What Is Love - Part 2 - The Brutal Nature Of Love

"The greatest love seems indifferent." - Lao Tzu

• Advanced nature of the episode : Leo Gura warns of controversial content that might offend some viewers, emphasizing the complexity and radical nature of the topic of love, urging viewers to have watched the previous episode to understand the foundational concepts.
• Misuse and misunderstanding : He cautions against misusing or misunderstanding his teachings on love, particularly in ways that can serve selfish ends.
• The story of a Buddhist's awakening : Leo recounts the story of a Buddhist at a retreat who had an awakening into the nature of love but struggled to accept it due to her preconceived notions of awakening as emptiness without love, revealing the dangers of dogmatic thinking.
• Emphasis on existential love : He stresses the importance of recognizing love as a critical aspect of awakening and promises to focus more on the existential aspects of love in future teachings.
• Truth and love : Leo asserts that love is equivalent to various existential and metaphysical aspects, such as being, consciousness, and freedom, and clarifies that love is identical to truth.
• First-order and second-order love : He distinguishes between first-order love (the being or consciousness everything is made of) and second-order love (actions and emotions associated with love), like the distinction between Lego bricks and the structures made from them.

• Consciousness and love : Whether someone is acting lovingly or expressing negative emotions like anger or depression, it's still an expression of love because it's made of consciousness, the substance of first-order love.
• Importance of first-order love understanding : It's crucial to understand first-order love before attempting to actualize love in behavior (second-order); loving actions are secondary to the understanding of love's essence.
• Masculine dimension of love : Leo introduces the concept of 'masculine love,' which can be harsh or ruthless, such as ending a toxic relationship or confronting someone truthfully, challenging the stereotypical 'feminine' perception of love as gentle and kind.
• Love in violence : He encourages viewers to see love in seemingly unlovable things like violence, war, and terrorism, asserting that love is present in survival and difficult actions taken out of care or necessity.
• Challenging common stereotypes of love : Leo critiques the common depiction of love as exclusively positive and affectionate, pushing viewers to broaden their understanding to include the possibility of love in harsh or brutal actions.
• Brutality as an aspect of love : The scene from "I Am Legend" where the protagonist has to kill his own infected dog exemplifies the brutal dimension of love. This act of love, which requires him to strangle the dog, is too severe for most people's ego to accept as it contradicts the ideal of sweet, happy love.
• Gravity and infinity of love : Love is equated with reality and truth, encompassing all aspects, even the brutal ones. The brutality in love arises from the infinite scope of reality, which includes the so-called "evil" actions that ordinary human consciousness finds difficult to accept.
• Denial of self-reflection in consciousness : Consciousness encountering its various brutal aspects can lead to shock and denial, similar to someone unable to acknowledge their own reflection in a mirror due to its perceived ugliness.
• Impermanence of all form : The impermanence of everything is central to understanding reality, love, and the origins of evil. Clinging to the impermanent, like Will Smith's attachment to his dog in the movie, leads to suffering and misconceptions about the nature of existence.
• Perception of evil : Common definitions of evil stem from an ego-centric viewpoint that fails to recognize the impermanence and the broader truths of consciousness. Consciousness's serious and uncompromising nature is often too much for the ego, leading to it labeling unconditional love as hate or evil.
• Embracing love as an absolute : The ultimate challenge is learning to embrace love unconditionally, beyond one's ego-centric terms and survival needs, accepting reality with all its "warts and all."
• Counterintuitive nature of love : Love's manifestations can be misunderstood due to personal ego distortions. What might not seem like an expression of love can actually be one when seen without the filter of the ego's survival mechanism.
• Broad understanding of survival : To truly see and appreciate the love in everything, one must understand survival in a broader context, beyond the immediate needs of the individual.
• Perception of Evil and Love : Leo suggests that what we often consider evil actions are conducted by individuals who see themselves as good and acting out of love based on their worldviews and circumstances, no matter how twisted their actions might be.
• Nature of Survival and Love : He clarifies survival as not being the opposite of love, stating that life cannot exist without death, and survival is critical for the continuance of experiences like beauty, happiness, and enjoyment.
