In this “Deep Transformation: Self-Society-Spirit Podcast” from 2023, A. H. Almaas delves into the heart of his trilogy of books on love, with a particular focus on the second volume, Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality. Scroll down to view the video and summary of highlights.
Summary
For many spiritual seekers, "nonduality" conjures images of a vast, empty awareness or a singular, impersonal consciousness. While these perspectives offer profound insights, another dimension to our ultimate nature, nondual love, is often overlooked in discussions of nonduality. But it transcends simple emotion. It is a fundamental aspect of reality, a boundless, universal goodness.
This concept echoes ancient wisdom. Plato spoke of “the Good” as the source of all ideas, a notion almost synonymous with love. The Sufis say God created the universe out of love, to be known. Creation itself is an act of love. This inherent goodness, this nondual love, is pervasive, completely pure, without self-interest, a selfless benevolence that is the very nature of everything.
To experience this nondual love is to perceive the fundamental benevolence of reality, the hidden, underlying ground of our consciousness. In fact, says Almaas, “Without love there would be no reason for the universe to exist, no reason for things to develop.” What moves that development is an essential goodness. As the Sufis say, “God loved to be known, so God created the universe out of love, to be known through the human being.”
This love has a quality, a “taste,” a heavenly sweetness that, according to Sufi understanding, is tasted by the heart, the primary spiritual organ.
When we encounter this love we feel a deep, abiding peace and “basic trust.” Sensing the tangible presence of benevolent love allows us to regain our “basic trust,” the deep-seated sense that all things, ultimately, will be okay and unfold for the good. This trust isn’t naive; it’s informed by an inner knowing of this benevolence. We are born with this basic trust, with an inherent innocence and purity. However, childhood experiences whether we felt held lovingly or encountered rejection and pain—can either nurture or damage this trust.
An even more basic challenge to being this love is our ingrained sense of being a separate entity, an ego defined by boundaries. Healing involves dissolving the historical obstructions to reconnect with what is already inherently there.
Along the journey of reconnection we encounter seemingly insurmountable phenomena. There is "The Beast", a powerful, hidden aspect of the ego that hates the good, hates love, and hates God. In Christianity it would be called the Devil. But this isn’t an external devil, but an internal manifestation born from the ego, which is formed through past suffering, abandonment, and the feeling that goodness wasn’t there when needed. Recognizing this “Beast” within, which can manifest as a doubt or an objection to the idea that goodness is everywhere, is our first step to dissolving it.
We meet another egoic obstacle we call “Jabba the Hutt” after the “Star Wars” character that represents insatiable greed, who embodies a feeling of emptiness that craves more and more external gratification, never finding fulfillment. It stems from a disconnection from the inner abundance that nondual love reveals.
Facing these inner figures requires courage and compassion. The path involves welcoming these challenging aspects, understanding their history and origins without judgment. By inquiring into the hurt behind “The Beast” or the disconnection fueling “Jabba the Hutt,” these seemingly negative forces can be transformed into true power and loving strength.
Nondual love is a fundamental cosmic principle. It's not a contradiction to other facets of reality but a conscious, aware, giving presence that radiates an undeniable sense of benevolence. Love, in this view, is inherent to consciousness itself, emerging naturally when obstructions within us are cleared.