Re: reality check - 2 Fish- non pd

[Hilary Blue <azure2@xxxxxxxxx>]

for once i am in agreement with someone on a religious/philosophical issue.

but i think, if we go back to the biblicl verse which i think is the basis for
this view point (lev 19:18) G-d is telling us to 'love thy neighbour as
thyself" the important thing is to remember the last two words. we are not
told to 'love thy neighbour at the expence of t;hyself" but "as thyself" thus
implying that we have to love ourselves - ie have self respect and selfesteem,
and care for our owhn well being, in order to be able to "love thy neighbour"
hilary blue

Charles E Murray wrote:
>
> David,
>
> You said, in part: "Love can be felt, but its not a feeling.  Love is
> demonstrated,
> and is learned best by self sacrifice."
>
> I agreed with every word of your share, except the word "sacrifice."  The
> man who told the fish story described love as "action," which he in turn
> defined as "doing things for God's kids for free and for fun."
>
> If self sacrifice is intended to mean becoming oblivious to self in
> service, OK, but most of us understand that word to connote something
> unpleasant, but moral or noble.  In short, for me it has always been
> associated with "should" and guilt, two words that are foreign to my
> notion of what love is and does.
>
> You quoted your instructor as saying, "Love is not a feeling, its a
> choice"  "An unselfish choice motivated by
> willing the Highest, and best for another."
>
> This, in my view, is part of the "experience" of love, which combines
> "choice" and "action," both of which are the inevitable result when we
> let go of guilt and find a place of OKness with self, God and others.
> Janet was saying, I believe, that our natural heritage is love because we
> were created as love by Love.  Our journey here is to transcend the ego's
> focus on guilt and fear and return to that natural heritage.
>
> This may seem overly thought centered to one who emphasized action, but
> before I could perform even one unselfish act in a state of mind
> motivated by willing the Highest, and the best for another, I had to
> clean my personal mental house, let go of self guilt and with it your
> guilt, and only then was I able to take the tiniest steps with the
> motivation you describe.
>
> Love
> Chuck