Theos-Talk Archives (October 1997 Message tl00381)

At 06:43 AM 10/25/97 -0400, you wrote:
>In a message dated 97-10-20 11:06:12 EDT, you write:
>
>Nicole,
>
><< 
> Thank you for your interesting explanations - I think unconditional love
> naturally happens between a mother and her child as long as it is a baby.>>
>
>I found your concepts on unconditional love extremely interesting.   I have a
>problem with unconditional love being related to "naturally happens between a
>mother and her child as long as it is a baby."  I have read and heard about
>to many cases of child abuse or neglect to believe unconditional love is a
>natural function and heard of  many women (and know a few) who think of
>children as a commodity (status) to a reflection of themselves, or have a
>fleeting interest in the child as a baby and and looses it once the child
>starts to reason and no longer can be dictated to.  None of those situations
>qualify, IMO, as unconditional love.  While I think in some cases
>unconditional love happens it is selective cases.  Recent studies have
>discovered human's have "no mothering instinct."  However, studies can be
>wrong or misleading. 
>
>  <<"Our inability to drop our shield without ego getting in the way, or
>being a
> doormat for other and permitting the same of others is IMHO, the root of  a
> great deal of our personal problems in relationships, jobs and community."
> 
> Is it the ego or the desire of possession which can easily lead to obsession
>and
> is often "sold" as "unconditional love"? >>
>
>Your making an excellent point.  People who seem to be able to love
>unconditionally do seem a little "obsessed".  OTH,  are you saying no one can
>love unconditionally without self-interest?  Sounds Freudian.  On the flip
>side Viktor Frankl's work regarding "Man's Search for Meaning" indicated this
>to be a natural and even healthy function (love for one thing that you pursue
>such as art.)  Most Theosophical teaching, I have read - (HPB, Judge, Besant,
>De Purucker, Bailey) ties into, at some point, unconditional love.  This is
>an interesting question worth much reflection. They, also, talk of the need
>of "letting go of personality'" or "lower self" which I interpret as shields.
> I wonder if we can ever take our "self" out of anything.  I.E. love without
>a degree of self interest and does unconditional love necessarily predicate a
>lack of self interest?  In the "Key to Theos" HPB was pretty clear about
>expecting the "same as" not more or less.  I suspect that implies a degree of
>self interest.  All very interesting reflection material.  
>
>crp
>

I think the issue of unconditional love is a very important one for
consideration. Words have different meaning for different individuals. Love
is a word each one of us will define in our own way. Any amount of
definition is not the real thing.

Having said the above, I think, in my simplistic thinking, it *may* be a
deep unselfish interest in the welfare of the other person(s) and be willing
to act for the best interests of the other person(s) as one sees it and be
ready to sacrifice (however small or big) for the other person(s). 

How it is seen in action will have to be very situational since no two
situations are the same.

Just my 0.02

mkr