Check out this great video piece by Bill Moyers, about the community that was shattered by the school shooting in 2006. Their reaction of sincere and immediate forgiveness is a testament to their faith, and their culture.

And you can find the book here.

(These teachings are taken from a page within a site dedicated to the Hindu saint, Sri Ramakrishna. And, I will soon follow with secular admonitions as well.)

Sri Ramakrishna — I have now come to a stage of realization in which I see that God is walking in every human form and manifesting Himself alike through the sage and the sinner, the virtuous and the vicious. Therefore when I meet different people I say to myself, “God in the form of the saint, God in the form of the sinner, God in the form of the righteous, God in the form of the unrighteous.”

Holy Mother [Sri Ramakrishna's spouse] — If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own.

Swami Vivekananda [Sri Ramakrishna's chief disciple] — This is the gist of all worship — to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Siva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Siva, and if he sees Siva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Siva in him, without thinking of his cast, creed, or race, or anything, with him Siva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.

Buddha — Goodwill toward all beings is the true religion; cherish in your hearts boundless goodwill to all that lives.

Guru Nanak — God is one, but He has innumerable forms. He is the Creator of all and He Himself takes the human form.

Jesus Christ — But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Judaism — You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear in sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Krishna — He who sees the Supreme Lord abiding alike in all beings, and not perishing when they perish – verily, he alone sees.

Mohammed — All God’s creatures are His family; and he is the most beloved of God who tries to do most good to God’s creatures.

Native American — Every dawn as it comes is a holy event, and every day is holy, for the light comes from your Father, Wakan-Tanka; and also always remember that the two-leggeds and all other peoples who stand upon this earth are sacred and should be treated as such.

Rama — It is the shadow of the Paramatman that you see reflected in all the living beings as the Jivatman. Don’t you see the great sky reflected in each and every lake or river?

Sankara — Vishnu alone it is who dwells in you, in me, in everything; Empty of meaning is your wrath, and the impatience you reveal. Seeing yourself in everyone, have done with all diversity.

Vedas — The wise man beholds all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings; for that reason he does not hate anyone.

Zoroaster — Forget self and identify Ahura Mazda in every being and in everything.

There are a number of movies that I have seen that either as a whole, or in part, exemplify incredible love. And I plan to post many of them in this blog. And each of these movies highlight one or many of love’s manifestations, whether it be simple affection and regard by one individual for another, or courageous love in action, sometimes at the risk of losing one’s own life.

The documentary, Hiding and Seeking, showcases the latter.

In short, a father takes his sons to Poland, with the hope of finding the rescuers that hid the sons’ grandfather (the father’s father-in-law) during the Holocaust.

SPOILER ALERT:

Well, they do. The husband and wife that hid them are dead, but their daughter and son-in-law were still alive. And the daughter (now quite old, but sharp as a tack) turned out to be the one who brought the grandfather (and his brothers) his meals.

One of the highlights of the film is when she is asked why she and her family did this. She answers, simply, “Out of pity.” The other is the powerful and sincere speech given by Israel’s ambassador to Poland when the Polish family was officially declared as “Righteous Amongst the Nations.”

END OF SPOILER

To see humanity at its finest, amidst humanity at its worst, I recommend checking this out.

One of my favorite quotes, from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”

I’m trying to analyze and discuss “love.” But I don’t want to do it from a spiritual angle, nor a wishy-washy, pastel-colored, anne-geddes-baby-dressed-as-a-sunflower way either. I believe that “love” is one of the greatest characteristics of (but not limited to) the species Homo Sapiens. And I believe it is something that evolved and may be inherent in our genes. So, the phrase popped into my head as a respectful play-on-words of Richard Dawkin’s classic, “The Selfish Gene.”

And does this mean I disagree with Dawkins? Absolutely not. (And actually, I’m a big fan.) First of all, he believes that humans are capable of acting against their genes, and do so regularly. Does this mean I think “love” something we do in spite of our genes? Well, my non-scientific opinion is that some genes geared toward self-preservation, while other genes are geared for altruistic selflessness. Of course, some selfless behavior can, in the long run, fulfill selfish needs. But at the same time, I believe there are actions that are so amazingly selfless that the genes cannot be the only explanation.

And why study “love?” Frankly, and as trite as this sounds, I believe it is the best answer to all our problems, including, but not limited to, school-bullying, depression, drug-abuse, poverty, crime, environmental preservation, and war.

(Of course, religionists will claim that God is the answer to all those problems. But if you look at one religion’s scripture, it says “God is love.” So, from a mathematical perspective, they really should have not have any opposition to my idea, right?)

And if “love” is an answer to our problems, the same way that medicine is an answer to health, can we not study “love” the same way? Can we not strip “love” of all its religious and sentimental trappings and study, value, and harness it the same way we do quantum mechanics and biochemistry?

Thus, I plan to do a number of things in this blog. Obviously, it will be a journal for my thoughts on the subject. But I will also post stuff like what other people have said about love, works of art that express the idea of love, and examples of truly amazing altruism.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my blog, and invite you to contribute.