
Hence, elevating the consciousness of beings remains one of the greatest gifts that can be offered in this realm — a gift that can stretch beyond this life and into future ones.
Many Traditions, Similar Paths
What I wrote above originates largely from my Buddhist tradition, yet I’ve heard similar wisdom echoed across many other traditions as well.
My constellation teacher, Ron, comes from a lineage rooted in India. His root teacher, Hilda, would speak of how love naturally emanates when one reaches a certain state of consciousness. In that state, everything and everyone appears as love — making it effortless to act with love.
She would wash dishes while visualizing washing away famine or other world issues. When I heard that, I thought, “Oh — I’ve read something similar in a Buddhist text too.”
Concluding Thoughts
Though what I described above reflects the embodiment of great saints, I believe it’s something we can all strive toward.
When embodied, it brings profound benefit and rapidly elevates our consciousness.
In Buddhism, what I’ve described can be captured by the term “Bodhicitta”, and there are countless benefits to cultivating or even aspiring to cultivate it.
At the same time, it’s important to honor our humanity and acknowledge where we are. It’s easy to become resentful or exhausted if we try to give too much too soon — after all, we are still human, carrying our own hurts and traumas.
Hence, we do our best with what we have. And truly, that’s all that matters.