The Four Elements of True Love

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• lamrimnesiaCredit to from @allaboutdharma - "The Four Elements of True Love"
  "Question: If Buddhism supports love for Mother Nature, why doesn’t it also support romantic love between two people and demonstrations of affection between two people?
  
  Thay’s Response: The Buddha is a teacher of love. True love. Love for Mother Earth should be true love, and if it is true love, it can bring a lot of happiness to you and Mother Earth. Romantic love, if it is true love, can also bring a lot of happiness. But if it is not true love, it will make you suffer and make the other person suffer as well.
  
  In the teaching of the Buddha, true love needs four elements. The first element is loving kindness or maitri, which means the capacity to offer happiness. In romantic love, if you are not able to help the other person be happy, that is not true love. You should train yourself to be able to offer happiness to yourself and to the other person. Without that, both will suffer.
  
  The second element of true love is compassion or karuna. Compassion is the kind of energy that can help remove suffering and help transform suffering in yourself and the other person. If you cannot transform and take care of the suffering in you and in the other person, that is not true love. That is why karuna should be cultivated by both people. Romantic or not romantic, that is not what is important. What is important is if it is true love or not true love. - #regrann
• allaboutdharmaThanks for reposting 🙏🏼✨