The Axes Of Love, According To Buddhism
There are four axes of love according to Buddhism. The axes of love have been described by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh in a small book called Teachings on Love . In this book, there is no question of love within the couple: the author refers to any emotional bond, including the one we feel for ourselves.
In reality, the axes of love are very simple truths, probably the reason why they go somewhat unnoticed. These axes refer us to essential notions that must be identified, cultivated and protected within human relations (family relations, couple relations and friendly relations). The ideal would be to take them into account in the context of a global relationship with oneself and with the world.
For Buddhism, love is a universal feeling that must concern everything that exists. By being filled with true love, we achieve balance, and through that balance, we achieve spiritual peace.
We invite you here to reflect on the axes of love disseminated by Buddhism. They can enrich your life.
1. Joy, one of the axes of the love of Buddhism
Joy is a manifestation of inner happiness. This means that we are happy with the reality that presents itself to us: reality generates enthusiasm and pleasure. This does not mean that this emotion remains constant with the same intensity all the time. Rather, it is a state of mind.
Someone who is happy conveys his joy to others. Just as anxiety and sadness are contagious emotions, joy radiates to those around us. It is showing love for yourself and for others. It is a constant work of adaptation and balance.
2. Compassion, an axis of fundamental love
The Compassion does not mean to grieve for someone or treat someone as an inferior or be limited. As the word itself indicates, it is about sharing passion (“passion” in its sense of “suffering”) with the other : understanding the pain of the other and being able to feel it as being. ours.
Compassion is an essential part of love, as it involves relating to another person’s feelings, in addition to accepting and validating the other’s vulnerabilities and limitations. Compassion means that instead of questioning these vulnerabilities and limitations, we are able to understand and make them our own.
3. Mutual pleasure, multiplied happiness
We know that love is present when one person enjoys the existence and company of the other. We want to give time to each other and to be truly present during the moments spent together, that is to say to give them our full attention.
When we feel love for someone, our ability to listen and be open to what that person thinks, says, and does is involved. According to Zen, mutual pleasure is not only one of the axes of love, it is also an unequivocal signal of the presence of love. If there is no shared pleasure, we cannot speak of love.
4. Freedom, the basis of everything, and one of the axes of the love of Buddhism
Buddhism tells us that we cannot be free if we have not found our inner balance. This balance is expressed by calm and composure in any situation, whatever it may be.
Buddhism explains to us that in order to love oneself and love others, it is essential to calm one’s inner storms, which sometimes invade us and prevent the emergence of the most positive feelings.
What encloses the human being the most, what deprives him the most of his freedom are fear and anger. It is only by working on these emotions in order to dispel them that a human being is able to truly love. Otherwise, it is possible that the other becomes the object of these fears and these attacks.
On the other hand, when we are in harmony within ourselves, we are free and we also allow the other to be free.
For Zen, it is important to cultivate your inner self. When we love, we also want the loved one to evolve and find their inner balance.
Buddhism tells us that love is an active feeling, not a receptive one. Each of us is a support and an example for those we love. When we cultivate the axes of love of Buddhism, we pass them on to others, mainly by example.
Our thoughts When we talk about the three marks of life, we are talking about the essence of Zen. Ephemeral, insubstantiality and suffering, according to Buddhism.
