As humans we instinctually seek pleasure, which brings a feeling of joy and fulfilment. However, our definition of what produces these effects are often misguided. We tend to choose short-lived physical pleasures over the more sustaining inner joy produced by love. The quest for love is a fundamental human need that influences our behavior, social interactions, and choice of partners. We can experience love in various ways: romantic love with its associated passions and obsessions; love for family members which can radiate out to encompass others; unreciprocated, unrequited love; the compassion that we feel for the less fortunate; through unselfish acts to help others without wanting anything in return; in caring for not only our species but for other forms of life and the environment that we all share.
Achieving a sense of wellbeing cannot be simply diluted to mean physical pleasure achieved through sexual experiences. We are tested in every life term to develop more spiritual wisdom with a focus on love-driven morality and understanding our connection to Eternal Light. Sex can definitely produce pleasure but we cannot lose sight of the fact that it is primarily driven by the innate need for procreation and preservation of our species. It can also be a healthy physical manifestation of a mature and committed love. However, we have to avoid placing the accent solely on sex and understand the distinction between love and sexuality.
Missing the Love Component
Current liberal sex practices have turned their back on love and placed sex on a higher pedestal. Making love has become the physical enactment of the sexual act without the underlying love component. Sex has been manipulated by the pornographic industry with its accent on voyeurism, performance, thrills and crass objectification of women. Love-driven sex can be defined as a physical expression of love for another person. Sex without a love intention is triggered solely by lust. Feeling more love than lust for a person is a prime indicator of a healthy relationship. This type of love produces a deeper bond between the individuals involved. Practicing ever more innovative sexual techniques can never be a satisfying substitute for real love.
There is no inherent harm in sex, and it can undeniably bring physical satisfaction. However, if it remains casual without being sustained by love it can lead to the diminishment and loss of love. When sex obsessively preoccupies and distracts our lives then it is unhealthy. Our main test in every reincarnation is to reach a higher degree of love in all its forms.
There are certain behavior patterns that define our love. Continuous tenseness and anxiety in our ability to sexually satisfy our partner is an indication of a relationship based principally on lust. It is not conducive to establishing a deeper, loving relationship on which we are tested. We are here to increase the level of our spiritual wisdom, which is tied directly to love. Contraceptives have greatly spurred sex between immature children. Parents often become unsuspecting accomplices to under-aged sexual activity believing that contraceptives make it safe. Contraceptive do prevent disease and play an important role in controlling population growth. It is a ultimately a question of teaching our children the predominance that love should take in their sexual expressions.
Different Sexual Orientations
The same love-driven bias applies for heterosexual, transgender, lesbian and gay individuals. We should view all sexual orientations in their proper light and accept its different expressions. The many variants should be no less acceptable as those between individuals of the opposite sex. Love in all its manifestations of caring, empathy, respect, cooperation, and mutual support is the key. No person is tested on being gay or lesbian. We are all tested on finding the path to a more love-driven morality.
Prostitution is an extreme example of sexuality based solely on lust. It is one of the oldest professions and is condoned and protected in many countries. It has gained a certain amount of global respectability. Liberals see this as providing a useful service between consenting adults. From the perspective of safety and security that is a good thing. However, its practitioners may damage their ability to express love and form meaningful relationships. Moreover, it exposes them to violence, drug addiction and other forms of abuse.
Those who use the services of prostitutes, or see prostitution as a more or less benign practice should realize that they are directly contributing to its perpetuity. The spiritually wise attitude is to support universal access to education, and a fairer distribution of wealth. This serves as a deterrent to prostitution, which is often motivated by poverty.
Polygamous relationships often cause emotional stress, particularly for women. Their love may be redirected to the children but the fathers are never as emotionally connected because their love constantly vacillates between competitive interests of their many wives. There are other negative aspects of polygamy, which include: gender inequality favoring males, preferential treatment for the elite, and hypocritical claims of approval by some deity.
Love as Wisdom
Whenever we get confused about love, we should tap into our inner spiritual energy cell through meditation. It can guide us to recognize whether we are on the right path. The wisdom attained in our past lives is encoded there. The ultimate test in our multi-term journey is to increase our degree of love to an ever-expanding circle.
Morality should be driven by love. Moral precepts and commandments should not to be viewed solely as a condemnation of certain thoughts and actions punishable by societal laws. When our behavior and actions become based on love-driven morality we will have no need for commandments and laws to guide us. We are certainly not yet at that point in human development and will continue to require societal guidelines to ensure the security and safety of our communities.
The question of what is moral can be judged simply by whether it is actuated by love in its various forms such as empathy, caring, helping, mutual respect, altruism, and its many other manifestations. Spiritual ignorance is the lack of love-driven morality through our thoughts and actions. It is defined by fear, greed, gluttony, pride, lust, materialism, violence, anger, and other forms. The purpose of our multi-term lives is to achieve a more fully developed love and thus become the physical manifestation of Eternal Light’s essence.
Good article!