Love (Un)conditional

Unconditional love is known as affection without any limitations or love without conditions. All human beings are capable of giving and receiving such love every day in every way. We don’t have to look very far to find examples of such a blessed capability, most likely we can think of people, be it parents, family members or close friends that demonstrate unconditional love within their families, communities or through their charitable work. Additionally, there are well-known individuals that are said to have exemplified or advocated for unconditional love such as Jesus of Nazareth (embodied unconditional love), Martin Luther King Jr. (advocate for love, justice and equality in the Civil Rights Movement), Mother Theresa (exemplified love through serving the poor and vulnerable), Rumi (sufi mystic and poet emphasizing love and spiritual connection), and Louise Hay (author speaking about self-love and acceptance) and many more.

Can you imagine our society once we relearn to love the Self (our inner person), each other and the world unconditionally? The peace, joy, equality and power that a world based on love could have? It’s a beautiful place that can be real if we just remember to love. Over generations, our species has focused on our differences, the superficial… be it colour, race, class, language, belief system, or nationality. Why not take a deeper view of ourselves and others and see the similarities among us, the connectedness, the shared humanity? Whether we realize it consciously or not, we are a connected species and there is a shared ‘energy’ between all of us that we are only now learning about through science. One such example of this is known as collective neuroscience, where our brain waves are found to synchronize when we converse or share an experience with others. Being ‘on the same wavelength’ is a REAL thing. Most belief systems have encouraged community celebrations to promote this collaborative energy. On the positive side, imagine sharing feelings of love and joy with others. When humanity is celebrating, we all feel great and have energy even if we don’t know why. When humanity chooses love, life seems that much better, the world seems that much better. On the flip side, we don’t need to analyze it but we're sure everyone can think of those examples too, where groupthink or herd mentality led to less positivity. The movie Tomorrowland painted a realistic picture of what shared negativity can do to a society and the world.

Why aren't we already living by love today? It could be for many reasons such as believing life is the same as when we were less evolved, survival of the fittest, us versus them, epic righteous battles between good (us) and evil (them), living for profit, power, or control. It is this writer's belief that the collective and snowballing trauma over the generations, things that we thought helped us to survive, were actually the things that held us back from truly thriving. Great leaders knew this and advocated for peace, humility, openness, love.

We're at the cusp of our evolution, the challenge to all of us is to CHOOSE LOVE, every second of every damn day, again and again until we are all on the same wavelength. This is entirely possible within our lifetime, within the year, within the month. Random acts of kindness, saying hello to strangers, turning the other cheek, acknowledging and understanding those that are different or hurtful to us. If you are a spiritual person, I challenge you to read Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsh for a world-flipping view of our ‘purpose’ on earth (spoiler alert: it has everything to do with experiences and the greatest experience of all is to love every blessed experience, thing and person unconditionally). Every religion has a reference to the shared human experience and encourages unconditional love. See the next section for religious references to loving unconditionally with support from my good friend ChatGPT. If looking for recent events, read I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctors Journey by Dr. Izzeldin Abulaish, which is a beautiful, bittersweet story of a father’s loving, but painful plea for peace and love that sadly continues to this day. Dr. Abulaish has lost more than 20 relatives in the current escalation in the Middle East and even more today than before advocates for peace and love.

This necessary evolution needs to be performed by all of us, every second of every day. Ask yourself, what can I do in this ever present moment to exemplify unconditional love? To help get us started, the next few sections highlight quotes from religions texts, quotes, songs and self-help books that speak to unconditional love.

If you have a story or insights on your experience living and loving unconditionally, please feel free to share it in the comments section or send us an email/DM and we will share it anonymously.

Religious Texts Promoting Unconditional Love for All Humankind with Quotes (provided by ChatGPT)

The Bible (Christianity):

• "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:44, ESV)

The Quran (Islam):

• "The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say words of peace." (Quran 25:63)

The Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism):

• "He who sees Me in all things, and sees all things in Me, he is never far from Me, and I am never far from him." (Bhagavad Gita 6.30)

The Dhammapada (Buddhism):

• "Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal." (Dhammapada 5.5)

The Guru Granth Sahib (Sikhism):

• "Recognize the Lord's light within all, and do not consider social class or status; there are no classes or castes in the world hereafter." (Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 349)

The Tao Te Ching (Taoism):

• "The great Tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right. The ten thousand things depend upon it; it holds nothing back. It fulfills its purpose silently and makes no claim." (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 34)

The Tripitaka (Jainism):

• "One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated." (Tripitaka, Sutrakritanga 1.11.33)

The Guru Granth Sahib (Baha'i Faith):

• "Love the creatures for the sake of God and not for themselves. You will never become angry or impatient if you love them for the sake of God." (Baha'i Faith, Abdu'l-Baha)

The Torah (Judaism):

• "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19:18, NRSV)

The Avesta (Zoroastrianism):

• "Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself." (Avesta, Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29)

10 Quotes About Unconditional Love for All Humanity (provided by ChatGPT)

• "Love is not an exclusive relationship with another person; love is the quality of our attitude towards humanity." - Jiddu Krishnamurti

• "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive." - Dalai Lama

• "The only way love can last a lifetime is if it's unconditional." - Stephen Kendrick

• "Love the sinner, hate the sin." - Augustine of Hippo

• "Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it." - Rabindranath Tagore

• "Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being." - Ram Dass

• "Love is the bridge between you and everything." - Rumi

• "When you make loving others the story of your life, there's never a final chapter, because the legacy continues." - Oprah Winfrey

• "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." - Rumi

• "To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides." - David Viscott

10 Songs with Lyrics Promoting Unconditional Love for Humanity (provided by ChatGPT)

"What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Dionne Warwick

• "What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of." - Lyrics.com

"Imagine" by John Lennon

• "Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." - Lyrics.com

"Lean On Me" by Bill Withers

• "Lean on me when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend. I'll help you carry on, for it won't be long 'til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on." - Lyrics.com

"Heal the World" by Michael Jackson

• "Heal the world, make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race." - Lyrics.com

"What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye

• "For only love can conquer hate. You know we've got to find a way to bring some lovin' here today." - Lyrics.com

"Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson

• "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change." - Lyrics.com

"Love Train" by The O'Jays

• "People all over the world (everybody), join hands (join), start a love train, love train." - Lyrics.com

"One Love" by Bob Marley

• "One love, one heart. Let's get together and feel all right." - Lyrics.com

"Stand by Me" by Ben E. King

• "No, I won't be afraid. Oh, I won't be afraid, just as long as you stand, stand by me." - Lyrics.com

"With a Little Help from My Friends" by The Beatles

• "I get by with a little help from my friends.." - Lyrics.com

10 Self-Help Books Emphasizing Unconditional Love for Humanity (provided by ChatGPT)

"The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship" by Miguel Ruiz

• "You don't need to justify your love; you don't need to explain your love; you just need to practice your love. Practice creates the master."

"Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It" by Kamal Ravikant

• "As you love yourself, life loves you back. I don't think it has a choice either. I can't explain how it works, but I know it to be true.”

"The Art of Loving" by Erich Fromm

• "Love is not a mutual affectionate reception but an unselfish concern for the welfare of the one loved."

"The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom" by Don Miguel Ruiz

• "Be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Always do your best."

"Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha" by Tara Brach

• "The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently."

"The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment" by Eckhart Tolle

• "Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective. It does not make one person special."

"The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are" by Brené Brown

• "Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we'll ever do."

"A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles" by Marianne Williamson

• "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."

"The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself" by Michael A. Singer

• "If you truly love someone, your love sees past their humanness."

"Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl

• "Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality."