It seems that in all of my readings lately there is a central theme of Love.  So, on this Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d reflect a bit about this beautiful four letter word that is both a noun and a verb.

My friend gave me this little book to read called, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment by Thaddeus Golas.  It was published in the early 70s.  I gather that he explored many mind altering drugs to assist him with his theories, which makes it a fun little book to read!

Check out his first lines in the book.

I am a lazy man.  Laziness keeps me from believing that enlightenment demands effort, discipline, strict diet, non-smoking, and other evidences of virtue.  There is a paradise in and around you right now, and to be there you don’t even have to make a move.  All potential experiences are within you already.  You can open up to them at any time.

The central theme of this whole book is love.  It is the love that is in and around us right now which is this paradise of which he speaks.

He writes,

One of my psychedelic excursions had gotten off to a bad start, and I was sinking to a really satanic bummer.  As I looked about me at people turning evil, shrunken, colorless, odd, and weird, I suddenly thought, ‘Well, what did you think it was that needed to be loved?’  And just like that the doors opened and I was in paradise.

Now, I’m not going to run out to find some LSD to come to this same realization.  But gosh, that little question comes in handy when my mind turns to fear or judgement of another person.

When I’m able to switch into a mode of loving him or her, all of my fear goes away.  It’s interesting, because the other person doesn’t need to change a thing about their looks or actions for me to feel differently.  I just need to change my own perspective from fear to love.

I finally watched The Blind Side last night. Sandra Bullock’s character, Leigh Anne Tuohy loved this huge homeless black boy that all of her friends feared.  She loved all of the parts of Michael Oher that never had the chance to be loved.  Through that love she was able to experience paradise, not to mention the effect this love had on Michael’s life.

Here are a couple other lines from Thaddeus Golas’ book that are worth mulling over.

• Love as much as you can from wherever you are.
• Love it the way it is.
• Love yourself.

I’m also starting to study A Course in Miracles.  I must admit the Lazy Man’s Guide is much more straight forward…and guess what the central theme is in the Course?

Yup, Love.  The Course says that only Love is real.

Marianne Williamson, in her book, Return to Love, which is all about her reflections on A Course in Miracles, writes, “A Course in Miracles says that only love is real; ‘The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.’  When we think with love, we are literally co-creating with God.  And when we’re not thinking with love, since only love is real, then we’re actually not thinking at all.  We’re hallucinating.”

I can’t think of a more tangible example of a co-creation with God as the birth of a baby.  Have you ever held a newborn?  They are literally bundles of love.  A couple of my friends have had babies recently, so I’ve been blessed to hold them and feel this overwhelming sense of peace and love.  When my nephew was born my aunt said to my dad, it’s an opportunity to fall in love all over again.

When I feel love, my whole body seems to expand.  It’s filled with an energy that’s hard to put into words.  My heart actually feels bigger and warmer.  It is this love that helps me as a massage therapist.  When I massage someone and am working on a “knot” I try and just send it love.  It’s amazing how much more effective that is than me putting muscle into it.

You can do the same thing with your partner, whether it is through couples massage, or even in the casual touches you share each day.  Send a little love with each one and feel the difference.

As you go throughout your day, try and feel in your body the difference between fear and love.  See if you can recognize the contraction and expansion of energy.  What does it feel like to send out this love to all you meet today?  How is your own experience improved by sharing the love?

I love you all and can’t wait to hear your reflections, so leave us a comment below…