• Evolution and Love : Discussing evolution, Leo posits that humanity's development, including our dietary habits, has been driven by survival and love, leading from a meat-eating past to a potential future of non-animal based diets.
• A Lion Hunting an Antelope : The example of a lion hunting is used to demonstrate that both the predator and prey are acting out of love and survival instincts, contributing to the evolution and beauty of species.
• Understanding Tyrants Through Love : Leo encourages a broader perspective when considering historical tyrants, suggesting they too acted out of what they perceived as love, fulfilling functions necessary for their contexts and societies.
• Military-Industrial Complex and Love : He explores the controversial notion that even those working in the military-industrial complex are expressing a form of love by providing for their families, despite the destructive purposes of their work.
• Complexity and Infinite Scope of Consciousness : Lastly, Leo describes the vast interconnectedness of actions and occurrences within reality, illustrating how something as innocent as a child's Christmas gift might indirectly come from acts of war, yet both are expressions of love within the infinite scope of consciousness.
• Interconnectedness of Reality and Love : Leo Gura explains how everything in reality is interconnected. He uses the example of cancer, stating that while it is seen as a negative consequence, it is tied to activities, actions, and decisions driven by love. He touches upon how people enjoy products and lifestyles that might lead to an increased risk of cancer. However, these factors contribute to a better life, comfort, and survival, indicating that these choices are driven by love.
• Love and Creation of Harmful Technology/Products : Leo illustrates that the freedom to invent and create new technologies and products is a form of love from God. Despite that, some of these creations might lead to harmful consequences such as cancer. These creations stem from the desire to improve life, cater to convenience, and meet survival needs. While people love these comforts created by humans, the adverse effects are an outgrowth of the freedom given.
• Cellular Mechanism and Cancer : Discussing the occurrence of cancer at a cellular level, Leo maintains that these cells' mechanism is necessary for human existence. He explains that while these cellular mechanisms are prone to errors leading to conditions like cancer, the larger picture is the existence and lives made possible because of these cells. Even accidental cancer, where no lifestyle or external factors contribute to its occurrence, is part of the limitations of these cellular mechanisms.
• Human Testing and Animal Sacrifice : Touching upon the controversial topic of animal testing, Leo describes how testing drugs, chemicals, and products on animals, though seemingly cruel, leads to potentially life-saving discoveries. He argues that a few animal lives sacrificed for developing medical solutions can help save and improve countless human lives in the long run. The act of animal testing, in this perspective, is seen as a display of love.
• Burning of the Amazon : Another controversial topic brought up by Leo is the burning of the Amazon forest. Destroying these forests for creating farmlands and cattle grazing lands is driven by struggling farmers' need to provide for their families. This activity, while harmful to the environment, is also an act driven by love, as it shows the farmers' desire to care for their families.
• Human nature and reproductive success : Human behaviors such as infidelity and attraction to multiple partners are manifestations of love that contribute to the species' survival and have led to the human population reaching seven billion.
• Husband beating wife as a form of love : From the husband's limited worldview and given his psychological history and conditions such as alcoholism, mental illness, or a history of being abused, his abusive behavior is his mistaken way of expressing love, not justified but comprehensible within his narrative of love.
• Necessity of past events and understanding survival : Everything that has happened was necessary because it led to the current moment; recognizing the role of survival in even the most brutal human actions is essential to understand how all aspects of life manifest love.
• Complexity of consciousness and simplicity of love : The intricate web of factors influencing human psychology showcases the complex, infinitely intertwined nature of reality, ultimately revealing that all of existence, despite its brutality, is an expression of love.
• Demonization of teaching true love : Teaching the existential nature of love often leads to the teacher being inaccurately demonized for justifying evil, reflecting humanity's resistance to confronting the depth and brutality of true love.
• Ego's distorted conception of love : The ego's self-bias leads to a distortion of love, perceiving it only in terms of personal safety and benefit, missing the full scope of existential love.
• Cynical attitude towards love and growth : Materialists' cynical view of love as flaky often prevents them from recognizing and embracing love's depth and uncomfortable realities, impeding real growth and selflessness.
