Agape - in The Pilgrimage, author Paulo Coelho defines it as "the love that consumes."
You have heard it said many times before - love the other as yourself, you are to love unconditionally. But oh how we fall short. We wrap our love in the bindings of our beliefs, judgments, expectations, labels and opinions. When will we truly listen to the call of our heart? When will you listen? For this call is the only reason you are here. Now is the time to remove all barriers to realizing the truth of your being as boundless love.
To love without an agenda, without expectation, seems to be only possible of mystics and saints. Yet this love is fully present now in this moment, within you. This love is calling you home to yourself, asking you to come into the silence, to let go of all the thoughts and beliefs that separate you from yourself. You are only one thought away from this love. This love that loves regardless of what the ego/personality thinks.
We often reserve our love for those close to us, those we feel safe with: "I love you because you fall into the framework of who it is okay to love, but you over there look pretty scary." We extend love to our family, friends, tribe, those we identify with, but, there is often a boundary based on our belief that it is not okay to love past some culturally set boundary. This love that is calling you subscribes to a wider view for it sees no boundaries, no separation, it just loves, period.
Our minds cannot fathom this love as it is beyond the mind. This love can't be defined, contained or denied. In this love there is no 'me' or 'I' that is loving, there is only love loving.
This boundless love which expresses through you as you is fully present right here, right now. So take a moment to open and let go into this love. As the poets say 'die into love', be consumed by this love so it may free you from the shackles that bind your heart.
Find a quiet spot and come into stillness. Bring your awareness to the center of your chest, your heart center. Breathe in and out through this center, slowly, easily. Fully aware of each breath. Now imagine a time when you felt abundantly grateful. Continue breathing as you feel this gratitude. Here in the silence of your heart, a heart full of gratitude, you find love. Allow yourself to relax into this love. Relax the mind. Relax and open to this gratitude and love. Allow it to fill you. Don't question, define or analyze. In this pause from judgment, labeling and analysis there is an expansion, a radiant stillness, a vibrant love.
Welcome home.