The topic of love without permission is one that is close to my own heart - it resonates in tune with my current karmic predicament. I had been feeling called to write about it for several weeks now when a wonderful piece by Jeff Kober found its way into my inbox. I don’t think I could choose more beautiful words than Jeff so I will share what he wrote, unedited. Every piece of my own heart dances to his words.
“I realized that Maharishi was offering love with detachment, the mark of a great sage. I remembered one of his favorite remarks, which he once directed to me: "I love you, but it's none of your business." - Deepak Chopra
“If we are wondering what life is about, why we are here, we can always default to the failsafe of love. Why are we here? To learn how to love. To learn how to be loved. What is the point of it all? Love. What is it that, the more we give it away, the more we have it? Love. What is it that everyone is looking to get from someone else, but that can only be felt when we feel it flow from ourselves to someone else? Love. What is it that underpins the whole universe? Love.
If we are looking for a reason to be here, we could do worse than to choose love.
A few years back, my son and I had a bit of a falling-out. We didn't speak for quite a while, at his request. It was a struggle for me. When there's a problem, I want to solve it. Somewhere in there, though, I realized there only was a problem if I chose to see it as a problem. I realized that my job, as a parent, was to love my son. And though I didn’t like it, this was the way things were going to be, at least for a while, in spite of anything I could do. I realized that loving my son did not have to look the way I thought it should look. I realized, finally, that I did not need my son's permission to love him. All I needed was my own. Permission to love. Without conditions, without need for anything in return.
These days, my son and I speak regularly. When he went on his first job interviews at Carnegie Mellon, I bought him a suit. He looked good. Our love today for each other looks much more the way I've always thought love was supposed to look. But it feels the same as the love I've been giving all along, with his permission and without
Today I will choose to love someone for no other reason than because I can, and I will not ask for their permission, nor will I ask for anything in return” – Jeff Kober
Today like every day that has come before, I choose to love you. And I will never stop.
-The Way
Comments