The teachings of Buddha can be applied to all areas of life. There is something for everything and regardless of your beliefs, if you are open to his wisdom, you can benefit from it.
According to Thich Nhat Hanh, there are four elements that go into making up true love. For those who might not be aware, Hanh is a spiritual leader and peace activist. He is a Zen master that does all he can to spread his message far and wide, and through the internet he has been able to teach many people about the good that can be done by coming together.
If you are struggling with true love or simply unable to find it then perhaps you are not looking in the right places or are not applying the right insight. Love is not something that can be found in bad places, it is based on understanding and truth, the more positive of a place and mindset you are in and have the more it will flourish. Love takes time and it is not something you will simply walk into overnight.
Below I am going to go over the four elements of true love. These should help you better understand your journey in regards. Just because you might not have it just yet does not mean it is impossible. You can find someone to spend your life with if you choose to put your best efforts forth.
The Four Elements Of True Love:
#1 – Maitri
Maitri is loving-kindness. This is according to Britannica defined as the perfect virtue of sympathy and the word itself is Sanskrit. This is a person’s intention and capacity to offer happiness to others. You need to be able to see the ones you love for who they are and in that, you will know what they need and what they do not need.
#2 – Karuna
Karuna is compassion or the capacity to understand the sufferings of others and help remove it or transform it. It is being able to be there for the people you love even when it is hard. In doing this we need to communicate properly and bring awareness to the issues at hand without taking them on as our own.
#3 – Mudita
Mudita is joy: yours and the other person’s. You cannot have true love without joy. True love always brings joy to us and our lover. If you’re not happy within your core then you might need to come to terms with the fact that what you have and think is true love is nothing of the sort.
#4 – Upeksha
Upeksha is nondiscrimination. This is looking at things from all perspectives and being able to see things the way that they are rather than how you think they are. It is not discriminating against those you care for and allowing yourself to see things from their point of view. Not many people are capable of this.
Once you have all four of these elements down you will have true love. While they may seem a bit overwhelming at first they are not as complicated as you’d assume. True, infinite love consists of these four unlimited minds and the sooner you realize that the better.
