| A
science
of consciousness must include a clear understanding of
love. Some suggest that "all you need is love," and that this
must be "unconditional love".
Of course love, especially as lovingkindness
and compassion, is universally recognized as a vital part of what all
mature healthy humans have in common. But this is not the only
quality necessary for healing, or to restore the Whole.
In The Three
Abrahamic Covenants and the Car-Passing
Trick, and The Foundations of
Jewish
Survival, I try to make it clear that each of the three phases
of
the Abrahamic traditions necessarily includes the highest qualities of
the
other two, while at the same time, each is the primary representative
of
only one. So, I associate the conceptual stage with Judaism, and
I
identify it embryologically with the seed, and functionally with reason
and
law (Torah), the priestly tradition, and integrity. The Christian
tradition
is associated primarily with passion, compassion, "good works," and
what
the Eastern traditions call "Dharma". Embryologically, it is
identified
with the tree that manifests the seed's life-force in the world (the
tree
as the cross is the symbol of Christianity). Moslems must submit
to
Allah, and let go of their ego and worldly attachments. This is
the
function of the fruit, which must let go of the tree to provide the
fertile
ground for the next cycle of life. The Moslem covenant
specializes
in community and hospitality.
Put simply, Judaism is known for its Torah
of integrity, Christianity is
known for its Gospel of love, and Islam is known for its Quran of
submission.
Of course, all three phases also include the
other two. Jewish tradition
is clear that not only are the law, reason, and integrity essential,
but
so too are lovingkindness and compassion for all life, as well as yirat
Hashem -- awe, and submission to God's Will.
Christianity is clear that not only are
Christians expected to be loving and compassionate, but they are also
supposed to honor the law (it is said that Jesus came to fulfill the
law), and they can be reborn in their faith by entrusting their lives
fully to their lord.
Islam is clear that not only are Moslems
expected to submit to Allah, but
they are also expected to exemplify hospitality, community, and
compassion, and they are also supposed to think and act with honor and
integrity.
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THREE
ABRAHAMIC COVENANTS – THREE PILLARS OF LOVE
T R U T H F U
L N E S S / L O V I N G K I N D N E
S S / H U M I L I T Y
All three pillars
are essential teachings in each of the three Abrahamic Covenants
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JUDAISM
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CHRISTIANITY
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ISLAM
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OUTER
TEACHINGS
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TORAH
TALMUD
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GOSPELS
BIBLE
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QURAN
BIBLE
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INNER
TEACHINGS
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KABBALAH
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GNOSTICISM
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SUFISM
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PRIMARY
ASPECT OF LOVE
EMPHASIZED |
TRUTH
LAW
INTEGRITY
REASON
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GOOD WORKS
LABOR; DHARMA
COMPASSION
EMOTION
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SELF-SACRIFICE
SUBMISSION
HOSPITALITY
ACTION
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SYMBOLS
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LIGHT
Menorah
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CROSS
Star
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STAR & CRESCENT
Green Flame
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EMBRYOLOGY
LIFE CYCLE
ORGAN
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SEED
CONCEPTION
HEAD
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TREE
GESTATION
HEART
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FRUIT
BIRTH
BODY
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MANIFESTING
PRINCIPLE
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CLEAR
THINKING
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HARD
WORK
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LETTING
GO
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These days, it is politically correct to
suppose that all that a person must do to make the world better is to
act with unconditional love, and submit
to the Will of God. The problem with this mode is that it is
often
advocated as enabling a reconciliation among all three of the
faiths
that derive from Abraham, when in fact it only represents two, and thus
excludes
one.
"Unconditional love" is, as the logicians
say, a self-contradiction. For here we find the adjective
"unconditional" as the condition required for this sort of
love. "Unconditional love" is not the higher love referred
to in all of our traditions, but rather a self-defined perspective that
politely
overlooks, and then excludes, reason and integrity. Its
invocation
is naturally (and often unconsciously) anti-Jewish, because it implies
that
reason and integrity, the basis of the law, are not necessary, and
because
historically, it implies that the Holocaust was the fault of Jews and
others
for not acting with unconditional love towards nazis.
"Unconditional
love" is the limited condition of love that mistakenly forgives
the
crime while the crime is ongoing. Thus it is the opposite of
love,
because it unconditionally encourages continued unloving behavior.
The higher love, the love advocated in all
three of the Abrahamic phases, the love that can be a unifying force,
includes not only unlimited compassion and submission, but it also
includes reason, integrity, and context. Neither the tradition of
Moses, nor the tradition of Jesus, nor the tradition of Mohammed, ever
endorsed unconditional love for an adversary while they were engaged in
attack. All require a higher standard of love that takes
into account not only compassion for both the victim and the
victimizer, not
only submission to Allah and/or yirat ("awe of") Hashem,
and/or
giving
one's life over to Jesus, but also consideration for the future,
for
both the victim and the victimizer, and for the rest of society.
Compassion and submission without integrity
can easily lead to unintended perversion or unbridled lust.
Integrity without compassion and without submission to God's Will can
easily lead to cruelty. Thus, each of the
specialties of each of the organs in the Abrahamic body politic must be
fully
engaged by all three.
While "unconditional love" is not
unconditional, love as a condition can be. After all, one
of God's Names is Emet -- Truth. Thus, love of truth is a true
form of love.
In all faiths, a saint or tzaddik is
known by their lovingkindness. In the Talmud, a tzaddik
is said to have the quality of integrity, exemplified by the phrase toku
k'varo ("their insides are like their outsides"). The love of
the tzaddik is the identity of Beauty and Truth.
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