[From Marsha: Perhaps during this covid time where so many are sequestered, including self, we can read Dr. Bob’s words about a different way to see those we’re fortunate enough to be around. Read on…]
Now let’s take it that there was only two people left when this big explosion went off — just any one of us and any one of the others, it wouldn’t matter. I would sure take care of you. I would find out what is meant by the word love. I wouldn’t be thinking of you as a sex object. I’d be thinking of you as the biggest necessity to me in the world. And I wouldn’t try to exploit you, use you, abuse you, or steal anything from you or anything of the sort because you are absolutely essential to me. That right? And I would take so good care of you. I’d see that you were sheltered. I’d see that you were warm. I’d do everything I possibly could. You’d do likewise, wouldn’t you? And wouldn’t anybody have to tell us to do so.
It wouldn’t be because I “should or ought to”, or that it’s a must, or I was worried that you wouldn’t like me. It wouldn’t be anything of the sort. I’d be doing it because I really want to in no uncertain terms.
Now if you stop to look a moment, we’re always in that shape. At any one moment there’s only one other person beside me, that’s you. Now if I should ever get down to seeing that is what it’s all about — as though there was not another person on the earth except you – I’d sure want to take good care of you. It would be what I wanted to do in no uncertain terms, right?
And then I would know what the meaning of love means as we’re using it now — it’s beyond agape, it’s beyond eros, it’s beyond pia, it includes all those. And it’s beyond philia. Now it is an absolute essential, huh?
Now if I could have in all my desiring and willing, that view of every other human being, would you ever have any reason to be afraid of me? Would you ever have any reason to be jealous of me? Would you ever have any reason to hate me? Would you have any reason to have a fight with me on any occasion? We’ve gotten rid of all the little insignificant things now and got it down to the brass tacks. There’s only two of us left on the face of the earth. And I sure am going to know what the word love means. I don’t know a word for that one–I know words for the other four. Don’t have a word for that one, how about you?
(Not any word with meaning.)
No word has any meaning, but we’d sure know what it was, is that right? Now that is the kind of love that the great teacher tried to get across to us. If we could see that, we could then feel ourselves extremely lucky.
Now we’ll say when the big explosion went off, one was quite a long distance from the other. When you finally found the other one alive, you’d sure consider yourself extremely lucky at that moment.
So there is another round; and we do experience that amount of luck, you might say. Now when we could express that in a thousand ways, would you ever have any consideration that I would be picking on you, that I would steal your food — I’d do without to feed you. You would then know the meaning of “love the other guy as you do yourself”. That would get right down to it.
[From Marsha – Happy practicing……]