To begin to touch heaven, we must first relate to the earth.

No Master has ever denied the existence of the phenomenal world. To do so would be foolish. The earth is where we human beings are. It is here where we interact with each other, each interaction caused by our karmic connections from past lives.

We have to admit that this phenomenal world is fascinating. So many colors, so many textures, sights, sound, shapes, oh so much to explore, including the rise and flow of feelings for another person, which is the most vivid and most fascinating of it all:romantic love. So much so that history abounds with it and we love to read those stories of romantic love.

We get distracted and yet when we are able to relate to the earth as it is, we would have learned what Jesus Christ meant when he said "Be in the world but not of it." You are so much more than this phenomenal world and even the bible tells us "Don't you know that you are gods?"

There are no coincidences here; even meeting the person at the coffee shop where you get your coffee from in the morning is not a chance meeting. Each meeting is a sacred contract.

There are rules that all religions tell us. Do not cheat, lie, steal, covet. Do not harm another. These rules are not arbitrary. The very simple reason, the truth, is that every transgression against another is a karmic debt and each debt that we incur is repaid in full, if not in one lifetime then in the next. To some it may take many lifetimes. The energetic cost to our soul in terms of evolution is much too much. It is really inner wisdom that propels us to do what is true to ourselves. We are all pure, perfect, unblemished.

The purpose of each interaction is to resolve these karmic issues. When we do not recognize this, we remain bound by ignorance and the consequence of ignorance is suffering. As humans we all have to turn the karmic wheel.

There is a way out of the karmic wheel. This is what the masters in every religion learn when they begin the path of meditation/contemplation/self inquiry. After many years of discipline they can come back and begin to teach, but because they are free their actions are no longer karmically bound. When they go, it will be as if a bird has flown and only the wind carries the memory of the bird having been there. No traces left.

As human beings we feel love. We categorize this love according to our relationship with the other person but the feelings that we have are only a manifestation of the pure unconditional love that we have welling inside of us. Love is our gateway to freedom and as the Bible says, "For God so loved us all that He gave his only begotten son for our sins."

The sacrifice of the Son of God is only a symbol, no more. It is to say that God loves us all equally, including Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ has already known that this is his role. And although the Bible tells us that He did show signs of human feelings as He was undergoing the persecution and crucifixion, He knew it beforehand and therefore played His role. Few people can understand Him as God so we have to relate to Him as Son of God. A man.

When we feel romantic love towards another we know that that kind of love is sustainable only at the conscious level. A romantic relationship is sustained because the two people that are involved choose to stay. Because it is at the conscious level, we are in fact honoring our contracts, that which is required for us to repay our karmic debts, whether we like it or not.

We know that this is so because no matter how much we love your husband/wife/partner, there are times that we do not feel very loving towards them. They did or did not do something and that action or inaction hurt the human side of us or they have habits that we would rather they do not have. We expected something, and in our minds, they disappointed us.

Real love is unconditional. As it means, without conditions attached to it. It is only our limited minds, a part of our ego, that want us to own/be with/be part of/control another person.

The love that Jesus Christ represents, what the Masters call Cosmic/Universal love, is like the sun shining on everyone. It does not distinguish between sinner or saint, pauper or prince, someone who is as innocent as a child, or a hardened criminal. The sun shines on both the sinner and saint. It has no expectation of return and therefore only benefits the giver. It is all encompassing and unassuming, like a well which when opened becomes an oasis. Eventually, this oasis becomes an ocean.

When we are able to relate to this and see that there is only ebb and flow of feelings brought by our minds, then we can relate to the statement "To be in the world but not of it." To be in the world, enjoy it, see it as it is, and know that it is all a fascinating play. It is here where we not only participate because we chose to,but also that which we require as a classroom to learn our lesssons.

Then we go back and see that the suffering associated with that limited romantic love was necessary for our growth. It was a part of our path, a gateway, which when entered into shows us how really narrow our former perspective was. There are no distinctions when we love. We love, that is all.

And we see the humor as we remember our seven year old son asking us which one we love more, him or the dog?

© 2009 by Melinda M. Sorensson