beautiful... (".)

I found a most inspiring quote onthis subject I'd like to share.

Love, without desire to possess,
knowing well that in the ultimate sense thereis no possession and no possessor:
this is the highest love.

Love, without speaking and thinking of "I,"
knowing well that this so-called "I" is a meredelusion.

Love, without selecting andexcluding,
knowing well that to do so means to create love's own contrasts;
dislike, aversion and hatred.

Love, embracing all beings: smalland great, far and near,
be it on earth, in the water or in the air.

Love, embracing impartially allsentient beings,
and not only those who are useful, pleasing or amusing to us.

Love, embracing all beings,
be theynoble-minded or low-minded, good or evil.
The noble and the good are embraced because
Love is flowing to them spontaneously.
The low-minded and evil-mindedare included
because they are those who are most in need of Love.

In many ofthem the seed of goodness may have died merely
because warmth was lacking forits growth,
because it perished from cold in a loveless world.

Love, embracing all beings, knowing
well that we all are fellow way
farers through this round of existence --
thatwe all are overcome by the same law of suffering.

Love, but not the sensuous fire that
burns, scorches and tortures,
that inflicts more wounds than it cures --
flaring up now, at the next moment being extinguished,
leaving behind morecoldness and loneliness than was felt before.

Rather, Love that lies like a
soft but firm hand on the ailing beings,
ever unchanged in its sympathy,without wavering,
unconcerned with any response it meets.

Love that iscomforting coolness to those who
burn with the fire of suffering and passion;
that is life-giving warmth to those abandoned
in the cold desert of loneliness,
to those who are shivering in the frost of a loveless world;
to those whosehearts have become
as if empty and dry by the repeated calls for help,
bydeepest despair.

Love, that is a sublime nobility ofheart and intellect which knows,
understands and is ready to help.


Love, that is strength and gives
strength: this is the highest Love.

Love, which by the Enlightened One
was named "the liberation of the heart,"
"the most sublimebeauty": this is the highest Love.

And what is the highestmanifestation of Love?
To show the world the path leadingto the end of suffering.

~Nyanaponika Thera~