• Reconciling survival, devilry, and love : Contemplating the connection between survival, perceived evil, and love is crucial for understanding the broader existential nature of love and overcoming adversarial relationships with reality.
• Infinite consciousness and self-acceptance : Infinite consciousness entails being aware of oneself as everything that exists; therefore, self-hatred is not possible at an infinite level. Hatred arises only when consciousness is less than infinite.
• Love as a reflection of consciousness : Love is directly proportional to one's level of consciousness. The more conscious and self-accepting one becomes, the greater the capacity for love, resulting in a diminished distinction between self and others.
• Evil and finite consciousness : Evil arises when consciousness is restricted. Infinite consciousness encompasses all including finite experiences, which means that what is often perceived as evil is within the scope of divine love.
• Radical nature of love and freedom : Love allows for absolute freedom, including the choice to perform actions that could be labeled as evil or selfish. True love is inclusive and permissive to the extent that it allows for all expressions, even those considered negative.
• Love includes all aspects of reality : According to Leo, God's love is so selfless that it allows for the entire spectrum of human behavior and experience, including selfishness and deceit.
• Truth and the impracticality of love : Love transcends practicality and survival. Focusing solely on practicality leads to a never-ending cycle of dissatisfaction and the absence of peace.
• The dilemma of finite beings understanding infinite love : Finite beings have difficulty grasping infinite love, which often results in labeling it as evil and resisting it out of fear.
• Freedom as an exploration of infinite possibilities : True freedom means the exploration of all aspects of existence, including the most challenging and controversial ones, without exception or rejection.
• God's selflessness and infinite intelligence : The infinite intelligence and absolute selflessness of God mean that God has no needs or fears, defining an existence where all actions are expressions of love.
• Visualization of God's love : Leo asks the audience to imagine loving every aspect of consciousness without exception, embracing all possibilities, outcomes, and identities, as this represents God's limitless exploration and creation of life.
• Our existence as a manifestation of God's desire : Leo suggests that human existence, including personal life and broader historical events, is a direct result of God's infinite love and desire to explore all aspects of consciousness.
• Reality as an ongoing act of creation : The present moment and all of life are constantly being imagined by God’s consciousness, expressing an unconditional, non-judgmental love that allows for both selfishness and selflessness.
• Conscious action and love : Leo emphasizes being conscious and surrendering personal fears and needs as essential to distinguish 'good' actions from 'bad' and assures that this leads to inherently good behavior.
• Violence as a manifestation of love : The misconception that love excludes violence is addressed; Leo argues that we should learn to see even violent actions as potential expressions of love, challenging the notion that love must align with peaceful ideals.
• Freedom in how love is expressed : Leo asserts that love can be expressed in an infinite number of ways, including being ruthless or making tough decisions, and warns against allowing the ego to dictate a limited expression of love.
• Total selflessness to comprehend love : He states that to fully appreciate the vast multiplicity of love, one must reach a state of complete selflessness.
• Enforcement of boundaries and love : Leo clarifies that embodying love doesn't mean being a doormat; defending oneself and enforcing boundaries can also be an act of love.
• Balancing masculine and feminine aspects of love : The necessity for both men and women to understand and practice both masculine and feminine elements of love to maintain balance and functionality is discussed.
• Understanding love in adversity : He encourages finding love in horrific events, suggesting that such experiences heighten and test love's authenticity.
• Homework on conceptualizing love : Leo assigns a worksheet to contemplate and articulate how tragic scenarios can ultimately amplify the understanding and existence of love.
• Recognition of love in all teachings : He reminds that all of his teachings, even if not explicitly stated, are about actualizing love and encourages the audience to recognize the undercurrent of love in all educational topics.
• Importance of awakening to understand love : Leo stresses the need for at least one awakening experience into the nature of love to appreciate and truly comprehend it, beyond theoretical or philosophical understanding.
• Awakening as an enhancement to humanity : Disputing the notion that awakening leads to emotionless stoicism, Leo proposes that true enlightenment enriches emotions, care, and a deeper connection with human suffering, combining Zen's rational approach with a heart-centered philosophy.